Sunday evenings are always the most difficult time for dining out, especially if it's full-fledged Japanese cuisine you're after. With the markets closed and the streets deserted, choices are always limited, even in the most up-market parts of town.
So that is why, at the tail end of last weekend, we felt especially glad to be ensconced in Kappo R. Not only does this basement hideaway in the back streets of Ebisu serve up quality ryori in the Kyoto style seven evenings a week, it manages to do so at reasonable prices and with absolutely no standing on ceremony.
You can tell from the name this is not an establishment of the old school. Kappo (literally "cooking") always signifies a more casual approach to the culinary arts than kaiseki. And that single initial is a sure-fire indicator that a contemporary sensibility rules.