¥¥Japanese
Seasonal crops are lined up on the zataku. Yamato vegetables and vegetables from various countries spruce up the plates. The Miuras visit farms and grow the seeds they collect. The harvested vegetables are used in local dishes they learned how to prepare in each area. You’ll enjoy items grilled on a ceramic plate in spring and summer and soy milk nabe in autumn and winter together with colourful takiawase. The menu makes you feel like you’re strolling around a market garden.
¥¥¥Japanese
This Japanese restaurant is located in Nara’s oldest soy brewery. The head chef works together with the 18th generation owner and prepares a menu focused on soy sauce and vegetables. Soy sauce is used with everything from the appetisers to the sweets, such as the Miwa somen with soy sauce espuma and takikomi-gohan with unrefined soy powder. The theme is modern Japanese, and some of the dishes draw inspiration from Chinese and French cuisine.
¥Japanese
The meals here are all based on unpolished rice. Vegetable dishes with no meat or fish are served in small pots with unpolished rice that’s been cooked in a wood-fired oven. The owner-chef calls himself a master of unpolished rice cake, his speciality being rice cake made with a mortar and pestle. He wants his customers to get to know tastes that are being lost in an age of plenty, so he seasons his dishes with soy sauce, miso and mirin made using traditional processes.
¥¥Yakitori
The chef’s study of yakitori led him to dry ageing. Drawing out moisture enhances the flavour of both skin and meat. To showcase its true value, the meal begins with sot-l’y-laisse wrapped in skin. Kashiwa, or 'whole chicken', features different cuts of chicken on a single skewer, allowing diners to enjoy changing textures and flavours with each bite. The chef also has firm views on the best ways to arrange charcoal and grill skewers, devoting single-minded passion to his craft.
¥¥¥Tempura
A chef who honed his skills at a ryotei now applies those skills to tempura. The omakase prix fixe meal begins with an assortment of appetisers. Tempura is fried in cottonseed oil for a light and airy texture. The chef’s craftsmanship shines in works such as matsukasa-age, or crispy-scaled fried sea bream, and items cured with kombu. Service alternates between seafood and vegetables, bringing variety to the flow of dishes. Unusual items such as eel and venison are born from the chef’s passion for exploring new flavours. Tencha, tempura on rice with the first brewing of broth poured over, wraps
¥¥Italian
The chef’s journey starts from the craftsmanship he encountered in an Italian village. Keen to do as much as possible in-house, cured meats such as prosciutto and salami are prepared on site. Wild plants and mushrooms are foraged from the surrounding mountains, and his hunting experience ensures the chef handles game with skill. A course dedicated to game is offered from the start of each year. The use of traditional medical herbs deepens both aroma and flavour, bringing out the meat’s distinctive wild character.
¥¥¥French
The chef honed his skills in Paris and other parts of France and uses Nara ingredients to prepare local dishes using traditional techniques he learned there. Seasonal vegetables and fruits come from Gojo City and Soni Village, and he also uses wild game caught in Tsuge. The main appetisers are homemade-style charcuterie, and the main meat dishes are roast and stew. He also incorporates ingredients like ayu and tilefish, sometimes giving the dishes a Japanese touch.
¥¥Sushi
Latticework and white plaster walls exude a machiya feel. The ambience is charming at night, with light seeping in to add warmth to the stillness. This entire district, today known as Naramachi, was once the precinct of Gangoji Temple; the restaurant is on the former site of the main temple building. Two sisters run the eatery, the younger preparing sushi, and the elder handling service. Sharing an unspoken understanding, they move in quiet harmony, and diners naturally fall into the rhythm between them.
¥¥Yakitori
Hirokazu Bando follows the teachings of where he trained and uses and cooks at high heat directly over the flame. He fills the roaster with bincho charcoal, leaving no spaces in between. Only a set menu is offered so that customers can enjoy a variety of skewers. He dresses whole chickens himself, so also offers rare parts such as chicken oysters and arteries. The meal starts with shuko, such as liver pâté, and proceeds to yakitori chosen to provide gradual changes in taste.
¥¥¥Soba
A soba shop on the premises of a sake brewery. The location is Shimizu-cho, meaning ‘pure water town’, named for the clear streams that flow down from Mt. Kasuga and gush out in springs. Using water fetched for sake brewing, the owner-chef prepares exceptionally fine 100% buckwheat noodles. Soba grains carefully selected for their aroma are ground by hand in a stone mortar. Pure flavour is best conveyed in the ‘mizusoba’, soba dipped in nothing but cold water – the same way farmers would gauge the quality of their harvests.
¥¥¥Italian
Mami Yanagawa managed a restaurant in her hometown out of love for the produce brought forth by nature’s bounty. Encountering regional cooking in a northern Italian restaurant and studying the cuisine of mountain and inland regions made her aware of the attractions of Nara. She prepares simple, modern fare using ingredients sourced from producers she works closely with, reimagining hometown cooking with a contemporary sensibility. Italian cuisine presented in a uniquely Nara style.
¥¥French
Longing to recreate the bustling mood of a Paris bistro, the chef made his dream come true in his native Nara with a restaurant that seems to blend in with the daily life of France. Seafood bouillabaisse, inspired by memories of student days in Montpellier, brings the flavours of the Mediterranean to his hometown. ‘La Pie’ is French for ‘magpie’, a bird said to be a bringer of happiness. The name is also a shout-out to the restaurant’s location, Kasasagi-cho, whose name means ‘Magpie Town’. Happiness brought by delicious cuisine.
¥¥¥Italian
The concept is hometown cooking from all twenty of Italy’s regions, spreading the word about the traditional dishes of each. Running the gamut from north to south, the prix fixe menu criss-crosses the Italian peninsula. Many ingredients are imported from Italy, keeping flavours as true to their roots as possible. The house makes its own pasta, demonstrating consummate skill. Like the menu, the wine list covers the whole of Italy. Wines from native cultivars are on offer, offering harmonious companions to dishes from the same region.