Neighborhood: Kichijoji / 吉祥寺
Style: Italian
Website: Tabelog here
My friends Dylan and Katie introduced me to their newest find in Kichijoji: Funky Cucina UNO, or as everybody calls it in English, the Funky Cucina. It immeidately shot to the top of the Tokyo price-performance leagues for antipasti-style Italian!
Funky Cucina is a small place off of Inokashira-kouen in Kichijoji; it's just outside the park entrance near the intersection of Kichijoji-dori and Inokashira-dori. We arrived about 6:30pm on a Saturday and were almost the only customers, but by 8:30 the place was filled up so based on your timeframe reservations may be appropriate.
They got started with the o-toshi which was a small cup of yummy Gazpacho, perfect for the hot summer weekend. That and the fresh-baked italian bread took us off to a good start. We were a group of six so we got to try a lot of things but there were three standouts. Counting down from #3 to the top, they were:
- The tuna tartare with avocado was beautifully done, and again a perfect dish for a summer night. We got two!
- We got one dish Dylan couldn't enjoy due to his vegetarian tendencies: a unbelievably tender garlic-roasted piece of steak (flank steak if I'm not mistaken)
- The topper of the evening though, was one where Dylan's previous exploration served us well: an exquisite truffle risotto. If you think of truffles mostly in conjunction with chocolate, this will take you by surprise. The delicate, earthy taste of the truffles is well-matched by the risotto, and how in Japan they can afford to put that much truffle on a dish that's only 1200円 I have no idea. Go try this soon before they come to their senses and raise prices!
In general Funky Cucina UNO is a great value. The wine list at Funky Cucina reflects this: while they have a lot of expensive wines you're welcome to explore, what's amazing is how many extremely affordable and drinkable wines they have. You can upgrade to the 2500円 level after you're done exploring the 1995円 list, and no I didn't slip a 0 there.
The bottom line is that (especially in a group) you can have a great meal here very reasonably. We got a truly filling meal including a generous amount of wine for 4500円 per person (though naturally dialing up the wine list can change that). It makes a perfect capper to a pleasant day spent in Inokashira Park and has the same kind of relaxed vibe.
The master (whose name I sadly didn't catch) grew up in Canada and speaks perfect English, although the staff will prefer Japanese. Enjoy!
