Canal Café

PHONE
03-3260-8068

ADDRESS
1-9 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku

Grab a seat on the terrace of Kagurazaka's Canal Cafe and enjoy the view. The food, of course, is delicious. Traditional Italian fare such as pizza and pasta sits alongside favorites like grilled chicken dishes. An ideal date spot.
Cuisine
Cafe
Italian
Opening time
Open Tue-Sat 11:30am-11pm (LO 9:30pm), Sun&hols 11:30am-9:30pm (LO 8:30pm), closed Mon
Average price
Lunch 1,500
Dinner 4,000

English menu available

Editorial Review

Canal Café

Published on October 5th, 2002

It's the time of year when the typhoons have blown the blistering heat off Tokyo's streets and city folk set out in search of the season's best al fresco dining. Faced with the dilemma of where to do that in a city of 20 million on a weeknight, we arrived at the most logical conclusion-the doors of Canal Café, an authentic Italian trattoria housed in an old boat warehouse over one of the many inner-city lakes by Sotobori Dori. 

With a glass of dry and fruity house wine (¥600) in hand, we started things off with grilled salsiccia with pickled carrots and greens (¥980). The oversized sausages marinated with Mediterranean herbs whetted our appetites to the point where our focus lay on grappling with our cutlery rather than taking in the rippling waves that brought us there in the first place. Not the wisest of things to do, since service appeared painfully slow, or so our stomachs believed, and the arrival of gnocchi alla gorgonzola (¥1,500) seemed more a relief than a pleasure. But one bite of the dumplings dressed with a surprisingly mild cream of peppered gorgonzola and we realized home-style Italian cooking had just found its newest ambassador to Tokyo.

We emptied another glass of wine before our friendly waiter delivered the entrée, pollo al forno con prosciutto e piselli (¥2,000). As we sliced through the tender chicken, olive oil and oregano dribbled out onto our plates and filled the air with a rich, savory aroma. Not ready to call it a night, we finished with the house specialty, pizza. The Napoli version of pomodoro and mozzarella (¥1,500) was spiked with basil and anchovies, resulting in a finely crafted, authentic favorite complete with lightly burnt crusts.

Gluttony finally got the better of us, so we opted for espresso (¥400) and cafe latte (¥500), the latter coming in what looked like an oversized soup bowl-so much for skipping dessert. As we glanced across the neon-lit gangplank, guests were still arriving to take advantage of the bar. An ingenious idea for our next outing, though we knew the kitchen was the real reason the city's bourgeoisie flock to this establishment after dark.