Restaurant reviews

Can Kenji opened in May earlier this year as Chef Kenji’s first self-owned project. He’d worked at Mosquito Tapas as a sushi chef previously, building a name for himself and a loyal clientele who would follow him wheresoever he may go in the process. These days you’ll find him in the Eixample Dreta at a humble little venue just over the Diagonal, where the walls are papered in Japanese faux brick, the kitchen is small but open, the staff pleasing and cheery. Most importantly the tables are rammed, which tells you what you need to know: this grub is good.

Based on the izakaya concept (essentially a Japanese pub, though perhaps more accurately described as a kind of Japanese tapas bar) Can Kenji serves exactly the kind of fare you might expect to find in such a place in Tokyo. Sushi naturally, along with what is possibly the best sashimi in town, aided by soy sauce so delectable I could have drunk it by the wine glass full. But you also get the more traditional, rib-sticking nourishment of Japan, beloved by everyone from businessmen to students, in shareable yet rather dainty portions.

Contrast and balance are key, split fairly between Japanese and Spanish ingredients. Meat, fish and vegetables. Broths, sauces and condiments. Fried, steamed and raw. Hot and cold. Wet and slippery. Fresh and lively.

It helps to take a few friends along to get the most of this sensory adventuring, and so, armed with five hungry dining companions, the orders started a-flowing.

One wanted sushi. Another didn’t want to waste valuable stomach space on rice. A third was determined to get stuck into the nasty bits such as they were (Kenji’s offal offerings are fairly tame), while a fourth demanded udon. As for myself, I quietly got on with ordering the lot while nobody else was looking and thus a riot of dishes quickly appeared, in no particular order, though one suspects the pacing was carefully considered.