TILE

My wife and I just had a week in Kanazawa, Japan. All but one of the seven restaurants we went were excellent. The exception was Tile. The architect must have a wicked sense of humour. First off, you have to enter through a half-door that is only about 3 or 4 feet off the ground. You have to crawl ...or crouch. I don’t know how an elderly person or anyone with a bad back might manage. Upstairs, the walls were distressed concrete, the ceiling looked as if it was about collapse and there were factory windows. We sat on tatami on thin cushions. This was very uncomfortable. All the customers were foreigners. The set dish was called “mosaic bowl”. It was a large glass dish of the kind normally used for a trifle. It contained lumps of cold rice. One could choose between five and eight ‘dishes’ to put on the rice. Each of them was thimble-sized, served in what looked like tiny glass ashtrays e.g. there was a fingernail of shrimp, of salmon, of squid, of roe. A one-note mental drilling – loud, awful American ‘rap’ - did little to ease digestion. This might be a place where Snow White comes with her seven mates, but we certainly would not recommend it. We were still hungry and went back to our hotel for a sandwich!

Visited August 2025

Imaginative concept where we selected a number of different mostly fish dishes, which were served alongside accompanying dishes very elegantly. Excellent appetisers as well.

Visited August 2025

A restaurant experience! Food was excellent. Atmosphere pleasant and interesting. Highly recommend for tourists visiting Kanazawa. It’s a memorable evening!

Visited June 2025

Wow what a unique restaurant to visit . We really enjoyed our delicious lunch . The staff were very friendly and spoke great English. The menu was unique and pricing was excellent . Definitely recommend visiting when in Kanazawa . Just make sure you don’t have a hole in your sock as you must take yo...ur shoes off .

Visited May 2025

My travel partners and I do not eat raw food and Kanazawa did not have a lot of good options for us. I booked Tile hoping that there would be enough cooked/veg options. Overall the restaurant has a very cool vibe. It is in an old townhouse and you go up to the 2nd floor and sit on tatami mats to eat.... If you can't sit on the floor (or on a low chair) in a small space to eat, I'd suggest going elsewhere. The staff was exceptionally helpful in guiding us to what was cooked/veg. Two of us ordered the veg meal and it was very tasty and good quality. We also ordered soup and dessert, which were also good. This wasn't the best meal I've ever had but it was a great option for what we needed.

Visited March 2025