BB Kenchan is a small izakaya in the heart of the city — a place where Tokyo-style counter culture meets the quiet rhythm of seasonal omakase and the honest craft of neighbourhood sushi.
BB Kenchan began the way most great neighbourhood kitchens do — with a small standing bar in Tokyo's Yurakucho district, a single chef, and a stubborn idea: that the warmth of an izakaya, the discipline of an omakase, and the everyday comfort of neighbourhood sushi could share one counter without compromise.
What started as a six-seat kenchan — a casual, standing-style izakaya where hot sake and small plates are passed across the bar — has grown into a restaurant that still feels like a neighbourhood kitchen. We cure our own neta, simmer our dashi from Rishiri kombu, and shave fresh wasabi at the counter each evening. The grill is yakitori-style; the rice is seasoned three ways; the fish changes with the season, the tide, and the market that morning.
We brought the BB to this neighbourhood with the same intention: a place to drop in after work, a counter to lean against, a menu that respects the diner enough to change every few weeks. Nothing precious, nothing performative — just the craft of an izakaya, kept honest.
"An izakaya is not a stage. It is a table. Our job is to keep it warm, and the rice fresh." — Chef Kenji Mori, Founder
Our kitchen is small, our menu is short, and our principles are simple. They are written on the wall behind the bar and lived out at the counter every night.
The menu changes with the weather, not the calendar. Spring brings shirasu and young ginger; summer, ayu and cold dashi; autumn, matsutake and sanma; winter, crab and hot nabe. If it isn't at its peak this week, it isn't on the board.
旬 · ShunAn izakaya is meant to be lived in. We pour generously, recommend without ceremony, and treat regulars and first-timers with the same care. The counter is for lingering — for a second glass, a small laugh, a recommendation from the chef.
場 · BaOur rice is cooked in small batches, our dashi is simmered, not boiled, and our fish is hand-cut behind the bar. None of this is for show. The craft is in the taste — in the snap of the neta, the warmth of the rice, the way a small plate disappears before you remember to photograph it.
技 · WazaA small kitchen, a tight bar, and a team that takes its craft — and its regulars — seriously. Meet the people who set the rice, pour the sake, and keep the door unlocked for you.
Trained for twelve years in Tokyo and Kanazawa before opening the first BB Kenchan standing bar. He still cuts the hon-maguro every morning and signs off on the dashi.
Curates a sake list that leans toward small breweries in Niigata, Fukushima, and Shimane. She pours warm in winter, chilled in summer, and always, always at the right moment.
Builds the short dessert list around what the market offers: yuzu peel in late winter, higo in early summer, chestnut and persimmon through autumn. Quiet, exact, and never too sweet.
Runs the binchotan grill with a stopwatch and a calm hand. He sources his chicken from a single farm in Tamba and seasons each skewer with house tare that has been on the stove for years.
Walk in for a quick standing pour and a skewer, or book ahead for the seasonal omakase. Either way, we save you a seat.