My fourth night in Kanazawa. I’d spent every night in Katamachi(片町). Wandering the backstreets, I’d had my eye on an alley with a rather grand name — Kanazawa Chuo Mishokugai(金沢中央味食街), which translates to something like “Kanazawa Central Gourmet Street.”
About twenty small shops packed into one place. Each one tiny, with just five or six counter seats, and a shared restroom outside.
You’d think shops this small would all serve similar menus, but the website says otherwise. Surprisingly, every shop has its own menu.
Actually, it’s surprising enough that an alley this small has its own website at all.
The place I’d planned for round two was full, and while I looked for somewhere else, this alley came to mind. It had such a distinct atmosphere that I’d wanted to drink here at least once.
But once I actually got there, I circled the alley two or three times without knowing which shop to walk into. The shops were small, and I couldn’t see inside any of them. Names alone gave no clue what kind of menu each place had.
Then, right at the far corner of the alley, I spotted a shop called Petit².
Petit, French for small. And the little superscript 2 means squared — so it’s probably meant to be read “petit-petit.” Thinking they were emphasizing just how small and cute it was, I opened the door.
It really was a small, cute little place. Seats for about five or six, including three other guests already there. A small kitchen behind the counter. A handwritten menu hung on the wall.
It billed itself as a French wine bar. I ordered a glass of white wine — Domaine du Mage Sauvignon. Apparently it’s produced in Gascony, in southwest France. Seems to be a Sauvignon Blanc-based blend. Easy to drink. Probably an inexpensive wine, but plenty enjoyable.
Reading slowly through the menu on the wall, I spotted onion gratin soup(オニオン グラタン スープ). Maybe it was all the nihonshu I’d had at the first place — I wanted something warm.
The price was so low I didn’t expect much, honestly. But it tasted surprisingly good. You could tell the ingredients weren’t exactly premium given the price, but the umami still came through. Eating something warm put me in a better mood.
So I had more wine, ordered a shochu soda highball too, and also got jamón serrano(生ハム・ハモンセラーノ) off the menu.
I was startled when they suddenly pulled out a large iron stand — they hung a whole pig leg on it and cut the jamón right there. Come to think of it, whenever I’ve had cured ham or jamón while traveling in Japan, the quality’s always been remarkably high.
I’d assumed it was just a small, cute, cheap place, but it turned out they were putting real effort into doing things properly within that price range.
The owner loved football. So we talked about it for a while. I don’t really know much about football myself, but if you like the sport, you at least know names like Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Kim Min-jae.
We ended up talking for a long while about Japanese and Korean football.
It was a good place.
And this alley seems like a fun one too. If I ever come back to Kanazawa, I’d like to try some of the other shops here as well.
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