The owner of Waentei-Kikko , Fukui Kodai , combined his passion for traditional Japanese music, cuisine, and sprits into this little hide-away restaurant near Sensoji Temple. He is a highly accomplished player of the traditional Japanese instrument, Tsugaru Shamisen . We got to enjoy a freshly prepared set lunch with a Shamisen performance by the owner and his students. The owner speaks decent English and made extra efforts to make us feel comfortable upon knowing we were visiting from New York. Overall it felt like a very authentic local experience and we were the only foreigners at the lunch.
Make a reservation in advance for Kikko. The restaurant only prepares enough food based on the reservations they have. We saw the owner turn away multiple people without a reservation despite having empty space.