Some converted houses announce themselves. Takeru Quindici does the opposite: it is a kominka, an old Japanese wooden house, remade as an Italian restaurant, and it sits so quietly in the temple streets of Kita-Kamakura that it reads as part of the townscape rather than an intervention in it. It stands by Tokeiji, and it has a strong reputation locally.
Book. Genuinely.
This is the practical thing to take away. On a weekday, calling ahead, the only slot I could get was after 13:30 — and that turned out to be a single counter seat, with the tables around it full. If you want to eat here, reserve in advance rather than walking up.
The counter is not a consolation prize, incidentally. It is a good place to sit.
What lunch looked like
A note on dates: I ate here in October 2020. When I re-checked the restaurant’s own site in August 2026, the lunch courses had gone up and the structure had shifted — so read what follows as an impression of how the restaurant works, not as a menu to order from. The current hours, closing days and price bands are in the box at the end of this page.
Lunch was offered as three set courses at three price levels. The middle one ran: an antipasto plate, then a choice of pasta or pizza, then dessert and a drink.
The antipasto plate is what set the tone — salad, soup, pâté, carpaccio, meatballs, zeppoline, escabeche, all on one plate, and none of it phoned in. A kitchen introducing itself.
Small thing, noticed immediately: the water comes with herbs in it. It tells you what kind of attention to expect.
There is wine worth ordering. A Tuscan white — a La Lastra Vernaccia di San Gimignano, made from the local Vernaccia grape — came out very dry and clean, and sat easily alongside the food.
For the main course, hand-cut tagliatelle with salsiccia and mushroom cream (taken as a paid upgrade): good texture in the pasta, a rich sauce, and the salt and savour of the sausage giving it definition.
Dessert was a lemon panna cotta — milky and soft, lifted by the citrus.
Who it suits
A restaurant to build a day around rather than fall into: temple-hopping in the morning, a long lunch here, more temples afterwards. Balanced cooking from start to finish, in a house that looks like it belongs exactly where it is.
