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Sazenka

Tokyo

Dual-nationality gastronomy offering the best of China and Japan

On the Pass

Tomoya Kawada

China meets Japan: Chef Tomoya Kawada cooks Chinese cuisine infused with a Japanese sensibility, rooted in the two countries’ shared history and adoration of tea drinking. His elegant restaurant, located inside a former diplomat’s residence in Tokyo’s upmarket Minami-Azabu district, has just 12 seats, plus two private rooms.

What’s in a name? ‘Sa’ refers to tea and is found in the word for tea ceremony, sado. The origins of tea ceremony are in deep meditation, or ‘zen’. Together they form the portmanteau ‘sazen’. This phrase teaches that while the process may be different, what is imagined by tea and zen is one and the same.

Where two cuisines collide: Kawada worked at a Chinese restaurant in Tokyo for 10 years before moving to Nihonryori RyuGin, where he learned the techniques and spirit of Japanese kaiseki from iconic chef Seiji Yamamoto. Three years later, he moved to Taiwan to help launch RyuGin’s Taipei branch, Shoun RyuGin. After returning to Japan, he opened Sazenka in February 2017.

What’s on offer? Traditional Chinese cuisine starring favourites such as barbecued pork and Qingtang noodle soup. Other dishes, such as courses of simmered abalone or Shanghai hairy crab, are available as special orders. The food is paired with an eclectic selection of drinks, either alcoholic (including wine, sake and Shaoxing wine) or tea (from both China and Japan).

A modern classic: One of Kawada’s signature dishes, Young Pigeon Cooked Two Ways, further solidifies the restaurant’s dual identity, utilising Chinese cooking techniques for the legs but grilling the breast meat over Japanese charcoal.

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