If you’re looking for a place to catch up with your friends after work hours, then Kashiwa is the place for you to go! Kashiwa is a Japanese izakaya bar with different arrays of snacks, main dishes and also some Japanese-style alcoholic beverages that you can only get exclusively here!
They only have two locations, in the CityWalk Sudirman mall and Blok M. A reservation is needed as this place gets really crowded with people and it’s almost impossible getting a seat without prior reservations, especially if you’re bringing a crowd with you.
It gets pretty loud and noisy as the night went on with people laughing and talking, as the restaurant doesn’t feel that spacious in the first place. Their interiors are mostly made of wood which gives you a feel of an izakaya in Tokyo. They have two seating positions, using chairs or you get to a wooden platform with no shoes on. The staff is very helpful in suggesting which tables or menus we should have depending on our crowd, they are very friendly too!
There are assorted Japanese menu provided and everything seems to be delicious from the pictures alone! However, we order several lite bites to share like the Nankotsu Kaarage, Harumaki, Yakitori, Tori Kaarage, Kushiage, Yakigyoza, Onigiri, Syaka-syaka Poteto, Okonomiyaki, Shisyamo, Ebichiri and others.
Most of their menu prices range from Rp 33.000 to Rp 39,800 for dishes other than the main dish. While their alcoholic drinks range from Rp 59,800. Their alcoholic drinks are the star of the show, they provide the classic Japanese alcohol like sour, umeshyu, nihonshyu and syochu! It’s a pretty rare drink to get unless you’re in Japan.
For the drinks, I got the Mango Sour, Fresh Lemon Sour, Umeshu and Lemon Chuhai. For me, the alcohol is quite subtle as it’s a little bit watered down with the amount of ice and flavour mixed into it. It’s a slow kind of alcoholic drink, the one that gets your mouth dry and craving to drink more and more especially when you can’t really taste the alcohol in it.
The food is quite okay, as I went to Kashiwa with the intention of drinking not having a full stomach. However, it is dangerous to have your stomach empty before consuming alcohol so we ordered some of it. Their Yakitori, Yakigyoza, Nankotsu Karaage—which is deep-fried chicken cartilage, and Karaage will really remind you of Japan. In fact, being in Kashiwa feels like you’ve travelled to Japan with your friends to have a good drink.
Overall, it’s a good place to hang out with. They have two areas which are the smoking and non-smoking areas. If you’re planning to drink some alcoholic beverages here, it’s best to practice responsible drinking here. The place is quite narrow and cramped in my opinion but it does not make the whole experience a bad one. Make sure to check out their Instagram for the latest news and menus!
