Capsule Inn Hamamatsucho

A detached, glass-walled house stands across from a park; ascend the stairs adjacent to the kitchen and you reach a dining room with a Scandinavian interior. The prix fixe menu begins with tea in season. The restaurant’s name refers to ‘friends who will drink tea together always’, referring to the circle of guests, staff and food producers. The chef’s aim is to serve food that is simple yet original. Both service and kitchen staff bring the food to your table.

The chef’s path was inspired by the meticulous craftsmanship of sushi masters. Hearkening back to Edo-period food culture, he strives for orthodoxy, committed to generously sized nigiri with thick-sliced toppings. Simmered clam and anago are finished with a rich nitsume sauce. A former interior contractor, the chef designed the restaurant himself. Traditional elements such as the tsukedai, wooden trays used for serving sushi, and handwritten fish names on the wall evoke a sense of nostalgia.

The long table bears a close resemblance to the dining tables of European nobility. Dinner is served table d’hôte: guests gather around a single large table, sharing the joy of good food and conversation. Reading the mood of the era, Chef Hiroyasu Kawate serves up delicious food and eco-consciousness, actively incorporating plant-based ingredients. The choice of vegetarian dishes as main meals is a new twist. Whether vegetarian or vegan, the fare blazes a fresh trail in vegetable cuisine.

Sometimes our connections intervene to change our lives. Harutaka Takahashi’s mischievous youth in Asahikawa took a turn for the better when, through a tempura master who was a close friend of his potter uncle, he landed a job at Sukiyabashi Jiro. Like Ravel’s Bolero, sushi here is presented with a particular rhythm, building toward a crescendo of sweetness, sourness and temperature in harmony. Destiny is in the taste and texture of every piece of sushi at Harutaka.

Being originally located in the grounds of Seishoji Temple is why Daigo began serving shojin ryori. What Nomura inherits as the restaurant’s fourth-generation owner is shojin ryori for gracious service. Note that dried bonito flakes are used in the broth, so the meals are not completely vegetarian. The nutrition and flavour of the vegetables and the sukiya architecture put the mind at ease. Relax and enjoy this moment of tranquillity.

‘L’Osier’ means ‘The Willow’. The name comes from the willow trees that once symbolised Ginza and is a nod to the shop’s founding location. When the doors open, guests are greeted by a glass artwork depicting a willow tree. Half a century has passed since the restaurant opened, but it has never stopped innovating. Chef Olivier Chaignon cultivates relationships with producers around the country, creating French cuisine at the cutting edge of the era.

This restaurant has been in business since the days of the Edo shogunate. Kanejiro Kanemoto is its fifth-generation proprietor, committed to a life of craftsmanship. Guided by the belief that eel is ‘a delicacy for the people,’ he has worked to share its appeal. With practiced craftsmanship, he patiently steams the eel to drip out excess fat then grills it without seasoning in the shirayaki style, or dips it in sauce and broils it to create beguilingly aromatic kabayaki. The dipping sauce has evolved over the generations, with the proportions of soy sauce and mirin shifting according to changi