Bistro Ru Kowan

Dinner at Bistro Ru Kowan is all about choosing a wine to enjoy with a few starters before moving on to the main course. The menu calls its assorted appetiser platter a good place to start; other options include pâté de campagne made with pork shoulder and jowl, and house-made boiled ham. For a first dish, the platter offers a little variety, while ordering the charcuterie one item at a time is another tempting approach.

One diner’s meal began with house-made roast ham and a tart topped with caramelised onions, continued with a duck dish and ended with a cheese plate. They chose the duck as their main course and then picked a wine to go with it—a satisfying way to build a meal here, with the food guiding the choice of drink. The menu’s duck-leg confit is cooked in fat at a low temperature for more than 3 hours, until the skin is crisp and the meat falls apart. For a substantial meat-centred meal, steak frites, served with potato fries, is another option.

For an evening of picking at several small plates, consider the Provençal-style tripe. Beef honeycomb tripe is simmered with tomato and herbs, and the menu suggests pairing it with wine. Another visitor wrote about ordering marinated sardines, country chicken liver mousse and firefly squid with escargot butter; the liver mousse came with baguette. These were dishes chosen from the day’s blackboard menu, so there is also the pleasure of finding something different from the regular offerings.

To add a warm dish, try the mushroom and house-made ham béchamel gratin. Mushrooms and ham are combined with béchamel sauce, and the menu notes that it is served piping hot. Desserts are available for those who want to linger over the meal.

Bistro Ru Kowan is presented as a good fit for solo dining or dinner shared among a small group in Showa-cho, and dinner reservations are available. For a leisurely evening choosing dishes from starters through to meat, order a glass of wine and add plates one by one as they catch your eye.