When Kihachi China moved a few blocks across Ginza last November, it was not just a change of address -- it signified a definite change of status. The old premises, hidden away behind Printemps, were smart but lightweight. The new restaurant is a mere five minutes' stroll away -- just around the corner from Matsuya's eye-popping, face-lifted facade -- but it represents a definite move into the mainstream.
Just like much of contemporary Ginza, Kihachi China plays the nouveau-retro look. It's housed in a Taisho Era building that's solid and dependable, tastefully refurbished for the new century, but with many period features left intact. The gleaming ground-floor kitchen is visible through a great plate-glass window. The second floor, which serves simpler meals and yum cha lunches, has dark, wood floors and paneling and restful lighting, evoking the colonial past. By contrast, the main dining room, up on the fourth floor, is cool and modern, with high ceilings, cream-colored monochrome paint-work and furniture to match.
The food, though, is entirely new school. It's subtle, refined and close to faultless. The ingredients are superb, especially the seafood. Kihachi China quotes so freely from French, Korean and Japanese cuisines, it can scarcely be recognizable to anyone from the mainland. At the same time, though, this is not fusion territory -- or at least not the way the term is usually understood. We chose the 10,000 yen dinner course and didn't regret the extravagance.