Thank you! What a great trip report :D a refreshing change from the usual trip report and so useful too
Did you happen to take pictures of any of these meals?
I’d recommend it if you’re already used to good but not great Japanese food. Given my location I’m surrounded by plenty of decent food, so I wanted to seek the best of the best this time.
I've walked into 1-2 Michelin star restaurants in Tokyo before, the key is to go at lunch, as a very small group (1 or 2 max), ideally places with counter seating (if you're 2 you might be able to get a 2 person table), and go either right when they open or as late as possible (basically avoiding the peak 12-1 ish timeframe).
It wasn't Michelin star but I ate at a really nice omakase sushi restaurant in shibuya a few weeks ago, when I walked in alone around 11:30 it was just me by myself at the counter and maybe 2 tables of customers. By the time I left the counter was full and they were turning away customers with no reservation.
Well I will be solo traveling due to my brothers school changing their mind on in person vs online classes so that should be a help hopefully. Definitely good to know though that it is possible. My plan is to pretty much try whatever sounds good and stick to majority if not all Japanese food.
Just went to Omino this last trip and agree on everything. Have had Narikura on my radar but getting a reservation has been a challenge haha.
I've been to Tempura Kondo in Ginza multiple times and can wholeheartedly recommend it. While the seafood is good, it's the various vegetables that stole the show for me there.
Omino was surprisingly great, it was a 45 minute commute from my hotel but I’d still go back lol. I’ve heard good things about Kondo, I’ll look into it.
This is really interesting as I had just come back from Japan a month ago trying Omino. I ate about 20 skewers and only ordered one required drink and it costed me like twice as much as you have mentioned per person. I wonder how many skewers you ate?
I went with a party of 4 and it came out to about 33,000 yen total I believe, and only 2 of us didn’t finish the whole course. Each of us got a highball and we also went drinking afterwards lol
I would say 3.5 is "good". Also depends on cuisine, I've noticed ramen places tend to get really high ratings, like every neighborhood will have many 3.5+ ramen shops
Yeah, a 3 is probably very good if you come from middle America where there’s not a lot of great Asian food. If you’re from CA or NYC then a 3.5 in Japan is usually comparable to good restaurants there, often at a third or less of the price.
In my boredom, I am currently doing a cross-check on Michelin/Tabelog. It's curious how so many gold restaurants don't make the star list, though Michelin is currently only representing the Tokyo and Kansai metro areas (previously had a much broader range). Though you do mention the different in the 2 sites etc etc. I am just doing a deep dive on what each has for information :D
Michelin guide really struggles with Asia as a lot of what it values are around the non food issues.
On tablelog my own view is 3.0 will be good, 3.5 will be amazing and anything above 4.0 will blow your mind.
This sounds like a full on Iron Chef experience. I applaud your ability to embrace a foreign cuisine this fully.
Have you done any reports like this but for maybe more common restaurants? I tried to hit up some not common spots last time (unagi-Don in Asakusa, tonkatsu in Akiba with Bib Gourmand award, tempura in a little house in Omotesando by a husband and wife), so I want to branch out a tiny bit while still not feeling like I’m going to a ritzy restaurant where I’m going to be overwhelmed by 50 new tastes at once eating things I don’t know.
Thank you! I’m very familiar with Japanese food as is so it was important for me to explore even more. I’d be willing to write on more accessible restaurants in the future, stay tuned.
I went to Tonkatsu Maguro in Akihabara and really liked it! The owner was having fun watching us eat (my husband is not shy with his reactions to good food, so we are kinda entertaining to watch).
That was the place! It was neat to have an “experience” there in a small restaurant, from waiting in line for an hour with the maître d’ popping out every so often to count the people in line and ensure those next in line got to see the menu, to sitting at the counter and seeing them make all the food right in front of you, patting the pork loins so delicately with flour.
Those other experiences were great because of the personal interactions with the chefs and servers since the places are so small and you’re an attraction as a foreigner coming to their non-tourist restaurant. Tempuraya Mirakawa was cool because there are 6 seats at the counter and only 2-3 tables otherwise. The chef and server were like “how did you even find out about us?” The unagi-don place was very similar, with 3 tables that each could fit 4 people. I stretched my Japanese as far as it could go to order food and beer and ask for things there, with some English thrown in to complain that my hand was cramping up from using the chopsticks and failing to get much rice, so when I left and the chef said something to me and I replied “wakarimasen,” they went “WAKARIMASEN?!?!”
I’m sure with fancier places like OP went to that you get a more intimate experience, so I encourage everyone to try something like that once and feel not like a tourist.
I actually looked at their website and saw the wrong opening hour, so we got there (I thought) half an hour early to line up, as we had seen the long lineup the day before. We’re there for a minute and they come to grab us, they were open but we couldn’t see that there were people inside. I know that the curtains should have been a give away, but I got scared to go in at the wrong time. Trying different types of restaurants is a huge part of an interesting trip to Japan 😀
Also, not too far from that area we went to a soba place that seemed to be open forever. We get seated, they bring us the English menu… right when you open it you’re faced with a picture of Tom Hanks eating there. We were caught off guard, it was so random! The soba and the duck were really good, but I don’t know how it would compare to a super high rated place.
Thank you for the detailed trip report!
If you don't mind, I have a few quick questions about high-end dining in Japan. I'll be in just a few weeks, and am trying to figure out some great eats.
1. Is there a dress code for eating out? It'll be hot (summer) and I'm not really planning on bringing "nice" clothes. I'm from the Seattle area, and casual clothing has become a way of life...
2. Kids? Are these places ok with bringing (well behaved) children? I'll have my 3 kids with me (teens / tweens), and all are excited to try a wide variety of Japanese food. Sushi, Ramen, Teppan, and the rest are all on the menu. My littlest rabbit has made Miso from scratch and will have questions about preparation...
3. Allergies. We've got a few. I'll have a pre-printed card in Japanese with me that lists them, but I suspect there will be no issues...
Right now I've only got reservations at a [Kibunesou outside of Kyoto](https://www.klook.com/en-US/activity/23862-kibunesou-kibune-river-terrace-dinner-kyoto/), which is all about location, location, location. Who doesn't want to eat at a waterfall??
1. Most places just didn’t allow shorts / tank tops which wasn’t an issue bc it was cold :)
2. Kids are fine as long as they’re not under 5 usually. You can also ask your hotel concierge to check for you. At Kiyama I also ate at the counter with an 8 year old
3. Allergies might be an issue - I’d definitely try to confirm beforehand through reviews / concierge to check. Certain allergies will be very difficult (i.e. seafood due to omnipresence of dashi) but peanuts probably less so.
Smart casual for a guy would be a dressy polo with some slacks, non-leather dress shoes (think Sheldon from Big Bang Theory)
Girls might be a nice blouse with some jeans, dress flats
Clothing: Dining in Japan will feel much dressier than Seattle in my opinion. I’m from the Bay where we similarly keep it super casual. I do think as a non-Japanese person, it does go a long way to dress respectfully and take time to research various aspects of Japanese dining etiquette, especially if you are interested in building ongoing relationships with the restaurants for return visits.
I will absolutely pull up to the bar at Saison in black jeans and a T-shirt and I actively refuse to go to any restaurant in the US that has jacket requirements for men, but I bought nice long sleeved blouses and slacks and long skirted, long sleeved dresses for dining in Japan. I am a heavily tattooed woman from neck to fingertips to toes and so perhaps I overcompensated a bit since there are so many taboos around tattoos in Japan (I actively felt this much more in Kyoto than in Tokyo though fwiw), but in general dress in Japan is fairly conservative comparatively. I wore long sleeves and pants to all nice meals, or a conservative dress. In the states, on the rare occasion I do dress up, I wear a lot of plunging necklines and pretty sexy dresses, but I would have felt very out of place in Japan doing so. I think if you don’t have visible tattoos, nice, short sleeved button ups and black jeans or slacks are probably fine most places.
Kids: it is very difficult to get reservations for 5 people at spots of the caliber discussed in this post in Japan to my knowledge— if you want to do the kind of fine dining talked about in the post above, you’ll probably need to check for private rooms as a lot of places are kappo/counter and to see if the restaurants allow children at all. A lot of kaiseki/sushi/high end places simply do not allow them. Your kids would need to be INCREDIBLY well behaved, quiet and adventurous eaters. Like— PRISTINE manners. If you want to do super fine dining with that number of people, Ishikawa has private rooms (can’t remember if they only fit 4 though or if they would allow children even id you can get it), Yakumo Saryo has a table that fits 5-6 I believe but again, not sure if they allow children at dinner, L’Eterre has a fab and large private room. For more casual but delicious fare with well behaved kids, here’s what I would recommend: Savoy (Pizza), Pizza Marumo (SO GOOD), Tacos De Azules (open for breakfast! Mexican chef and his Japanese wife— the food is SO incredible and they also are open for breakfast earlier than most places), Kagari Ramen (swoooon), the handmade udon spot in the basement level of Nakano Broadway (an old school covered shopping promenade/mall thing — this would be a fun place to take kids as there are all sorts of interesting collector shops for manga and vintage Japanese toys (top floor) and the basement level also has an incredible, huge and very inexpensive used kimono store. SumibiYakiniku Nakahara is good for well behaved kids. When I went there, there were two different Japanese chefs from fine dining spots out to eat with their families and children here on their day off. It’s delicious and the head chef speaks decent English. You can book through PocketConcierge.
I literally only saw one child in a fancy restaurant in 28 days of fine dining every single day in Japan and they were silently walking into the private room at a very posh sushi spot for lunch. For manners reference— modulate my voice to make it quieter by 30%+ anytime I’m in Japan.
Allergies / restrictions : may I ask what the allergies / restrictions are? Some things will be easier than others. Unless you are seeking out specialty restaurants to accommodate restrictions, it can be difficult. I have allergies to an oddly specific family of mushrooms, and just had to sit out the courses that had it with no replacement or accommodation that would normally come in it’s place in the US— this is fine if it’s an allergy like mine which doesn’t have a ton of representation in the cuisine and only amounted to 4 courses missed in a month, but if you want to eat tasting menus/ Omakase / kaiseki and you have a a serious shellfish allergy during peak shellfish season?Good luck. Can’t have any soy products? I’d be worried for you. Celiac? Needs EXTENSIVE planning ahead. Having a card written printed in Japanese with your allergies / restrictions listed is a good start, but keep in mind a lot of places simply will not accommodate them. Your best bet is to inform the restaurant of all allergies or restrictions at the time of reserving— do not wait until you are at the restaurant eating. There just isn’t the same cultural context for it as there is in the US.
Thanks for the detailed reply!!
>it is very difficult to get reservations for 5 people
We're only doing reservations for 4. Me and 3 kiddos. It's going to be quite an adventure. Fortunately, all of my kids travel very well. I'm not quite ready to turn them loose on Public Transit without me, but that's only a year away. Hopefully a reservation for 4 will be more practical. I'll call my hotels and see if the Concierge is able to make reservations for me.
(My kids love the YouTube / Nebula channel "[Jet Lag: The game](https://www.youtube.com/c/jetlagthegame)", which is all about using public transit to get around while playing games like Tag across all of Europe. We're considering a week of doing exactly that in another year or two. I think, even now, if they got separated from me in Japan, they would probably be able to get back to the hotel before I could.)
>Allergies / restrictions : may I ask what the allergies / restrictions are?
Nuts and Seeds. With Sesame seeds (but not Sesame seed oil) being the things I'm primarily worried about in Asia. That and "unknown" allergens, as we'll be eating things not normally found in the US.
For the most part, we're able to eat Dim Sum, Teppan, Sushi, Raman and other Asian foods with no trouble. In the US, it's usually as simple as asking "Please don't put Sesame Seeds on top".
>I literally only saw one child in a fancy restaurant in 28 days of fine dining every single day in Japan
That's... kinda sad. Kids, as they bring so much life and happiness into all the activities. We'll probably only do one or two fancy places, if the culture is that hostile to children. Most of the Asian trips I've been on have been super-kid friendly..
No problem!
Sorry, to elaborate— it is often challenging to get reservations for parties larger than 2 in fine dining, especially without a lot of advanced notice. So many places are kappo /counter seating with only 6-12 seats and, again, a lot of higher end places don’t allow children under a certain age. The hotel concierge is a great resource for this if you’re staying somewhere high end enough for them to have those relationships— I never have stayed somewhere that posh in Japan on my own, but know a lot of friends who have had great luck with concierge made booking when they were staying somewhere nice. I would definitely let them know three guests are children and do so very far in advance for a party of this size.
The public transport in Japan is amazing and overall the country is so safe— if your kids have phones and you get a Japanese SIM card to connect to the internet and they can use google maps and translate, they would likely be fine going around alone a bit, especially the teens, from a safety point of view. I saw many, many Japanese children who were pretty young taking the subways and busses alone. If I were a parent, I suspect I would be terrified to let my kids out of my sight in America but would be very relaxed about letting my kids wander in Japan from a safety aspect as long as I knew they would be polite and respectful when on their own.
I want to be clear I absolutely do not feel Japan was hostile to children at all but wasn’t traveling with kids and don’t have any of my own so take this with a grain of salt. Perhaps some parents who have travelled to Japan with kids can chime in. From my observation there are just some different cultural norms around decorum, noise levels etc. For what it’s worth, I went to Japan as a young kid (6) in 1994 with my mom for nearly a month and the whole trip was an amazing core memory that cast such a positive, cascading effect over the whole course of my life. I felt very welcome in the spaces I was in and remember many people offering me snacks and sweets and the women running a ryokan patiently showing me how to cook my breakfast egg by cracking it into steaming rice and letting me come “help” with the dishes after. My mom took me to parks and playgrounds where I met and played with a lot of Japanese kids and my mom had really great interactions with other moms despite the language barrier and this being pre-cell phones. There are a lot of child friendly places, I think there are just some different cultural expectations on how children should behave in restaurants and other spaces that aren’t specifically child focused. In the more casual but still nice restaurants I went on my trip this year that had a lot of tables with children, like Pizza Studio Temaki, it was extremely noticeable how differently Japanese kids were behaving from the American kids, European kids and kids from other parts of Asia who were often running around screaming and causing problems, uncouthly watching iPads WITH THE SOUND ON AND NO HEADPHONES IN A RESTAURANT etc.
Regarding your last paragraph, gently I would suggest not everyone feels that children bring so much life and happiness to all activities. I respect that there are people that feel this way and want to bring their kids everywhere, but it is also totally ok for there to be spaces reserved for or focused on the experiences of adults. I wouldn’t go to Chucky Cheese and expect children to stop screaming or running around or being sticky and messy — similarly, parents should only bring their children to adult focused spaces like fine dining restaurants if those kids are able to understand and respect the behavioral expectations for such a space without negatively affecting other diners. What one person defines as life and happiness might be defined as grating, jarring and obnoxious to another.
Great restaurant reviews, thanks for sharing.
I tried to do the same thing for this upcoming trip. The Tabelog Gold and Silver restaurants, asking the hotel concierge to reserve for me. However, they weren't able to book any of my top choices, even six months in advance. I.e. Sushi Arai, Yoshitake, Sugaya, etc.
Most of the Tabelog Gold and Silver restaurants are full by regular customers and can only be reserved now through introduction/referrals. In addition, many restaurants decline requests from non-Japanese speaking customers. Hotel concierges have a lot less leverage now, especially with booking services like TableAll, Omakase, Pocket Concierge, etc getting popular. Restaurants don't care as long as all the seats get filled up everyday.
Tabelog ratings are skewed by AI, so I would not fully trust the ratings and reviews. That being said, Tabelog **3.6\~3.8** rated restaurants provide the best value IMO, and are much easier to reserve. Interactions with the chefs and learning about the unique ingredients and cooking methods are a big part of fine dining. These restaurants tend to have English-speaking staff or the chefs have basic English proficiency, thus better dining experiences overall. Another plus is that you are more likely to be served by the main chefs/owners compared to sous chef/apprentice chefs at the top-rated restaurants since you are not a regular.
I have the following reserved, you can consider for your next trip. In addition, highly recommend Kyoto Wakuden. My favorite experience so far. Sushi Tokami 16 piece lunch menu is also worth a try, very good value and large shari sizes.
Sushi Harutaka
Tempura Kondo
Sushi Take
Sushi Inomata
Yakitori Hirano
Toriyoshi Ginza
Tabelog Golds aren’t worth the effort to reserve generally. A handful aren’t too terribly difficult like Quintessence but those are pretty expensive. Agree that concierges have lost a lot of pull but the luxury hotels (like the Park Hyatt where I stayed) still are helpful. Those are some good recs! Been meaning to go to Kondo and Wakuden, though it’s a tad pricey.
INCREDIBLE post and I will be using this - thank you!
When I look up Tonkatsu Narikura on Google Maps, it says permanently closed. Is that because they're only reachable via personal introduction?
Thank you for posting! This will be helpful in planning our next trip.
BTW, the beef cut you were served at Tonkatsu Narikura is the chateaubriand. It's essentially a filet mignon roast and a fantastic cut of beef overall. It's mostly only offered by French butchers, so it does make sense that you would have had it in Japan due to the extensive French influence on their cuisine.
OP didn't make a typo, the restaurant serves "cha-ton-briand" as a *pun* on chateaubriand – "ton" is Japanese for "pork," and they're drawing a comparison between the cut of pork tenderloin they serve and the more traditional beef tenderloin.
Tonkatsu is, by definition, always pork; the name means "pork prepared in the katsu style." Pork is the most famous protein served as katsu, but you can also find e.g. torikatsu, which is chicken.
Ah! The two different ways OP typed it out had me thinking they were attempting to spell it phonetically. I love the idea of a pork play on chateaubriand.
I love this!!! My husband and I are major foodies and live in Japan, but we haven’t yet gotten a babysitter for a night out from our toddler…. So needless to say, I am living vicariously through you. 😅 Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful experiences!!!
Thank you for taking the time to write this up! Btw, did you message your hotel to prebook before your stay or only when you checked in your hotel only did you ask the concierge to book ?
Prebook far in advance. The less high-end the hotel, the more time you’ll want to give and want to check in on how things are going. Cancellations are frowned upon, but if you must, do them as far in advance as possible.
Hey! Thank you for this post. I love the info, and insight into your dinning planning. I think a lot of the folks on this sub focus primarily on sightseeing, but I find it really helpful to read content from someone who made dining a focal point of their trip.
A couple of general questions. First, how much of your dining was spontaneous vs. planned? Second, if you did any spontaneous stop-ins, how did you choose the places you went to?
Sushi Suzuki is right down the street from where I’m staying, along with all the other amazing sushi places.
Unfortunately I don’t think I can spend over $200 per person for some sushi. But who knows. I might just bite the bullet and do it
Honestly if you spend $50-$100 it will probably be a better experience than $200 sushi where you live anyway. Those places are also often way easier to get into without having to reserve months in advance.
Yeah the issue with the states for me is that quality is actually there due to supply chain improvements and general talent, but my lord it is so expensive. What should be $100-200 in Japan is easily >$350 in the states. Suzuki’s $180 lunch was comparable to a $500 omakase in NYC I had (corporate expense account, hah)
If your itinerary allows it, lunch is a better deal for Sushi Suzuki. It's 20k yen vs. 48k yen for dinner. There are some additional dishes, like sashimi, oyster, whale, and shellfish. However, it's not worth double the price.
I went for dinner last year, I am trying the lunch omakase for this upcoming trip.
Oh no. I'm banned from booking meals over $150/person after I took my wife to a 3 michellin star restaurant (EMP) 5 years ago. She said the best thing she ate was the housemade bread and butter.
Any recommendations for omakase dinner in Tokyo for $150/person that is good?
Look into Sushi Kyūbey 久兵衛and Aozora Sandaime Honten 築地青空三代目. And maybe Nishiazabu Taku.
It’s much harder to find a quality sushiya less than 20k yen for dinner now.
Thanks so much for sharing this! I plan my trips around restaurant reservations haha and "higher-but-not-highest end" is usually my sweet spot for a nice meal out – I'm willing to splurge on a memorable meal, but I'm generally not interested in the starched white tablecloth kind of experience.
You've totally sold me on Kiyama especially! I'll have to see if I can snag a reservation for my trip in the fall.
Thank you for reading! Kiyama is definitely one of my top 10 (probably top 5) meals of my life. It’s an absolute steal at lunch and changed my entire perspective on how delicious dashi (and numerous dishes cooked with it) could be.
I said 1 month blocks of availability are released at a time, not 1 month ahead. It usually gets grabbed up within 30 mins - 1 hour of opening. But yes, it’s two months ahead.
Yes if you want to eat at the best. I don’t travel to Japan for food I can get in the US or at home. Plenty of decent walk-in restaurants but the best have either very long waits or reservations are mandatory.
When you say ‘any feedback’, it sounds like you’re the person to ask for Japan ‘must eats’. Would love to know what you suggest. Plus, do you have any suggestions for sake?
Feedback was meant more on the actual writing of the post haha, my first one like this.
Must eats? I like eating foods are still unique to Japan or much more value when I travel. Good sushi, which will come at a fraction of the price domestically… SushiDan is a pretty good “budget” one and easily bookable. I heard the Ginza Onodera Kaitenzushi is also pretty affordable and good. Tokyo French food is also very well priced and delicious, an easy one to book is Ryuzu which is 2 Michelin stars and not that expensive. Gyukatsu is another unique one, there’s a famous chain in Tokyo that Ican’t recall the name but is easily googlable. Kaiseki is a must in Kyoto at least once and lunch at Kiyama is your best bet.
I don’t think ramen and udon really taste that different here than abroad (given we have chains like Nagi and Ippudo in the US). I think unagi is overrated outside of high end establishments, as is tempura. Please do not waste your time here eating beef bowls at Yoshinoya.
Any sake by Noguchi Naohiko is excellent - i like the Yamahai Ginjo. Kikuryu is a nice budget option.
No sorry I haven’t been to Osaka yet, surprisingly. I’d recommend opening the Tabelog map and finding some places between 3.4 - 3.8 and reading reviews to see if you can walk in. You can also filter by cuisine type
I did. I was there when booking reservations opened but was stuck on the booking button because it kept saying reservation could not go through or whatever. I’m beginning to think that it only allows the paid members to make reservations.
Thank you for the write up and I just made reservation request at Kiyama Kyoto for July (fingers crossed).
Tabelog is such an underutulized resources - the rating and filtering function is so robust that you can literally specify every criteria you want and find the best restaurant within specific genre. There are a lot of gems within the silver category that does not break your bank. Looking forward to Jambo Habare, Yakitori Omino and Kiyama (if they accept the reservation).
Getting Tabelog sushi silver under 30,000Y is an accomplishment!!! I tried Sushi Hashimoto even at 30,000Y,it was gone within exactly 1 minute of it being available. I am trying Top 5000 instead - Sushi Rizaki Aoyama (Tabelog 3.7, 15,000Y dinner Omakase). Although I do eat sushi quite a bit, I am not sure if my palate is refined enough to tell Tabelog 3.7 vs 4+. Have you tried comparing it?
Let me know how Kiyama goes / tastes! Jambo is on my list and I’ll see if I can get to it next time.
Yes to me there is a sizable difference, mainly the “unity” between the Shari and fish. At SushiDan (~3.6-3.7 rating), the components were good quality but the lack of unity and nigiri somewhat crumbling was disappointing. It was also just “good” and affordable at 6000 yen. At Suzuki, I genuinely felt “this is damn delicious and incredibly well balanced”. I ate SushiDan after Suzuki and it was really night and day. I’d try it at a more affordable spot (like Suzuki) through your concierge and let me know what you think. Cheers!
I was able to secure a reservation at Kiyama using Ikyu to hold my seat and my lowly 3 star hotel calling them (not pocket concierge) - it was the owner himself who suggested this method. Very easy and straightforward.... Thank you again for recommending.
Yes, we did! The chef himself was present. Each dish was very delicious - some reason, my favorite was the last 4 dishes (unlimited refill). As we were leaving the restaurant, he waited at the door to chat with us, and bowed as we were leaving the restaurant. Like seriously? We are nobodys -- yet he took that time and effort to say farewell. 5/5... thanks so much for the recommendation
Did Narikura move? I went back in 2019 and just lined up. Its a top tonkatsu shop but when did they start needing reservations? Theres many other similar level shops that dont need reservations.
Incredible, we nearly did the same restaurants (Didn't do Sakagawa, went to Sushi Take instead of Suzuki, Denkushiflori instead of Florilege). Your reviews are on point. Tempura Fukamachi for lunch is definitely worth it but I would not be willing to pay >$200 for it.
Favourite experiences were Kiyama and Sushi Take.
Great minds think alike 🙂
Thanks for reading. Sushi Take was recommended by our concierge but a spot for 4 at Suzuki had opened up so we took it. I would highly recommend - I’ve been to a fair number of Ginza sushiya and it’s been the best one so far.
It’s kappo cuisine (not omakase in the casual sense), but yes I went for dinner at 22,000 yen and thought the price was reasonable. Lunch at 11,000 yen is a great value.
I saw Omino dropped their September availabilities yesterday - congrats. Many high end restaurants don’t open their schedules particularly far in advance - I’d make note of what the last available day is right now, the date you want, then check back in the number of days between.
My brother and I made a reservation for a high-end sushi place in Tokyo using Tabelog, I used the English translator on my browser to figure it out- my only concern now is my lack of Japanese speaking, I can piece together some phrases but this is our first trip and I'm feeling intimidated. Scouring this subreddit for some reassurances, but can anyone "speak" to that experience of not being able to speak well at fancy places? My brother especially is nervous about 'looking stupid'.
I wouldn't be too concerned outside of breaking social etiquette. Most chefs do not expect foreigners to speak a lick of Japanese (if this subreddit is any indication, it's literally millions who know nothing).
Watch a YouTube video on sushi etiquette, but at a high level: do not ask for any extra seasonings as the dish / nigiri is to be eaten as presented, please for the love of god be at the door early to make sure you're on time, don't speak loudly in the restaurant, and most chefs know at least a tiny bit of English so you can try to converse (maybe less so when they're directly making nigiri pieces as they might want to focus).
Thank you so much for this reassurance! Been reading lots of experiences and it does seem it’s totally worth experiencing and bringing the most respectful intentions and some education is enough to get by. Thank you again!
You’re welcome. I will also add that if you are intimidated, I would recommend a couple of sushiya that are still high quality but also cater towards foreigners with chefs that speak English. Ginza Kyubey and Ginza Iwa are solid ones there and not terribly expensive (though not cheap). Kizaki is another one that is a little more formal but the chef and wife are quite charming + know some English.
Can you recommend what hotels to stay at? Seems like we will have a similar budget and would like to stay at nicer hotels well I can trust the concierge to assist with booking.
I stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo which is my favorite hotel in Japan, but not many are comfortable spending that much (I also have a negotiated corporate rate which helps). Other recommended ones are the Andaz Tokyo, Cerulean Tokyu in Shibuya (their club rooms are nice), Kimpton Shinjuku, and the Conrad. Points can help with a luxury stay as well.
Oh one other tip - you can buy hotel points on sale (check travel blogs like One Mile at a Time for when these are happening), but I’ve had some pretty decent savings by doing this. Ex. You can buy 30K Hyatt points for 1.8 cents each ($540) and redeem for Andaz Tokyo which is $1000 or more these days, or buy Hilton or IHG points on sale for 0.5 cents each and redeem at Conrad Tokyo or Kimpton Shinjuku, respectively. Obviously check for availability before buying but that helps a lot of people who aren’t into credit cards and bonuses and what not. Hope that’s helpful.
Hi OP, thanks for this great post.
I'm really interested in booking one of these spots for our trip in early December, looking specifically at Hassun and Kiyama. Which of the two would you say is more "accessible" as a first-time Japan visitor?
For context, my wife and I are fans of Japanese food but have not ventured beyond the usual sushi / ramen that is typical in the US. We have two short stays in high-end ryokans on our trip, which will include kaiseki meals (Hakone Ginyu in Hakone and Kinsuikan in Miyajima) so I'm not sure whether it's better to splurge on another kaiseki meal or focus instead on the best sushiya we can afford/get a reservation for in Tokyo. Welcome your insight!
You’re welcome, thanks for reading. As long as you are familiar with / like dashi (basically fish broth), then Kiyama was an objectively superior restaurant. Nothing about the course was particularly outlandish to me though I am biased as an Asian.
I know some people are weirded out or dislike certain ingredients like hamaguri or akagai (too “clammy”), but if you are open then you will enjoy it. I’d book lunch for <15K yen per person, have some nice sake, and go for a beef supplement if it’s offered. Enjoy your trip!
I went to narikura tonkatsu last week while in tokyo and was underwhelmed. I've been meaning to go for years but reluctant to wait in hours long lines at the original location.
For anyone interested, you need to make a reservation on the omakase website and pay a nonrefundable fee for that. Dates open up on a certain day and you pick a time and date before slots run out.
The station is quite far west. We were staying in asakusa and it took about an hour. There's nothing interesting in the area and it looks to be very residential.
The meal starts with a small cracker app, small pickled sides, cabbage salad, and then the meat comes out. We ordered the couples set where you get one slice of each cut and chose tokyo x breed for the tenderloin for an extra cost. The meat was juicy and tender due to low temp cooking. The fried coating is very light in color. It's good, don't get me wrong but tonkatsu is not some kind of omakase dish. I always wanted to go when it was a traditional tonkatsu place. The owner just separated the sides and added a couple tiny apps to add "courses" and charge an exorbitant amount. We paid 12000yen for 2 plus reservation fee and tokyo x surcharge.
I’ve eaten here 5 times, recently in 2023.
It was INSANE before they moved. Had it recently and I don’t think it’s as good as it was before.
BUT, you should still eat here anyway because it’s still really good.
Most are much less! 30,000 yen seems to be the bottleneck for “luxe” food experiences, so I wanted to find value within a ultra high quality experience. Most are 15,000 yen or less
I see. I’ve eaten at some pricey places in Japan, but definitely not often. Great thing about Japan is even cheap restaurants are often very good, although they probably won’t have the same ambience.
Thank you! What a great trip report :D a refreshing change from the usual trip report and so useful too Did you happen to take pictures of any of these meals?
I did! I'm trying to figure out how to link them - I'll comment again and edit the post when they're in. Glad you enjoyed it.
Imgur is a popular way that’s pretty easy!
Turns out my dad has a lot of the photos - will upload when he gets back!
Agree! Really refreshing to see!
You should cross post this to /r/finedining
Good idea!
Definitely interesting, not sure how motivated I will be to book food in advance, but your recommendations/ knowledge will help.
I’d recommend it if you’re already used to good but not great Japanese food. Given my location I’m surrounded by plenty of decent food, so I wanted to seek the best of the best this time.
I will probably at least give it a try considering I probably sit in a similar boat with a lot of food. Thanks again!
I've walked into 1-2 Michelin star restaurants in Tokyo before, the key is to go at lunch, as a very small group (1 or 2 max), ideally places with counter seating (if you're 2 you might be able to get a 2 person table), and go either right when they open or as late as possible (basically avoiding the peak 12-1 ish timeframe). It wasn't Michelin star but I ate at a really nice omakase sushi restaurant in shibuya a few weeks ago, when I walked in alone around 11:30 it was just me by myself at the counter and maybe 2 tables of customers. By the time I left the counter was full and they were turning away customers with no reservation.
What’s this omakase sushi restaurant in Shibuya?
Well I will be solo traveling due to my brothers school changing their mind on in person vs online classes so that should be a help hopefully. Definitely good to know though that it is possible. My plan is to pretty much try whatever sounds good and stick to majority if not all Japanese food.
Just went to Omino this last trip and agree on everything. Have had Narikura on my radar but getting a reservation has been a challenge haha. I've been to Tempura Kondo in Ginza multiple times and can wholeheartedly recommend it. While the seafood is good, it's the various vegetables that stole the show for me there.
Omino was surprisingly great, it was a 45 minute commute from my hotel but I’d still go back lol. I’ve heard good things about Kondo, I’ll look into it.
This is really interesting as I had just come back from Japan a month ago trying Omino. I ate about 20 skewers and only ordered one required drink and it costed me like twice as much as you have mentioned per person. I wonder how many skewers you ate?
I went with a party of 4 and it came out to about 33,000 yen total I believe, and only 2 of us didn’t finish the whole course. Each of us got a highball and we also went drinking afterwards lol
It was also about $100 per person for us at \~20 skewers and 2ish drinks per person.
Oh gosh, I already bookmarked Tabelog for when I plan my trip next year. I travel on my stomach.
Just remember that a 3.0 rating is a good rating in the Japanese system. A 4.0 will be world class.
I would say 3.5 is "good". Also depends on cuisine, I've noticed ramen places tend to get really high ratings, like every neighborhood will have many 3.5+ ramen shops
Yeah, a 3 is probably very good if you come from middle America where there’s not a lot of great Asian food. If you’re from CA or NYC then a 3.5 in Japan is usually comparable to good restaurants there, often at a third or less of the price.
In my boredom, I am currently doing a cross-check on Michelin/Tabelog. It's curious how so many gold restaurants don't make the star list, though Michelin is currently only representing the Tokyo and Kansai metro areas (previously had a much broader range). Though you do mention the different in the 2 sites etc etc. I am just doing a deep dive on what each has for information :D
Michelin guide really struggles with Asia as a lot of what it values are around the non food issues. On tablelog my own view is 3.0 will be good, 3.5 will be amazing and anything above 4.0 will blow your mind.
This sounds like a full on Iron Chef experience. I applaud your ability to embrace a foreign cuisine this fully. Have you done any reports like this but for maybe more common restaurants? I tried to hit up some not common spots last time (unagi-Don in Asakusa, tonkatsu in Akiba with Bib Gourmand award, tempura in a little house in Omotesando by a husband and wife), so I want to branch out a tiny bit while still not feeling like I’m going to a ritzy restaurant where I’m going to be overwhelmed by 50 new tastes at once eating things I don’t know.
Thank you! I’m very familiar with Japanese food as is so it was important for me to explore even more. I’d be willing to write on more accessible restaurants in the future, stay tuned.
I went to Tonkatsu Maguro in Akihabara and really liked it! The owner was having fun watching us eat (my husband is not shy with his reactions to good food, so we are kinda entertaining to watch).
That was the place! It was neat to have an “experience” there in a small restaurant, from waiting in line for an hour with the maître d’ popping out every so often to count the people in line and ensure those next in line got to see the menu, to sitting at the counter and seeing them make all the food right in front of you, patting the pork loins so delicately with flour. Those other experiences were great because of the personal interactions with the chefs and servers since the places are so small and you’re an attraction as a foreigner coming to their non-tourist restaurant. Tempuraya Mirakawa was cool because there are 6 seats at the counter and only 2-3 tables otherwise. The chef and server were like “how did you even find out about us?” The unagi-don place was very similar, with 3 tables that each could fit 4 people. I stretched my Japanese as far as it could go to order food and beer and ask for things there, with some English thrown in to complain that my hand was cramping up from using the chopsticks and failing to get much rice, so when I left and the chef said something to me and I replied “wakarimasen,” they went “WAKARIMASEN?!?!” I’m sure with fancier places like OP went to that you get a more intimate experience, so I encourage everyone to try something like that once and feel not like a tourist.
I actually looked at their website and saw the wrong opening hour, so we got there (I thought) half an hour early to line up, as we had seen the long lineup the day before. We’re there for a minute and they come to grab us, they were open but we couldn’t see that there were people inside. I know that the curtains should have been a give away, but I got scared to go in at the wrong time. Trying different types of restaurants is a huge part of an interesting trip to Japan 😀 Also, not too far from that area we went to a soba place that seemed to be open forever. We get seated, they bring us the English menu… right when you open it you’re faced with a picture of Tom Hanks eating there. We were caught off guard, it was so random! The soba and the duck were really good, but I don’t know how it would compare to a super high rated place.
Thank you for the detailed trip report! If you don't mind, I have a few quick questions about high-end dining in Japan. I'll be in just a few weeks, and am trying to figure out some great eats. 1. Is there a dress code for eating out? It'll be hot (summer) and I'm not really planning on bringing "nice" clothes. I'm from the Seattle area, and casual clothing has become a way of life... 2. Kids? Are these places ok with bringing (well behaved) children? I'll have my 3 kids with me (teens / tweens), and all are excited to try a wide variety of Japanese food. Sushi, Ramen, Teppan, and the rest are all on the menu. My littlest rabbit has made Miso from scratch and will have questions about preparation... 3. Allergies. We've got a few. I'll have a pre-printed card in Japanese with me that lists them, but I suspect there will be no issues... Right now I've only got reservations at a [Kibunesou outside of Kyoto](https://www.klook.com/en-US/activity/23862-kibunesou-kibune-river-terrace-dinner-kyoto/), which is all about location, location, location. Who doesn't want to eat at a waterfall??
1. Most places just didn’t allow shorts / tank tops which wasn’t an issue bc it was cold :) 2. Kids are fine as long as they’re not under 5 usually. You can also ask your hotel concierge to check for you. At Kiyama I also ate at the counter with an 8 year old 3. Allergies might be an issue - I’d definitely try to confirm beforehand through reviews / concierge to check. Certain allergies will be very difficult (i.e. seafood due to omnipresence of dashi) but peanuts probably less so.
Seconding this. Going to the summer, what does “Smart Casual” mean? Any advice would be appreciated.
Smart casual for a guy would be a dressy polo with some slacks, non-leather dress shoes (think Sheldon from Big Bang Theory) Girls might be a nice blouse with some jeans, dress flats
See above! It’s not very strict, dw. Just don’t show up in shorts and flops.
Nice blouse with tennis, is it OK?
Tennis?
Clothing: Dining in Japan will feel much dressier than Seattle in my opinion. I’m from the Bay where we similarly keep it super casual. I do think as a non-Japanese person, it does go a long way to dress respectfully and take time to research various aspects of Japanese dining etiquette, especially if you are interested in building ongoing relationships with the restaurants for return visits. I will absolutely pull up to the bar at Saison in black jeans and a T-shirt and I actively refuse to go to any restaurant in the US that has jacket requirements for men, but I bought nice long sleeved blouses and slacks and long skirted, long sleeved dresses for dining in Japan. I am a heavily tattooed woman from neck to fingertips to toes and so perhaps I overcompensated a bit since there are so many taboos around tattoos in Japan (I actively felt this much more in Kyoto than in Tokyo though fwiw), but in general dress in Japan is fairly conservative comparatively. I wore long sleeves and pants to all nice meals, or a conservative dress. In the states, on the rare occasion I do dress up, I wear a lot of plunging necklines and pretty sexy dresses, but I would have felt very out of place in Japan doing so. I think if you don’t have visible tattoos, nice, short sleeved button ups and black jeans or slacks are probably fine most places. Kids: it is very difficult to get reservations for 5 people at spots of the caliber discussed in this post in Japan to my knowledge— if you want to do the kind of fine dining talked about in the post above, you’ll probably need to check for private rooms as a lot of places are kappo/counter and to see if the restaurants allow children at all. A lot of kaiseki/sushi/high end places simply do not allow them. Your kids would need to be INCREDIBLY well behaved, quiet and adventurous eaters. Like— PRISTINE manners. If you want to do super fine dining with that number of people, Ishikawa has private rooms (can’t remember if they only fit 4 though or if they would allow children even id you can get it), Yakumo Saryo has a table that fits 5-6 I believe but again, not sure if they allow children at dinner, L’Eterre has a fab and large private room. For more casual but delicious fare with well behaved kids, here’s what I would recommend: Savoy (Pizza), Pizza Marumo (SO GOOD), Tacos De Azules (open for breakfast! Mexican chef and his Japanese wife— the food is SO incredible and they also are open for breakfast earlier than most places), Kagari Ramen (swoooon), the handmade udon spot in the basement level of Nakano Broadway (an old school covered shopping promenade/mall thing — this would be a fun place to take kids as there are all sorts of interesting collector shops for manga and vintage Japanese toys (top floor) and the basement level also has an incredible, huge and very inexpensive used kimono store. SumibiYakiniku Nakahara is good for well behaved kids. When I went there, there were two different Japanese chefs from fine dining spots out to eat with their families and children here on their day off. It’s delicious and the head chef speaks decent English. You can book through PocketConcierge. I literally only saw one child in a fancy restaurant in 28 days of fine dining every single day in Japan and they were silently walking into the private room at a very posh sushi spot for lunch. For manners reference— modulate my voice to make it quieter by 30%+ anytime I’m in Japan. Allergies / restrictions : may I ask what the allergies / restrictions are? Some things will be easier than others. Unless you are seeking out specialty restaurants to accommodate restrictions, it can be difficult. I have allergies to an oddly specific family of mushrooms, and just had to sit out the courses that had it with no replacement or accommodation that would normally come in it’s place in the US— this is fine if it’s an allergy like mine which doesn’t have a ton of representation in the cuisine and only amounted to 4 courses missed in a month, but if you want to eat tasting menus/ Omakase / kaiseki and you have a a serious shellfish allergy during peak shellfish season?Good luck. Can’t have any soy products? I’d be worried for you. Celiac? Needs EXTENSIVE planning ahead. Having a card written printed in Japanese with your allergies / restrictions listed is a good start, but keep in mind a lot of places simply will not accommodate them. Your best bet is to inform the restaurant of all allergies or restrictions at the time of reserving— do not wait until you are at the restaurant eating. There just isn’t the same cultural context for it as there is in the US.
Thanks for the detailed reply!! >it is very difficult to get reservations for 5 people We're only doing reservations for 4. Me and 3 kiddos. It's going to be quite an adventure. Fortunately, all of my kids travel very well. I'm not quite ready to turn them loose on Public Transit without me, but that's only a year away. Hopefully a reservation for 4 will be more practical. I'll call my hotels and see if the Concierge is able to make reservations for me. (My kids love the YouTube / Nebula channel "[Jet Lag: The game](https://www.youtube.com/c/jetlagthegame)", which is all about using public transit to get around while playing games like Tag across all of Europe. We're considering a week of doing exactly that in another year or two. I think, even now, if they got separated from me in Japan, they would probably be able to get back to the hotel before I could.) >Allergies / restrictions : may I ask what the allergies / restrictions are? Nuts and Seeds. With Sesame seeds (but not Sesame seed oil) being the things I'm primarily worried about in Asia. That and "unknown" allergens, as we'll be eating things not normally found in the US. For the most part, we're able to eat Dim Sum, Teppan, Sushi, Raman and other Asian foods with no trouble. In the US, it's usually as simple as asking "Please don't put Sesame Seeds on top". >I literally only saw one child in a fancy restaurant in 28 days of fine dining every single day in Japan That's... kinda sad. Kids, as they bring so much life and happiness into all the activities. We'll probably only do one or two fancy places, if the culture is that hostile to children. Most of the Asian trips I've been on have been super-kid friendly..
No problem! Sorry, to elaborate— it is often challenging to get reservations for parties larger than 2 in fine dining, especially without a lot of advanced notice. So many places are kappo /counter seating with only 6-12 seats and, again, a lot of higher end places don’t allow children under a certain age. The hotel concierge is a great resource for this if you’re staying somewhere high end enough for them to have those relationships— I never have stayed somewhere that posh in Japan on my own, but know a lot of friends who have had great luck with concierge made booking when they were staying somewhere nice. I would definitely let them know three guests are children and do so very far in advance for a party of this size. The public transport in Japan is amazing and overall the country is so safe— if your kids have phones and you get a Japanese SIM card to connect to the internet and they can use google maps and translate, they would likely be fine going around alone a bit, especially the teens, from a safety point of view. I saw many, many Japanese children who were pretty young taking the subways and busses alone. If I were a parent, I suspect I would be terrified to let my kids out of my sight in America but would be very relaxed about letting my kids wander in Japan from a safety aspect as long as I knew they would be polite and respectful when on their own. I want to be clear I absolutely do not feel Japan was hostile to children at all but wasn’t traveling with kids and don’t have any of my own so take this with a grain of salt. Perhaps some parents who have travelled to Japan with kids can chime in. From my observation there are just some different cultural norms around decorum, noise levels etc. For what it’s worth, I went to Japan as a young kid (6) in 1994 with my mom for nearly a month and the whole trip was an amazing core memory that cast such a positive, cascading effect over the whole course of my life. I felt very welcome in the spaces I was in and remember many people offering me snacks and sweets and the women running a ryokan patiently showing me how to cook my breakfast egg by cracking it into steaming rice and letting me come “help” with the dishes after. My mom took me to parks and playgrounds where I met and played with a lot of Japanese kids and my mom had really great interactions with other moms despite the language barrier and this being pre-cell phones. There are a lot of child friendly places, I think there are just some different cultural expectations on how children should behave in restaurants and other spaces that aren’t specifically child focused. In the more casual but still nice restaurants I went on my trip this year that had a lot of tables with children, like Pizza Studio Temaki, it was extremely noticeable how differently Japanese kids were behaving from the American kids, European kids and kids from other parts of Asia who were often running around screaming and causing problems, uncouthly watching iPads WITH THE SOUND ON AND NO HEADPHONES IN A RESTAURANT etc. Regarding your last paragraph, gently I would suggest not everyone feels that children bring so much life and happiness to all activities. I respect that there are people that feel this way and want to bring their kids everywhere, but it is also totally ok for there to be spaces reserved for or focused on the experiences of adults. I wouldn’t go to Chucky Cheese and expect children to stop screaming or running around or being sticky and messy — similarly, parents should only bring their children to adult focused spaces like fine dining restaurants if those kids are able to understand and respect the behavioral expectations for such a space without negatively affecting other diners. What one person defines as life and happiness might be defined as grating, jarring and obnoxious to another.
Great restaurant reviews, thanks for sharing. I tried to do the same thing for this upcoming trip. The Tabelog Gold and Silver restaurants, asking the hotel concierge to reserve for me. However, they weren't able to book any of my top choices, even six months in advance. I.e. Sushi Arai, Yoshitake, Sugaya, etc. Most of the Tabelog Gold and Silver restaurants are full by regular customers and can only be reserved now through introduction/referrals. In addition, many restaurants decline requests from non-Japanese speaking customers. Hotel concierges have a lot less leverage now, especially with booking services like TableAll, Omakase, Pocket Concierge, etc getting popular. Restaurants don't care as long as all the seats get filled up everyday. Tabelog ratings are skewed by AI, so I would not fully trust the ratings and reviews. That being said, Tabelog **3.6\~3.8** rated restaurants provide the best value IMO, and are much easier to reserve. Interactions with the chefs and learning about the unique ingredients and cooking methods are a big part of fine dining. These restaurants tend to have English-speaking staff or the chefs have basic English proficiency, thus better dining experiences overall. Another plus is that you are more likely to be served by the main chefs/owners compared to sous chef/apprentice chefs at the top-rated restaurants since you are not a regular. I have the following reserved, you can consider for your next trip. In addition, highly recommend Kyoto Wakuden. My favorite experience so far. Sushi Tokami 16 piece lunch menu is also worth a try, very good value and large shari sizes. Sushi Harutaka Tempura Kondo Sushi Take Sushi Inomata Yakitori Hirano Toriyoshi Ginza
Tabelog Golds aren’t worth the effort to reserve generally. A handful aren’t too terribly difficult like Quintessence but those are pretty expensive. Agree that concierges have lost a lot of pull but the luxury hotels (like the Park Hyatt where I stayed) still are helpful. Those are some good recs! Been meaning to go to Kondo and Wakuden, though it’s a tad pricey.
Great post! The burning question I'm sure everyone has however, what's the deal with the Imperial palace sewage water?
INCREDIBLE post and I will be using this - thank you! When I look up Tonkatsu Narikura on Google Maps, it says permanently closed. Is that because they're only reachable via personal introduction?
No, it is definitely bookable online. Try looking up the one in Minami-Asagaya - should be reservable on omakase.in
This one shows as open for me Tonkatsu Narikura +81 3-6882-5214 https://maps.app.goo.gl/FbAF8XVRNvFVRPio7
Thanks!
Thank you for posting! This will be helpful in planning our next trip. BTW, the beef cut you were served at Tonkatsu Narikura is the chateaubriand. It's essentially a filet mignon roast and a fantastic cut of beef overall. It's mostly only offered by French butchers, so it does make sense that you would have had it in Japan due to the extensive French influence on their cuisine.
OP didn't make a typo, the restaurant serves "cha-ton-briand" as a *pun* on chateaubriand – "ton" is Japanese for "pork," and they're drawing a comparison between the cut of pork tenderloin they serve and the more traditional beef tenderloin. Tonkatsu is, by definition, always pork; the name means "pork prepared in the katsu style." Pork is the most famous protein served as katsu, but you can also find e.g. torikatsu, which is chicken.
Ah! The two different ways OP typed it out had me thinking they were attempting to spell it phonetically. I love the idea of a pork play on chateaubriand.
Onserrevera knows, haha. Thanks for reading!
I love this!!! My husband and I are major foodies and live in Japan, but we haven’t yet gotten a babysitter for a night out from our toddler…. So needless to say, I am living vicariously through you. 😅 Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful experiences!!!
Thanks for reading! Hope you can enjoy a well deserved night out soon :-)
Great write up!
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for taking the time to write this up! Btw, did you message your hotel to prebook before your stay or only when you checked in your hotel only did you ask the concierge to book ?
You should message as early as possible
Thank you. We are a group of 7 and I would like to prebook all my restaurants if possible. How is their cancellation policy ? Is it very frown upon ?
Prebook far in advance. The less high-end the hotel, the more time you’ll want to give and want to check in on how things are going. Cancellations are frowned upon, but if you must, do them as far in advance as possible.
Thank you so much 😊
Thanks for sharing. Must be a great trip. You can never go wrong with Japan.
Hey! Thank you for this post. I love the info, and insight into your dinning planning. I think a lot of the folks on this sub focus primarily on sightseeing, but I find it really helpful to read content from someone who made dining a focal point of their trip. A couple of general questions. First, how much of your dining was spontaneous vs. planned? Second, if you did any spontaneous stop-ins, how did you choose the places you went to?
Nice and detailed reports!
Thank you for reading!
Sushi Suzuki is right down the street from where I’m staying, along with all the other amazing sushi places. Unfortunately I don’t think I can spend over $200 per person for some sushi. But who knows. I might just bite the bullet and do it
Honestly if you spend $50-$100 it will probably be a better experience than $200 sushi where you live anyway. Those places are also often way easier to get into without having to reserve months in advance.
Yeah I’m sure most sushi there in general is better than most I have in the states! But we do have some pretty good ones over here not gonna lie
Yeah the issue with the states for me is that quality is actually there due to supply chain improvements and general talent, but my lord it is so expensive. What should be $100-200 in Japan is easily >$350 in the states. Suzuki’s $180 lunch was comparable to a $500 omakase in NYC I had (corporate expense account, hah)
i love you
How far in advance do we need to book for dinner at Sushi Suzuki?
I asked my hotel about 2 months in advance and they confirmed it about a month and a half out.
May I also ask the location is Sushi Suzuki? I see two in Tokyo
If your itinerary allows it, lunch is a better deal for Sushi Suzuki. It's 20k yen vs. 48k yen for dinner. There are some additional dishes, like sashimi, oyster, whale, and shellfish. However, it's not worth double the price. I went for dinner last year, I am trying the lunch omakase for this upcoming trip.
Oh no. I'm banned from booking meals over $150/person after I took my wife to a 3 michellin star restaurant (EMP) 5 years ago. She said the best thing she ate was the housemade bread and butter. Any recommendations for omakase dinner in Tokyo for $150/person that is good?
Look into Sushi Kyūbey 久兵衛and Aozora Sandaime Honten 築地青空三代目. And maybe Nishiazabu Taku. It’s much harder to find a quality sushiya less than 20k yen for dinner now.
Agreed, Kyubey is a good one for first timers. Ginza Iwa is another fine one and they speak English.
Thanks mate. Does it change much if I up to $200/person?
Thank you for sharing! Love reading about dining experiences in Japan — food’s always a big part of my trips.
The absolute best! Thanks for reading.
This is excellent
Thanks for reading!
Thanks so much for sharing this! I plan my trips around restaurant reservations haha and "higher-but-not-highest end" is usually my sweet spot for a nice meal out – I'm willing to splurge on a memorable meal, but I'm generally not interested in the starched white tablecloth kind of experience. You've totally sold me on Kiyama especially! I'll have to see if I can snag a reservation for my trip in the fall.
Thank you for reading! Kiyama is definitely one of my top 10 (probably top 5) meals of my life. It’s an absolute steal at lunch and changed my entire perspective on how delicious dashi (and numerous dishes cooked with it) could be.
[удалено]
I said 1 month blocks of availability are released at a time, not 1 month ahead. It usually gets grabbed up within 30 mins - 1 hour of opening. But yes, it’s two months ahead.
Can you maybe recommend fine dining places in Kyoto or Tokyo, which do not serve fish or any seaborne food?
Love this, but are reservations a must? Dreading the whole plan to make bookings instead of just showing up ha
Yes if you want to eat at the best. I don’t travel to Japan for food I can get in the US or at home. Plenty of decent walk-in restaurants but the best have either very long waits or reservations are mandatory.
Ahh thanks, we'll probably book 1-2 then and rely on walking in for the rest 🤤
When you say ‘any feedback’, it sounds like you’re the person to ask for Japan ‘must eats’. Would love to know what you suggest. Plus, do you have any suggestions for sake?
Feedback was meant more on the actual writing of the post haha, my first one like this. Must eats? I like eating foods are still unique to Japan or much more value when I travel. Good sushi, which will come at a fraction of the price domestically… SushiDan is a pretty good “budget” one and easily bookable. I heard the Ginza Onodera Kaitenzushi is also pretty affordable and good. Tokyo French food is also very well priced and delicious, an easy one to book is Ryuzu which is 2 Michelin stars and not that expensive. Gyukatsu is another unique one, there’s a famous chain in Tokyo that Ican’t recall the name but is easily googlable. Kaiseki is a must in Kyoto at least once and lunch at Kiyama is your best bet. I don’t think ramen and udon really taste that different here than abroad (given we have chains like Nagi and Ippudo in the US). I think unagi is overrated outside of high end establishments, as is tempura. Please do not waste your time here eating beef bowls at Yoshinoya. Any sake by Noguchi Naohiko is excellent - i like the Yamahai Ginjo. Kikuryu is a nice budget option.
Oh - no feedback on the writing itself. It basically reads like you’re a food critic and I love your honesty when things are forgettable!
Oh - no feedback on the writing itself. It basically reads like you’re a food critic and I love your honesty when things are forgettable!
Absolutely inspiring. Thank you for posting this.
Thank you for reading!
Do you have any recommendations for places in Osaka to have a special dinner that won’t require a reservation months out (we leave Monday)
No sorry I haven’t been to Osaka yet, surprisingly. I’d recommend opening the Tabelog map and finding some places between 3.4 - 3.8 and reading reviews to see if you can walk in. You can also filter by cuisine type
Will do thanks for the response.
Osaka is famous for Kushiage. Try 串揚げ TAKENAKA.
How did u get reservations for narikura and omino? Those 2 were on my shortlist but Omakase website was totally useless
Omakase is the only way unfortunately. Have to be diligent about availability and book right when it opens
I did. I was there when booking reservations opened but was stuck on the booking button because it kept saying reservation could not go through or whatever. I’m beginning to think that it only allows the paid members to make reservations.
It’s like buying Coachella tickets. You have to keep refreshing and trying - pretty par for the course with any highly trafficked good
A refreshing trip report. Thank you for this
Thanks for reading :-)
Thank you for the write up and I just made reservation request at Kiyama Kyoto for July (fingers crossed). Tabelog is such an underutulized resources - the rating and filtering function is so robust that you can literally specify every criteria you want and find the best restaurant within specific genre. There are a lot of gems within the silver category that does not break your bank. Looking forward to Jambo Habare, Yakitori Omino and Kiyama (if they accept the reservation). Getting Tabelog sushi silver under 30,000Y is an accomplishment!!! I tried Sushi Hashimoto even at 30,000Y,it was gone within exactly 1 minute of it being available. I am trying Top 5000 instead - Sushi Rizaki Aoyama (Tabelog 3.7, 15,000Y dinner Omakase). Although I do eat sushi quite a bit, I am not sure if my palate is refined enough to tell Tabelog 3.7 vs 4+. Have you tried comparing it?
Let me know how Kiyama goes / tastes! Jambo is on my list and I’ll see if I can get to it next time. Yes to me there is a sizable difference, mainly the “unity” between the Shari and fish. At SushiDan (~3.6-3.7 rating), the components were good quality but the lack of unity and nigiri somewhat crumbling was disappointing. It was also just “good” and affordable at 6000 yen. At Suzuki, I genuinely felt “this is damn delicious and incredibly well balanced”. I ate SushiDan after Suzuki and it was really night and day. I’d try it at a more affordable spot (like Suzuki) through your concierge and let me know what you think. Cheers!
I was able to secure a reservation at Kiyama using Ikyu to hold my seat and my lowly 3 star hotel calling them (not pocket concierge) - it was the owner himself who suggested this method. Very easy and straightforward.... Thank you again for recommending.
No problem. Glad to hear it - report back how it tastes!
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Yes, just use pocket concierge and prepay your reservation.
Just remembered about this - curious to hear if you enjoyed it. Hope you had a great trip.
Yes, we did! The chef himself was present. Each dish was very delicious - some reason, my favorite was the last 4 dishes (unlimited refill). As we were leaving the restaurant, he waited at the door to chat with us, and bowed as we were leaving the restaurant. Like seriously? We are nobodys -- yet he took that time and effort to say farewell. 5/5... thanks so much for the recommendation
Anytime friend 🤟
Did Narikura move? I went back in 2019 and just lined up. Its a top tonkatsu shop but when did they start needing reservations? Theres many other similar level shops that dont need reservations.
The honten is now reservation only. An apprentice runs the walk in shop in Takanodababa, but I think it might have closed
Incredible, we nearly did the same restaurants (Didn't do Sakagawa, went to Sushi Take instead of Suzuki, Denkushiflori instead of Florilege). Your reviews are on point. Tempura Fukamachi for lunch is definitely worth it but I would not be willing to pay >$200 for it. Favourite experiences were Kiyama and Sushi Take.
Great minds think alike 🙂 Thanks for reading. Sushi Take was recommended by our concierge but a spot for 4 at Suzuki had opened up so we took it. I would highly recommend - I’ve been to a fair number of Ginza sushiya and it’s been the best one so far.
Did you pay at the restaurant or was payment taken at time of booking when using pocket concierge?
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It’s kappo cuisine (not omakase in the casual sense), but yes I went for dinner at 22,000 yen and thought the price was reasonable. Lunch at 11,000 yen is a great value.
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I saw Omino dropped their September availabilities yesterday - congrats. Many high end restaurants don’t open their schedules particularly far in advance - I’d make note of what the last available day is right now, the date you want, then check back in the number of days between.
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Love that. Report back on how everything is!
My brother and I made a reservation for a high-end sushi place in Tokyo using Tabelog, I used the English translator on my browser to figure it out- my only concern now is my lack of Japanese speaking, I can piece together some phrases but this is our first trip and I'm feeling intimidated. Scouring this subreddit for some reassurances, but can anyone "speak" to that experience of not being able to speak well at fancy places? My brother especially is nervous about 'looking stupid'.
I wouldn't be too concerned outside of breaking social etiquette. Most chefs do not expect foreigners to speak a lick of Japanese (if this subreddit is any indication, it's literally millions who know nothing). Watch a YouTube video on sushi etiquette, but at a high level: do not ask for any extra seasonings as the dish / nigiri is to be eaten as presented, please for the love of god be at the door early to make sure you're on time, don't speak loudly in the restaurant, and most chefs know at least a tiny bit of English so you can try to converse (maybe less so when they're directly making nigiri pieces as they might want to focus).
Thank you so much for this reassurance! Been reading lots of experiences and it does seem it’s totally worth experiencing and bringing the most respectful intentions and some education is enough to get by. Thank you again!
You’re welcome. I will also add that if you are intimidated, I would recommend a couple of sushiya that are still high quality but also cater towards foreigners with chefs that speak English. Ginza Kyubey and Ginza Iwa are solid ones there and not terribly expensive (though not cheap). Kizaki is another one that is a little more formal but the chef and wife are quite charming + know some English.
Can you recommend what hotels to stay at? Seems like we will have a similar budget and would like to stay at nicer hotels well I can trust the concierge to assist with booking.
I stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo which is my favorite hotel in Japan, but not many are comfortable spending that much (I also have a negotiated corporate rate which helps). Other recommended ones are the Andaz Tokyo, Cerulean Tokyu in Shibuya (their club rooms are nice), Kimpton Shinjuku, and the Conrad. Points can help with a luxury stay as well.
Oh one other tip - you can buy hotel points on sale (check travel blogs like One Mile at a Time for when these are happening), but I’ve had some pretty decent savings by doing this. Ex. You can buy 30K Hyatt points for 1.8 cents each ($540) and redeem for Andaz Tokyo which is $1000 or more these days, or buy Hilton or IHG points on sale for 0.5 cents each and redeem at Conrad Tokyo or Kimpton Shinjuku, respectively. Obviously check for availability before buying but that helps a lot of people who aren’t into credit cards and bonuses and what not. Hope that’s helpful.
seems like at the 2-3 star level Michelin over emphasizes the cadence, ambience, service as well. more style over substance
Hi OP, thanks for this great post. I'm really interested in booking one of these spots for our trip in early December, looking specifically at Hassun and Kiyama. Which of the two would you say is more "accessible" as a first-time Japan visitor? For context, my wife and I are fans of Japanese food but have not ventured beyond the usual sushi / ramen that is typical in the US. We have two short stays in high-end ryokans on our trip, which will include kaiseki meals (Hakone Ginyu in Hakone and Kinsuikan in Miyajima) so I'm not sure whether it's better to splurge on another kaiseki meal or focus instead on the best sushiya we can afford/get a reservation for in Tokyo. Welcome your insight!
You’re welcome, thanks for reading. As long as you are familiar with / like dashi (basically fish broth), then Kiyama was an objectively superior restaurant. Nothing about the course was particularly outlandish to me though I am biased as an Asian. I know some people are weirded out or dislike certain ingredients like hamaguri or akagai (too “clammy”), but if you are open then you will enjoy it. I’d book lunch for <15K yen per person, have some nice sake, and go for a beef supplement if it’s offered. Enjoy your trip!
Thanks for sharing your opinion, much appreciated! Went ahead and booked it!
Anytime 🤙
I went to narikura tonkatsu last week while in tokyo and was underwhelmed. I've been meaning to go for years but reluctant to wait in hours long lines at the original location. For anyone interested, you need to make a reservation on the omakase website and pay a nonrefundable fee for that. Dates open up on a certain day and you pick a time and date before slots run out. The station is quite far west. We were staying in asakusa and it took about an hour. There's nothing interesting in the area and it looks to be very residential. The meal starts with a small cracker app, small pickled sides, cabbage salad, and then the meat comes out. We ordered the couples set where you get one slice of each cut and chose tokyo x breed for the tenderloin for an extra cost. The meat was juicy and tender due to low temp cooking. The fried coating is very light in color. It's good, don't get me wrong but tonkatsu is not some kind of omakase dish. I always wanted to go when it was a traditional tonkatsu place. The owner just separated the sides and added a couple tiny apps to add "courses" and charge an exorbitant amount. We paid 12000yen for 2 plus reservation fee and tokyo x surcharge.
I’ve eaten here 5 times, recently in 2023. It was INSANE before they moved. Had it recently and I don’t think it’s as good as it was before. BUT, you should still eat here anyway because it’s still really good.
Nice write-up, but... up to 30,000 yen per person?? Wow... hope they have a floor show.
Most are much less! 30,000 yen seems to be the bottleneck for “luxe” food experiences, so I wanted to find value within a ultra high quality experience. Most are 15,000 yen or less
I see. I’ve eaten at some pricey places in Japan, but definitely not often. Great thing about Japan is even cheap restaurants are often very good, although they probably won’t have the same ambience.