Can anyone tell me how difficult it is to get seating for four at Kissa Tanto without a reservation on a Saturday night?
On their booking website, it appears there are no reservations for weeks and they say they do accept walk-ins.
TIA!
Have you tried your credit card concierge? Amex in my case.
I don’t make reservations any other way.
Staying at a decent hotel. No help. Tried Amex. No dice.
Have you been, ipse?
Nope, never been.
I’m sorry to confirm that Kissa Tanto is one of the most difficult resos to get in Vancouver just now. If you’re going to try a walkin, especially with four, I’d either go at opening or really late, especially on a Saturday. We went in March on a Tuesday and it was slammed. I liked the food but it was so loud in there we could barely hold a conversation, and we lucked out with a two-top where we could sit side by side. Good luck!
Thanks, greyelf. You’re always the trusted advisor for YVR and I appreciate that. Many thanks to robert and ipse too for their informative postings.
Turned out our reser for four exploded to eight and Hawksworth kindly accommodated which was also no small feat for a Saturday night. Solid meal and exceptional service.
Also ate at Kirin DT (food great, service like old times indiffirent Cantonese), Nightingale, Bella Gelateria, Revolver Coffee, Chef Tony, L’Abbatoir, Prohibition. All great, all surprisingly walkable if staying downtown. Loved Pride and the holiday. Great cycle 
past the Sea Wall & Stanley Park with Cycle City Tours.
Love, love 
your fair YVR. Will come back for Kissa Tanto when traveling with less than 13 people. Will try to create a full report in the coming weeks.
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No way this place should have a michelin star. If going by food alone I’d be willing to hear the argument it is 1 star, but in my opinion it is not. Now when you take the whole experience into consideration there’s no way you should expect a 1 star level of service.
I sat at the bar last night and was beyond tired when I arrived so it was going to take a lot to really impress me. It took me a minute to look through the cocktail and wine list so I was served a plate of pickled veg before I decided on trying the Amaro Long Island Iced Tea. I was a bit wary of ordering the drink, but after talking to the bartender I was assured that the drink was well balanced and sure enough it was delicious. I’d glady have that cocktail again. As for the pickles the radish was meh, the beets were alright, and the third thing I can’t quite remember (i think it was turnip that was slightly charred) was delicious. Now here’s where the service errors begin…the second course was dropped before I was even half way done with the pickles. No way something like this should happen at a 1 star restaurant.
The 2nd dish was an octopus salad that was really a radish salad garnished with octopus. Not a bad dish my any means, but not the least bit memorable.
The next dish was a scallop crudo served with passion fruit and seaweed that had plenty of umami flavor, but no acidity or anything else to balance it. I assume the passion fruit was intended to provide the sweet and acidic counterpoint, but it didn’t quite work and the dish ate very one note.
At this point I had finished my amaro cocktail and asked if a lambrusco would be a decent drink for the next two dishes, which turned out to be perfect.
Following the crudo was a piece of A5 Wagyu that was cooked perfectly and served thinly sliced with some maldon salt, a couple of braised mushrooms and a sauce that was pretty unnecessary. The steak with a touch of salt was delicious and thankfully the serving wasn’t too large so I didn’t feel sick after eating it. After I finished this course the server cleared my plate and the chopsticks I had been using. The bartender across from me standing at my right shoulder proceeded to reach all the way around the lamp directly in front of me to place a fork not at my left shoulder, but rather directly in front of me. This display of dexterity and flexibility to put a fork where it is not supposed to be was bizarre. As soon as the next course was brought out the server had to slide the fork to my left where it would have been much easier to place originally.
I had finished the labrusco and wanted one last drink so chatted with the bartender a bit. There was house made root beer that caught my eye and they served it with whatever booze you desired. Apparently fernet was the best option, but the bartender suggested getting the umeboshi soda with mezcal which turned out to be fantastic. It tasted like an elevated paloma. I may have to look for umeboshi soda when I get home.
Next up was a pasta course made with half size rigatoni, house made sausage, and beans. The pasta was cooked well enough and the sauce flavored well enough, but the beans were chalky and ruined any bite they were included in. Without the beans I think this dish would have been successful, but with the chalky beans it was not very pleasant.
The last dish was the local halibut served with a separate bowl of rapini and was my favorite of the night. The fish was poached perfectly and the top ever so slightly crisped up. The mushroom acqua pazza underneath was spectacular and I could have eaten a whole bowl full. The glazed turnips and stems were a nice counterpoint to the whole dish. The bowl of rapini ended up being fantastic once I figured out that I needed to eat it with a spoon. When I used a fork the dish was just bitter, but when I switched to a spoon and scooped up the smokey dashi to accompany each bite the dish really came alive. Excellent rapini preparation when the dashi was included in each bite. The one problem with this dish was that they didn’t wipe down the bowl of halibut so I had a smear of the acqua pazza along the bowl that looked very similar to poop.
Dessert was a yuzu custard that was entirely forgettable.
I don’t think this place is worth your time or money if you come to Vancouver.
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Yeah, I am slowly coming around to the fact that Asian cuisines, in general, are the way to go when visiting Vancouver. I’ve yet to be truly wow’ed by a non-Asian restaurant in Vancouver…
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I was very bummed to be there solo as I wanted to check out the dim sum spots you wrote up, but I didn’t think a solo dinner would be welcome.
Emulate JGold. Go in solo. Damn the torpedoes. “Make them deal with you,” as he would say… I eat dim sum solo quite a bit.
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That’s good to know actually. Having not been to dim sum very often I sorta expected them to just refuse to seat me. I’ve only ever seen big round tables at dim sum spots so didn’t think I’d be welcome.
Michelin stars are supposed to be only about the food, not that that meal sounds like the consistent quality required for a star.
We’ve had good eats within the last 12 months at:
- L’Abbatoir
- Burdock & Co
- Bar Gobo
- Published
- Bar Susu
- Torafuku
Great to know!!!
L’Abbatoir: I haven’t been to since my initial review.
My recent dinner at Published on Main started out strong, but then faltered as the evening progressed.
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