A note on the words: kushiage are skewers dipped in batter and deep-fried until crisp. Otoshi is the small dish that comes with your first drink at Japanese drinking spots — here, a cabbage salad that makes a simple opening bite before moving on to the fried skewers.
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Kushiage Kanoya on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Having a drink in Ueno for the first time in a while, I was looking around wondering where to drink when I spotted an open table outside, so I decided to duck into “Kushiage Kanoya”. It was one of those times where you pop into a place for a drink just to figure out where to drink next. Having so many spots like this where you can drop in casually on a whim is one of the things I love about Ueno.
I asked for a table outside.
Lately it feels great outdoors, and above all, being able to drink while watching people walking by and folks drinking at the taverns right across the way is wonderful. It really has a great vibe.
Shrimp — 160 yen
Octopus — 120 yen
Asparagus — 140 yen
The kushiage skewers are all inexpensive here. I just wanted a quick bite, so I chose octopus, shrimp, and asparagus.
The otoshi (the small dish that comes with your first drink) was a cabbage salad.
Ta-da!
Two skewers each of shrimp and octopus, and one big spear of asparagus.
The asparagus is long and delicious. The tips are tender and flavorful! The shrimp is fried plump and snappy, also very good.
I paired them with a highball, and they go great together. This fine, crisp batter is wonderful.
Octopus for just 120 yen? That is cheap. Octopus has been pricey lately. It has decent volume too, so eating just one skewer leaves you plenty satisfied, which is nice.
Man, delicious. Part of me wanted to eat more, but there is the next stop to consider, so that is it for here.
I came in just to decide on the next place, but the conversation drifted and picked up steam, and in the end I ended up putting away three whole highballs. This style of bar-hopping — grabbing a bite here, moving on, grabbing another bite there — is what makes drinking in Ueno so fun. There is no shortage of places to go!
Kushiage Kanoya (Kushiage / Keisei Ueno Station, Ueno-okachimachi Station, Okachimachi Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.1
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
