In Seville’s culinary Olympus there are hidden restaurants and others that seem to be hidden on purpose. Kinu, which has a new tasting menu, belongs to the latter category. An embassy of Japanese gastronomy in Seville in a central but discreet location.
Its appearance is at the antipodes of the showy locals, with lion lights and flashy signs that seem to appeal to the diner with impostured enthusiasm. It is to cross the shy shutter of Abd-El Aziz, which once had a notorious historical importance, and travel from the city’s Almohad past to the heart of Japan.
From its secluded location and mysterious access, Kinu anticipates a journey that is, to say the least, singular.
Everything is marked by the protocol and details that distinguish Japanese culture. From the curtains that protect the interior of the restaurant, the irrashaimase with which the team welcomes customers to the delicate, aseptic but cozy image projected by Kinu.
Isolated from the usual Japanese restaurants in Seville, this proposal that celebrates Seville since 2022 invites you to slow down and let yourself go.
What is Kinu’s tasting menu like?
The tasting menu, with variations depending on the season and a price of 75 €, consists of 11 passes that advocate delicate slices of snapper with seaweed sauce and freshly grated wasabi and slices of turbot, accompanied with broth from the head and spine.
This is followed by a smoked bluefin tuna belly with straw and chive sauce. And off comes one of the tastiest bites on the menu, the kanpachi negi temaki. A kind of temaki, as the name suggests, of lemon fish with nori seaweed from the prefecture of Saga (on the island of Kyūshū).
The futomaki and sirloin with Wagyu fat, oysters, yuzu and green asparagus take over, the only notable meat pass in the entire tasting.
The palate reaches its zenith with the scallop and daikon mille-feuille in a beurre blanc of yuzu and palo cortao. The butter envelops without masking the very fine scallop in an amalgam of notes and light crispness that immortalize this dish.
The grilled mackerel in salt with spinach, perhaps lacking in contrasts, follows the cadence of dishes along with the chawanmushi, pure collagen.
The savory chapter closes with a remarkable grilled enlist with sauce of its heads, paprika and kabayaki sauce. Shrimp, puffed rice and delicate Koshihikari treated in Kinu and washed between 12 and 15 times.
His already famous Japanese organic matcha tea tiramisu completes this service.
A ceremonial experience
So close to the stentorian Avenida de la Constitución, Kinu confers the importance, precision and taste that the ingredients require in an entirely ceremonial experience.
The quiet environment, the dim lighting (enough, however, to enjoy an evening in which the diner is able to distinguish the dishes) and the absence of intense aromas is to be appreciated.
Kinu is just that, a restaurant that exudes respect and sensitivity for Japanese gastronomy, deepening the technique and offering an authentic proposal.
The grace of Kinu’s menu is that the price is not prohibitive and it is served in the dining room. In any case, those who want to let themselves go can always sit at the omakase bar and enjoy the hypnotic dance performed in front of the diner.