Kin Gin takes you to Tokyo from the LES

The new Izakaya with a serious cocktail list and a seafood focus.

Fans of fabulous Japanese food are already flocking to Kin Gin, a new Izakaya that opened rather quietly in April on the Lower East Side, but has already garnered some nice attention from press. The restaurant, which translates to “gold and silver,” comes from from TableOne Hospitality, owners of Twenty Three Grand in New York City, Mother Tongue in Los Angeles, and Bar Sprezzatura in San Francisco. 

The seafood-heavy menu by chef-partner Shotaro “Sho” Kamio, the award-winning chef of Ozumo (one of the top 100 restaurants by the San Francisco Chronicle), and Executive Chef Tony Inn (previously of Masa and Morimoto NYC) is kind of different, highlighting the five traditional Japanese techniques: Nama (cutting), Niru (simmering), Yaku (grilling), Musu (steaming), and Ageru (deep-frying).

From the raw section, try the Ocean Umami, a scallop Sashimi topped with Uni, Ikura, Nori, and Ume in Dashi, it’s everything, everywhere all at once. If you like scallops, also have the Hotate, a scallop crudo with tomato water, basil, frozen grapes, and hanaho flowers. Crab fans should grab a dish called Tarabagani: poached king crab legs served on the half shell with housemade ponzu, Kewpie mayo tartar sauce, and shallot rice vinegar mignonette. And if you like caviar, there’s a gorgeous service called “TRIO OF EGGS”—Osetra Caviar, Ikura, and Sea Urchin, with House-Made Milk Bread for scooping it all up.

An Izakaya should always include many fried things and the menu obliges with Sho’s Kakiage, thin tempura root vegetable pancakes served with tentsuyu dipping sauce, and lightly fried Agedashi Tofu, with lotus root, eggplant and nameko mushrooms, over tamari dashi broth. There’s also a dish of braised pig ears called Crispy Mimiga, a local specialty hailing from Okinawa where the ears get sliced thin then fried with ichimi spice. They’re great dipped in, you guessed it, Kewpie mayo. What isn’t great dipped in Kewpie mayo?

Dry-aging is also on the menu with a mackerel, Saba Yaki, that’s grilled and topped with miso mayo, pickled shiso, and grilled lemon. Gorgeous tuna is crusted in herbs for Aburi Maguro that sits on a rice vinegar marinated foie gras tartare with a tamari honey reduction. The grill is used for a whole quail served with pickled perilla leaf and a velvety egg yolk cured in honey, tamari and chili oil. 

Zuke Tontoro sounds divine: a roasted miso-cured pork jowl that’s thinly sliced, topped with roasted peanuts, pickled daikon and a miso glaze. Peanut, pork, and miso? I am in. I’m also intrigued by a kind of Japanese clam chowder called Saka Mushi, dashi steamed clams in a spicy miso broth, served with homemade fluffy milk bread for dunking. Love it. 

To drink, the bar offers four global takes on the G&T, and lots of sake for a collection of ultra-modern cocktails from Beverage Director Phil Collins (no relation to the “In the Air Tonight” Phil Collins).

The Ichi-Go-Ichi-E is perfect for sunny days: white strawberry gin, strawberry-jasmine cordial, lemon juice, and rose water, topped with a mint-matcha foam. The Shogun Yoshimasa is also spring-forward, made from Meili vodka, white peach calpico, rhubarb, golden berry, grapefruit, egg white, sparkling sake and more of that mint matcha foam.  I’ve never seen Greek yogurt in a cocktail but here it is in the Bakohan, a mix of yogurt with Kiyomi agricole rum, Ford’s gin, cucumber, lemongrass and salt. Breakfast?

An extensive sake menu curated by Sake Master Stuart Morris includes two new exclusive labels of sake, Gasanyru and Kurouzaemon, brewed in small batches by the 148-year-old Shindo Sake Brewery in Yamagata, Japan. So that’s a reason to go right there.

Tamara Magel, whose work has been featured in Architectural Digest, The New York Times, and Elle Decor, designed Kin Gin’s pretty 50-seat dining room that sits under a massive glass ceiling/skylight so you can watch the day turn to night. A working viola marble fireplace anchors the room that’s wrapped in deep blues and jewel tones, accented with touches of gold, so it feels very luxurious with plush burgundy banquettes, terrazzo tabletops, and bouclé fabric chairs. It’s cozy but decidedly modern, too. A nice mix.

One more thing before we go of note: later this summer, the team will open Golden Guy, a cocktail and sushi lounge above the restaurant! Good stuff.

Kin Gin is located at 107  Rivington Street and is open for dinner on Tuesday & Wednesday from 5 pm to 10 pm and Thursday through Sunday from 5 pm to 11 pm. Reservations are available via Resy.