Crab and the seasons, in one sitting
Ransen, the Japanese restaurant of Kioicho, Tokyo, comes to Nishinakasu.
Crab at the centre, handmade soba to close, and the turn of the seasons with it.
Kioicho Ransen, the Japanese restaurant in Tokyo's Kioicho, comes to Nishinakasu, Fukuoka.
Its roots date back to 1931. On the work with dashi and the clear soup bowl kept since then, we build a single seating of crab and the season, all year round.
Matsuba crab and seiko crab in winter; live hairy crab from Hokkaido from spring to autumn — steamed in the shell, piled back into it, folded into shinjo for the clear soup, and into the crab rice that closes the meal — from the first dish to the last, one seating built around the season of the crab.
Six counter seats and one private room for up to ten, and nothing else. A ryotei kaiseki course, finished by the chef in front of you across a kappo counter, with a wine list led by Burgundy and Champagne.
For entertaining, for business, and for the hours that matter.
Dashi drawn, the clear soup composed, shinjo ground by hand, rice finished in the earthenware donabe pot. Crab, built into a kaiseki by the hands of Japanese cuisine.
In a ryotei, a course is finished in the kitchen and carried to the room. Here, that last step happens in front of you: the chef finishes the bowl at the counter and hands it straight across.
The structure of the course is unchanged from Kioicho. Only the distance is.
Matsuba crab and seiko crab in winter; live hairy crab from Hokkaido from spring to autumn. We follow the ports and the seasons, and use only what arrives alive.
Crab shinjo dumplings in the clear soup, chilled arai (sashimi rinsed in iced water), shabu-shabu in crab-miso broth, crab rice from the earthenware donabe pot. Each dish takes the hand of Japanese cuisine, rather than the crab simply boiled and served.
True handmade soba, still rare in Kyushu. In the evening it comes early, as the shinogi, with our own karasumi cured in house.
The evening closes with rice from the earthenware donabe pot. Lunch closes with handmade soba under crab tempura, also served on its own.
A list led by Burgundy and Champagne, chosen so that nothing covers the sweetness of the crab. Four pairings, from two glasses at lunch to seven alongside Matsuba crab.
Sake and shochu are poured here too. The full list is at the table, should you prefer to choose for yourself.
Every dish served in Nishinakasu is created and supervised by Yohei Ueno, executive chef of Kioicho Ransen in Tokyo. These two men bring that menu to the plate, every day.
He learned his trade in the hotels and ryotei of Osaka, and stood at the sushi counter of a long-established hotel there. Then fourteen years at a resort hotel on the Sea of Japan coast, where he spent every winter with female snow crab.
Crab, sushi, soba. Everything we serve in Nishinakasu is within his own hands. He works from inside the counter, watching the pace of each guest, and sends out one dish at a time.
He is a son of Fukuoka. After long years in Kansai and on the Sea of Japan coast, he has come home after a very long time away.
Fifteen years at a Fukuoka restaurant known for its dashi. He then served as sous chef in the Japanese kitchen of an international luxury hotel, before moving to a restaurant that stands in a house of its own, in a quiet quarter of the city.
His craft was built on dashi and on the clear soup, and he works the crab in the same way. He and Oyama prepare to the same forms, so that what reaches you does not change with whichever of them is standing at the counter.
He was born and raised here in Fukuoka, and has never left.
Six seats at the counter. Between you and the kitchen there is nothing but a single plank of wood.
Six counter seats and one private room for up to ten, and nothing else. Non-smoking throughout.
Each dish finished by the chef in front of you and handed straight across. Single guests are welcome. No seating charge. (Image: a rendering of the finished counter.)
For up to ten, for entertaining and business. A private room charge of ¥6,050 per room, tax and service included, applies in the evening. (Image: a rendering of the finished room.)
Dress code is smart casual. Children are welcome at lunch; in the evening we welcome children of primary school age and above.
Third floor of the Ren Round Building.
Open in Google MapsThe direct line to Nishinakasu. Reservations for the pre-opening days, 10 to 13 October, are taken here too.
+81 92-401-9355Choose the date, time and course, and reserve through Tabelog's online booking. For 14 October onward.
Reserve onlineTaken by telephone or by e-mail. A reservation is required.
nishinakasu@ransen.jp
KKday and Klook for Taiwan, MyRealTrip and Trip.com for Korea, and Pocket Concierge, TableCheck and OMAKASE byGMO for guests from Europe and North America will be announced in turn.
Cancellations from three days before the reservation date are charged at 80%; the day before and on the day, at 100%, whether or not we are notified. Courses featuring Matsuba crab, and seasonal courses, are charged at 100% from three days before. Reductions in party size are treated the same way.
Crab runs through the whole course. Please tell us of any allergy, or any ingredient you would rather avoid, when you reserve.
Not yet listed. We will announce here as soon as it is.
Last seating for courses is 21:00. Please allow around two hours for the meal.
Prices, the private room, same-day reservations and how to find us.
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