Sû (グルテンフリー串揚げ スー) - Kushiage restaurant with a gluten-free focus in Tokyo.

There’s no shortage of great dinner picks in Tokyo.

With a population of over 14 million (and that’s just considering the city proper, not the full metropolitan area that almost triples that number), it’s hard to find a cuisine that’s not represented in the city. No wonder Tokyo is often named as one of the best food destinations in the world.

Ramen, tonkatsu, tempura, yakiniku, izakaya and, of course, sushi, plus an array of international options that span from African to Scandinavian cuisines, you’ll be more likely to get frustrated by not being able to pick a restaurant rather than at not finding one you want to try out.

For people with food allergies or special dietary requirements, though, the options can sometimes feel limited and the language barrier as a tourist doesn’t help. Luckily, a recent wave of restaurants that address that issue has been advancing, often combining that angle with a strong attention to quality.

I’m not personally coeliac, but when travelling with someone that is, the excitement they feel when they get the chance to try something they’d usually not be able to have is contagious.

This time, the choice was Sû (グルテンフリー串揚げ　スー), an intimate, reservation-only restaurant with room for 6 guests in Ginza, focusing on gluten-free kushiage.

What is Kushiage?

Speared on a bamboo skewer, battered and deep-fried.

Almost anything could be cooked that way and in Japan, kushiage (串揚げ) is a popular dish in which you’ll get anything from meat and seafood to vegetables, eggs, cheese and even more creative options prepared this way. To make it gluten-free and as accessible as possible, the coating is made using rice flour breadcrumbs, and all skewers are deep-fried in rice oil.

Not unlike yakitori and its grilled skewers, kushiage, also known as kushikatsu (串カツ) is a social way to pick and choose the different servings for your meal. It allows you to try as few or as many flavours and textures as you want at once, leaving you complete freedom when it comes to the order in which you eat them and what you decide to dip them into.

Sû: The menu.

When booking, you get the choice between a dinner menu with 2 appetizers, 11 skewers and dessert, or a lunch option with 7 skewers. There’s also a good drinks menu, covering anything from alcohol-free options to gluten-free beer and a variety of sakes, both dry, sweet and sparkling.

The menu changes daily to adapt to the season and the day’s catch. The dinner, served at the table that directly overlooks the chef’s station, generally opens with a traditional Japanese surinagashi soup that’s usually made by grinding a single seasonal ingredient to serve as the base to thicken a kelp and bonito flakes broth. When I was there, turnip was on the menu. Mild, warm and comforting. 

That was followed by morsels of fresh mackerel, marinated in plum vinegar and served cold on a bed of sabayon sauce. A refreshingly sour contrast after the warm soup.

To finish the appetisers, we were served a dish that’s been on the menu since the restaurant opened: kinkachu, a parcel of tofu filled with stewed beef tendon and tied to resemble a little lucky pouch. It’s then steamed, keeping all the juices in and bursting when you bite into it. Another change of pace following the fish: smooth, very meaty and lusciously collagenous.

Everything came with a purple cabbage salad with yuzu dressing. Fresh and crunchy, a perfect contrast to the fried skewers coming up.

At Sû, you’ll get two basic dipping options, flaky salt and a homemade Worcestershire sauce, and you’re encouraged to experiment and pair those as you like. Some of the skewers will, however, come with their own glaze or sauce, and the chef will be there to guide you on the best match.

But what did I get, you might ask?

The kushiage part of the dinner was divided into two main sections.
We started with a prawn, meaty and tender, a crab croquette that was creamy and slightly sweet, and a strip of Kumamoto Wagyu beef, which is a constant on the menu.

And then it was time for the first bite that came with its own assigned pairing, the Spanish mackerel, with a strip of butter on top, slowly melting. Meaty, flaky and rich thanks to the added touch of dairy.

Continuing the buttery streak, the scallop was very simple, fresh and plump.

After a sip of sake and a bite of cold sesame tofu with a cocoa edge and some yuzu zest that served as a refreshing interlude, came the 3-skewer sequence that was the highlight of the evening for me.

The fatsia sprout eased us back into a frying mood thanks to the vegetable’s slightly bitter and grassy note. It was followed by a rich, almost creamy, domestic salmon confit and by tender octopus with a miso and monkfish liver paté that was my favourite bite of the night. Polarising, maybe, but with a strong point of view and an intense personality.

The duck was juicy, its gamey taste balanced by the red wine sauce, contrasting the morsel of bluefin tuna and its simplicity that came after that, which I chose to simply dip in salt. The fried oysters came in a croquette smothered in an intensely savoury sauce with a slight tang.

To wrap things up, dessert came in the form of a warabi mochi, a soft jelly made using starch from a plant in the fern family and covered in toasted soybean flour, with an apple and ginger sauce. Fresh, fruity and bright, a good choice to wrap up a dinner that revolved around the fryer.

Finding the restaurant feels a bit like a treasure hunt: tucked away in a side street deep into Ginza and on the second floor in an unassuming building, only the instructions you get via email after you book will make directions slightly clearer.

Once you get in, though, it’s an experience, with the bonus of direct contact with the chef and a sleek and refined ambience adding an extra touch to an intimate dining experience that will allow you to relax in the heart of Tokyo for a couple of hours.

Reservation is required, and I’d try to book at least 2-3 weeks in advance to make sure you get one of the 6 spots.

Gluten-Free Kushiage Su
Japan, 〒104-0061 Tokyo, Chuo City
Ginza, 8 Chome−15−2 パークビル 2階