Kikusui An can easily be overlooked because of its non-descript façade with little more than a wooden sign in Japanese and a stand with a menu out front. But once you make your way past the blue curtain, you enter another, very Japanese world where the food is good and the service is pleasant, if slow. The first floor’s three tables are usually packed with Japanese folks, the low counter seats the only barrier between customers and the cooks. The menus can be a bit of a struggle, as they are mostly in Japanese or an unintelligible karaoke English, though we’re assured that Thai versions do exist. Regardless, the patient staff will explain dishes if needed. Overall, the food is pretty exciting, provided you time your visit. As they’re closed on Sundays you might not always get everything you should in platters like the sashimi set (B800) when ordering on a Saturday—on our last visit, they were out of salmon and tuna belly (otoro). Still, the ingredients are tasty and fresh and their wasabi has a pleasantly muted sweet note, too. Do pay attention to their seasonal menu as it has some gems, like the sushi otare (seasonal fish, B150). The ayu fish grilled with salt (B390), also on the seasonal menu, is also lovely, the fish sweet and fresh on the inside and salty and crunchy on the outside, even if it’s a little skinny. Elsewhere on the regular menu, their geso tempura (fried squid, B150) comes fancified, and served with two choices of salt: green tea and curry powder. Their snow fish grilled with shoyu (B300) is nothing short of brilliant, the fish redolent with wood smoke aromas. Our only major gripe, however, is the pace of service, which can be very slow. Still, if you’re the sort who likes to eat their meal slowly, interspersed with lots of drinking and conversation, the food is well worth the wait.
