Buono Buono! Italian Dining in Kanazawa

I must admit as a newbie in Kanazawa I have yet to feel the massive urge to eat anything non-Japanese however tonight I was out with seasoned ALT Kari and thought I'd do the right thing and not deny her some Italian din dins.

Considering Kanazawa's size, the fact it's not on the Shinkansen line and that we're in actually in Japan you'd be surprised to find out there are MULTIPLE Italian restaurants here! The Cottage and Aglio Olio (both look gorgeous) are located near the canal between Katamachi and the Nagamachi Samurai District, I'll write about these as soon as I've checked them out! We decided in the end on Buono Buono (exact location here), a little Italian tucked away in the quieter cobbled streets of Katamatchi (in the direction of the 21st Century Museum of Modern Art) The place is pretty small and cosy, I'd put in the category of relaxed dining. Not to take someone for a romantic anniversary but better for a catch up with friends. Has a fantastic wine menu (the only part of the night I could understand) but most of the Italian wine gone, we ended up with a bottle of French, a sacrilege! Ah well at least we're in Japan....they'll never find out : )

Ok to the menu. I suggest you come armed with a native Japanese buddy or a seasoned ALT. Myself and Raquel would have been pot lucking it again without Kari there and even she struggled. To ease our egos a bit Kari reassured us that she thought the guy who wrote the menu was semi illiterate, and there are no pictures to help you out this time. However, we did manage to order the following: salmon sashimi plate to share, crab and fresh seafood spaghetti and a sweet potato type of spaghetti.

I have to say the sashimi, served the sashimi with shavings of daikon radish, was just a melt in the mouth combination. The crab spaghetti arrived complete with claws! Unlike the ones in Boston these little mites weren't too hard to break open. The sweet spaghetti was also a little on the spicy side so be warned but was soo tasty. The portions all in all were pretty substantial and I'd definitely return one day if not just to sample the Italian wine.