★★★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
Hideaki Matsuo expresses traditional Japanese culture, guided by the traditional cycle of twenty-four seasons. The chef’s messages on the menu are designed to conjure up scenes of nature in front of guests’ eyes, while seasonal flavours and annual events are woven into the cuisine in truly elegant ways. At an Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan event, Matsuo showcased Osaka food culture to the world. He warmly welcomes trainees from overseas, dedicating himself to the development and progress of the industry.
★★★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Innovative
An artwork resembling a planet dominates the dining room. Look closely and the ‘planet’ contains overlapping images of cuisine, which gather together to form a picture of the Earth. ‘Dialogue with the Earth’ is, indeed, the theme of this restaurant. The experience of growing up amid the beauty of nature shaped the bold world view of Hajime Yoneda. The digitised recipes and detailed cuisine attest to his experience as a system engineer. Cuisine that draws inspiration from all Creation is imbued with love and respect for nature.
TripAdvisor 评论样本 · 4.4/5 · 96 条
HAJIME以创新料理和沉浸式体验著称，菜单常围绕自然主题展开，强调五感互动。多数食客赞赏其食材精致度与摆盘艺术，认为食物品质卓越且服务细致，主厨常亲自致谢。然而，部分评论指出服务存在不一致，个别案例涉及预订确认问题。用餐时长约4小时，节奏较慢。尽管整体氛围独特，但亦有声音批评近期菜品火候不足或味道下滑，且对价格与性价比存在争议，认为高昂费用需匹配更高维度的感官震撼。
适合追求极致感官体验和耐心享用长餐的美食爱好者，但对性价比敏感者需谨慎。
★★ Michelin¥¥¥Tempura, Japanese
Techniques from every genre of Japanese cuisine are used for tempura; items may be pre-cooked or lightly scored and seasoned to bring out their natural flavour before frying. Keen to highlight Kansai ingredients, the chef stocks octopus, pike conger and tilefish. Osaka flourished as a centre of cotton production, so the chef cooks with a unique cottonseed oil in solidarity with producers. A beacon of Naniwa food culture to the world, with imaginative twists.
★★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The shop stands in Takagamine, a hilly area in northern Kyoto. Out of affection for the land where he was born and raised, the chef makes a point of using the region’s produce. Vegetables come from a nearby field cultivated by an old friend. The juiciness of freshly harvested foods and the aroma of the good earth leap from every dish. The meal ends with white rice with one of a variety of toppings, such as raw egg and soy sauce, cooked egg, or hashed beef. Enjoyable and satisfying right to the very end.
★★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
Scrupulous attention is paid to the ceremonial space, cuisine, serving vessels and sense of the seasons. The chef learned his guiding principles at a restaurant in Hozenji Alley. Entrusted with preparing the appetiser platters, he became schooled in the knowledge and aesthetics of Japanese cuisine. Aiming for artistic beauty in all aspects, he grows his own flowers to decorate the sukiya interior and collects seasonal serving vessels to delight guests. Technique, experience and sensibility all merge to create assortments of dishes that celebrate the seasons and their festivals.
★★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Tempura
The tempura fried by the chef as his heart dictates comes out refined. To bring the flavour of carefully selected ingredients, the main oil of choice is Taihaku sesame oil. The coating is infused with bubbles, giving it a light texture. In a distinctive presentation style, seafood and vegetables that work well together are served in alternating pairs. The final dish is the guest’s choice of tendon, tempura over rice; tencha, tendon steeped in roasted green tea; or tenmusu, onigiri filled with shrimp tempura. The chef does not neglect training the next generation, either, entrusting understudie
★★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Innovative
Over half a century since he opened his restaurant, Yoshifumi Mori remains vigorously engaged in food preparation. His passion seems unquenchable: with rice flour and salt, he created a seasoning that melts away like snow. He makes wine and even grows rice. Scouring every region of Japan, the chef seeks out unknown ingredients and introduces them to the world. All this has led to Mori being honoured by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Like a steel plate polished until gleaming, he continues to sharpen his culinary sensibilities.
★★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The chef interprets the seasons through kaiseki, adding twists and tricks that make the cuisine his own. To express each season, appetisers are accompanied by leaves collected on hill and dale and a slim strip of paper is inscribed with a seasonal phrase. White rice, cooked in clay pots, is specially selected and treated. Rice grown in serpentinite soil, with its rich mineral content, is seasoned with salt and soy sauce to bring out umami and flavour. In a unique touch, scorched rice is served like a rice cracker. The basics of Japanese cuisine are safely guarded, yet imagination has room to r
★★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
This long-serving restaurant was built as a general store and traded as a sake dealer before transforming into a ryotei. In continuous operation since its founding three centuries ago, Mankamero has preserved tradition by constantly changing. Heir to the tradition of ‘yusoku ryori’, banquet fare served at imperial court functions, the restaurant carries on the Ikama school of ‘shikibocho’, the ceremonial art of knife handling that unites cookery with etiquette—faithfully preserved to the present day. Seasons are reflected everywhere, from the elegant Kyoto kaiseki to the arrangements, serving
★★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The crockery forms an essential part of the cuisine of Miyamoto. From a collection years in the making, each item is carefully selected to complement the item served on it. The arrangements remain simple to let this harmony shine, and there is a refreshing honesty in the chef’s unstinting use of ingredients. He honours the customs of Japanese cuisine yet cooks unbound by theory; he aspires to run a restaurant where he freely creates what is simply delicious. House-made udon is prepared according to the season. The purity of white rice cleanses the soul.
TripAdvisor 评论样本 · 3.8/5 · 53 条
Miyamoto位于大阪新今宫站附近，交通便利，适合家庭及外国游客。多数评论称赞食物美味，提供无限续加的米饭和茶水，部分顾客提及机器人服务增添趣味。氛围温馨舒适，有“家”的感觉。然而，负面评价指出存在价值争议，部分菜品（如出汁卷）过甜或口感不佳，且有时出现食材售罄、上菜缓慢或服务混乱的情况。整体评分中等，体验波动较大。
适合寻求便捷、温馨用餐体验的家庭游客，但建议避开高峰时段并降低对菜品稳定性的预期。
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
A Japanese restaurant at the foot of the Minoh mountains. The head chef weaves the turning of the seasons into his menu. Hassun platters are arranged on large plates using several small dishes, then garnished with leaves gathered on the mountainside. Tempura, prepared with rice oil, is light in texture. If you reserve a seat on the ground floor, the tempura master will fry each piece right before your eyes. Dine with relish on the bounty of nature, serenaded by the murmuring Minoh River.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
The father-and-son team, along with their wives, offer a warm welcome to this kappo with deep roots in Saga. You can order à la carte or omakase style. Fish dishes are the stars of the menu, prepared in a number of ways: steamed with salt and sake, grilled, or however you like. Eel are prepared both unseasoned and dipped in soy-based sauce for you to taste and compare. At lunch the menu of boiled tofu and hiryuzu (deep-fried tofu mixed with thinly sliced vegetable) is the attraction. Treasuring its links with the region it calls home, Okina gets its tofu from Saga.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
Tozentei takes its name from a fictitious restaurant in a novel. ‘Tozen’ means ‘tipsy,’ a state of being slightly and comfortably under the influence; the name invites guests to find pleasure in both tucker and tipple. The fabric of human relations in this family-run restaurant exudes a feel of immersion in a cheerful TV drama or story. Tilefish steamed with plums and kombu consummately combines the flavour of the fish flesh with the tartness of dried plums. Tozentei is located close to Tenmangu, a shrine famous for the plum trees beloved by the poet and statesman Sugawara no Michizane. The co
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
‘Mube’ refers to the fruit of the Japanese staunton vine. The owner-chef adopted the name because it is considered a talisman of longevity and a famous product of his native Shiga. His use of that prefecture’s fermented foods reflects his personality, and he also prepares narezushi, a traditional fermented food of fish, salt and rice, as well as fish sauce and miso. Among his passions lies the interaction between dashi and the umami of fermentation, though he uses the latter’s characteristic flavour with restraint, in deference to modern tastes. A link climbing to the future for the food cultu
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The menus are focused on words associated with the traditional calendar; ingredients are plotted on a map of Japan to show which items come from where. The proprietor and his cooks begin by introducing the ingredients then work as a team to prepare the meal, presenting freshly cooked aromas and flavours. Strict attention is paid to temperature and texture. The choice of serving vessels and presenting food on paper or leaf garnishes convey hallowed customs in Japanese cuisine. The flavours of the season are savoured with the calendar never far from your mind.
★ Michelin¥¥¥French
Freshness is number one with the chef of Pierre, so he focuses on ingredients grown and raised in Japan. The menu only lists the ingredients, encouraging guests to give their imaginations free rein. Japanese seasonings such as mustard and chilli peppers mixed with yuzu zest lend a distinctive accent. French cooking techniques are married with Japanese ingredients, which are then prepared with a light touch. Spellbinding views from the spacious dining room high in a tall building add to the ambience.
TripAdvisor 评论样本 · 4.4/5 · 100 条
Pierre位于大阪洲际酒店，提供融合日式风味的法式料理。多数评论称赞食物精致美味，特别是鱼肉类菜肴及鱼子酱、鹅肝等菜品，摆盘美观。服务普遍获认可，经理与员工专业且细致，能根据客人需求调整。氛围优雅，部分座位可欣赏大阪景色或开放式厨房。负面反馈主要涉及上菜节奏、面包黄油遗漏等基础服务失误，以及因酒吧吸烟区导致的室内气味问题。整体评价较高，但个别体验存在瑕疵。
适合追求精致法式美食与优雅用餐环境的旅客，建议提前确认座位视野并留意餐厅吸烟政策。
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The star of the menu is the bounty of the Hokuriku region. Seafood is delivered from the chef’s native Ishikawa Prefecture; seafood from every part of Ishikawa express the shifting seasons: Noto abalone, Nanao egg cockles, Chirihama oysters, and Kanaiwa male snow crab. As he cooks on an earthen charcoal brazier, the chef holds forth on their particular qualities and the passion of the fishermen with whom he does business. The restaurant name derives from the historic Higashi Chaya district of Kanazawa. From behind the counter, the chef waxes eloquent on the charms of his birthplace.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The chef spent years fine-tuning his skills in a Japanese restaurant in Hozenji Yokocho. While treasuring the lessons he learned there, he now blazes his own culinary trail. Mindful of how knife technique can affect the flavour of sashimi, he practises daily and his grounded approach to cooking is reassuring to watch. Bringing together everything he has learned over his career, he expresses it in cuisine of the ‘here and now’. Rather than just copy his mentor, the chef treads his own path in the gastronomic world.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Tempura, Japanese
Tempura kaiseki, inherited from the chef’s grandfather. Japanese cuisine expresses the turning of the seasons. Tempura is fried one item at a time in canola oil, with a thin, lightly seasoned coating. Dipping sauce is served warm; tofu in a deep-fried style preserves the grandfather’s methods. Dressing tempura items in chopped onions and mustard is the Tenjaku style. Feeling that the afternotes should be light, the meal ends with white rice cooked in clay pots.
★ Michelin¥¥¥French
A dining room fit for a noble mansion, décor of stunning symmetry and graceful service by the waitstaff create a moment cocooned in splendour. Commanding the kitchen is Christophe Gibert, a native of Bretagne. Accustomed to life by the sea, Gibert makes extensive use of seaweed. His preparations, with their strong accent on sauces, convey his spirit of respect for classic cooking.
TripAdvisor 评论样本 · 4.7/5 · 100 条
La Baie位于大阪丽思卡尔顿酒店，提供米其林星级法式料理，在80份评论中获得4.7分高分。食客普遍称赞食材新鲜、烹饪技艺精湛，尤其是甜点推车和鱼子酱菜品备受推崇。服务细致入微，从预订到用餐全程 attentive。环境优雅豪华，但部分评论指出座位间距较近，私密性一般，且餐点节奏偶有延误。尽管价格较高，多数客人认为物有所值，适合追求高品质法式体验的旅客。
适合追求精致法式美食与优质服务、对私密性要求不高的商务或庆祝场合。
★ Michelin¥¥¥French
Originality is demonstrated here through ingredients from each season and classic techniques. Omakase set menus feature refined, beautiful arrangements, with light flavours to suit a modern sensibility. The name declares that the house is a gathering point, bringing together everyone and everything else involved in food and restaurants. The site chosen for its relaunch was where Point first started. Anticipation is building for this fresh turning point.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The name means ‘spirit of fun’ and also refers to the chef’s given name, Shintaro. All occupations have their joys and sorrows, but the chef maintains a spirit of fun. At the same time, he never forgets reverence for tradition. Lacquered wooden trays and dishes garnished with flowers convey each season. Self-expressive yet respectful of traditional boundaries, his goal is the evolution of Japanese cuisine. Cuisine is a mirror of the soul; joy itself.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Chinese
Weave Kansai food culture and Chinese tradition together and you get Kamigatachuka. Ingredients from the Kinki region are prepared using Chinese and Japanese techniques; continuing the theme, items are served on Chinese and Japanese plates and bowls. Vegetarian cuisine, dubbed ‘Naniwa’ (‘vegetable garden’), brings to mind the Kawachi Plain’s fame as a vegetable-producing region. The fare is the self-expression of a chef who was born in Osaka and grew up in a family that ran a Chinese restaurant.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
A procession of dishes that linger in the diner’s memory. Seasonal flavours are used in generous measure, such as Japanese pepper flower, pike conger, matsutake mushrooms and crab. Preparation methods, whether that be grilling, boiling or more, are astutely tailored to each ingredient, showcasing its qualities from every angle. This talent for bringing out the best in food is born of long years of experience. A favourite haunt of the literati, the Uozuya sign calligraphy is by essayist Masako Shirasu.
★ Michelin¥¥¥French
The gastronomy of Chef Tatsuhiro Takayama blends a passion for learning from nature with a modern sensibility. To attune his work to the sense of the seasons, he adds layers of texture. His spring ‘Sakuraniku, Sansai’ accents the bitterness of spring vegetables with the texture of buckwheat groats. The menu lists only the ingredients, as a mark of respect to the foodstuff producers. Natural rock tables and wooden ornamental plates eloquently convey the chef’s love of nature.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥French
Light dining is the chef’s approach. For the amuse-bouche, the theme is ‘five flavours’. A medley of finger foods adds a playful touch; roast wagyu comes in a clear sauce of beef juices. The meal concludes on a Japanese note, with soba. A soup of vegetable cut ends is poured into the bowl, adding value while ensuring nothing is wasted. The meal weaves abundant experience and creative evolution, unfolding as a biography in food.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
Dinner at Iroha should be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the chef decrees, so he lavishes his guests with the flavours of what’s in season. The extensive menu and the chef’s endless ingenuity testify to this commitment. An arranged sashimi dish is prepared using the techniques of skin searing, skin boiling, and kombu pickling. The popular beef cutlets are a hearty meat dish, ensuring that everyone leaves feeling satisfied. True to the restaurant’s name, which means ‘coloured leaves’, dishes are decorated with leaves of the season.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Chinese
The restaurant aspires to cheerful Chinese fare that delights with fun and surprises. The appetiser assortment offers a tour of China’s regions, each inspired by hometown cooking. A touch of variation appears in every dish: beef and green pepper stir-fry is cooked over low heat; crispy pork is wrapped in crepe. The word ‘Garan’ in the name means ‘a place where monks gather’, reflecting the house’s practice of serving everyone at once. After dinner, the guests assemble around a table to relax over Chinese tea and share the warmth of the moment together.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Sushi
The talent of the faithful proprietor shows in his omakase. Let the knowledgeable proprietress guide you for pairings between sake and food. Nigiri begins with zuke-maguro, a classic Edomae topping. Gizzard shad is first lightly salted, enhancing the flavour. Instead of ginger pickled in sweet vinegar, tsukemono made with seasonal vegetables are served to provide variation. Adorning the storefront is a shimenawa, a rope of twisted straw, hung here with a prayer for a roaring trade. Guests from throughout Japan and around the world are warmly welcomed, and every evening bustles.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The unique menu follows a maxim the chef learned as an apprentice: ‘Good food is easy to understand, easy to eat, and delicious’. Carefully limiting the ingredients of each dish, he combines them in clever ways to draw out their special charms. Rice dishes bring the meal to a close, chosen from an extensive list that includes white rice served at the perfect point, seasonal takikomi-gohan, and a rice bowl crowned with ginger-scented, sweet-soy simmered beef. ‘Inaya’ means ‘House of Rice’; a name filled with a love and respect appropriate for the Land of Abundant Rice.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Innovative
The natural deliciousness of ingredients is expressed, mindful of the characteristics of each. Creative combinations weave a cuisine that lingers in the memory. The signature dish, ‘Caviar, Squid and Aubergine’, brings out a unique flavour profile through the interplay of saltiness and sweetness. ‘Bakuretsu Gyokai’, meaning ‘Exploding Seafood’, is a dish that combines baked risotto with soup of fish and shellfish, its humorous name conjuring an image of billowing aroma and concentrated flavour.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
As the official ‘Tourism Ambassador for Awaji’s Food Culture’, Kota Ono employs Awaji ingredients in each item of his omakase set menu, paying homage to the island of his birth. He proudly sources not only seafood and wagyu but also soy sauce and even salt from his native Awaji, expounding its charms from the bustle of Kitashinchi. Luxury foods of the season adorn a large platter, unstintingly served in hearty portions. The goal is to be a place where flavoursome food is served, without forgetting imagination and playfulness.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Sushi
The sign’s calligraphy was done by the proprietor himself. Sake vessels made of Satsuma cut glass reflect Kagoshima hometown pride. Fish is mainly shipped in from Kitakyushu, but some are selected at the Tsuruhashi and Kuromon markets. For vinegared rice, the house favours the sour flavours of eastern Japan to the sweeter varieties of the west. In Edo style, rice from the previous harvest is cooked relatively firm, vinegared and kept at body temperature. Sushi of fatty tuna is formed with salt for a more striking flavour. Sea-urchin portions are generous. Even the rolled omelette shows the pra
★ Michelin¥¥¥Italian, Italian Contemporary
Simple fare that speaks straight to the heart is the objective here. Fritters are deep-fried one by one in a quest for that instant of perfect flavour. Pasta is interpreted through Japanese ingredients. Japanese sea bream grilled in pie crust ventures outside the Italian cuisine box. The name of the house is an amalgam of the first letter of Yamamoto, the chef’s surname, plus ‘unico’, Italian for ‘unique’. Free imagination lends a unique spin to natural flavours.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Tempura
The chef began to specialise in tempura when, as an apprentice at a Japanese restaurant, he was placed in charge of the fryer. The tatami-matted interior recalls ozashiki-tempura, the practice of frying tempura in front of guests seated on tatami mats around a low table . Having diligently studied flavour in Tokyo and technique in Osaka, the chef adopts ‘taking the best from east and west’ as his theme. Tempura pieces are fried in sesame oil and served with warm dipping sauce. Pairing wine with tempura is advocated here, as the acidity of champagne and white wine brings out the flavour of the
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
To keep each visit feeling fresh, there are no standard dishes. Western vegetables are also woven into the cooking as part of that approach. Tsukuri is given an extra twist through techniques such as curing with kelp and soy marination, while fish and meat dishes may draw inspiration from Western cooking. Desserts end the meal on a refreshing note with shaved ice featuring fruits and vegetables. Yet for all the playful creativity, the cuisine remains firmly rooted in Japanese sensibilities. The chef’s desire to delight comes through in every dish.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Yakitori
Fire lies at the heart of the cooking, with each skewer carefully tailored in both cooking and preparation. True to Ichimatsu style, techniques range from charcoal grilling and wood fire to steaming and shallow-frying, depending on what best suits each skewer. The selection extends beyond jidori chicken to include duck and guinea fowl. Chicken pâté and fruit skewers appear throughout the course, adding contrast and variation along the way. The unpredictable progression keeps the experience engaging.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Yakitori
The ‘Japanese Jidori’ on the coasters means chicken breeds native to Japan. The chef takes pride in using only such chicken, never mixing them with foreign breeds. The concept here is to eat the entire bird. Rare cuts of chicken are shared between two diners, which is why reservations are only accepted for groups of two or more. To ensure that guests savour the richness of the chicken to the full, there are no dipping sauces. Respect for food producers and passion for yakitori pervade every aspect of Torisen.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Fugu / Pufferfish
In a previous life, this was a sushi shop. The second-generation owner-chef, preparing food at the counter left over from earlier days, apprenticed at a wholesaler, then at a ryotei, before hanging out his shop curtain as a fugu (puffer fish) chef. Wild-caught tora fugu arrive from Shimonoseki. Fugu sashimi arranged in a floral pattern called botan-zukuri is arrayed on celadon plates, and chirinabe hotpots followed by zosui rice gruel are prepared by the book. Patiently aged homemade ponzu sauce, appetisers of fugu skin or jellied fugu, and stone-grilled fugu show off the chef’s individuality
★ Michelin¥¥¥Contemporary
At this sister location to a Hiroshima restaurant, a chef who honed his skills in Italy displays his talents. Ingredients are from around the Kinki region as well as the chef's beloved Hiroshima. Italian fare is the base, overlaid with French influences from the flagship restaurant, resulting in a seamless blend of French and Italian recipes. Potato gnocchi is the signature dish. Its culinary roots, so important that the name is spelled with an extra ‘o’, extend deep into both Hiroshima and Nakanoshima.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The Kitashinchi branch of Kashiwaya in Senriyama offers ryotei service in a counter-restaurant setting. The chef, who has devoted his career to Kashiwaya, strives above all for a sense of presence. His adroit knife skills make an eye-catching display. On days when he cooks with straw, guests can watch the flames rise through a small window. In a thoughtful touch, the blaze is isolated behind heat-resistant glass, sparing guests from the flow of smoke. Every item is prepared with a ryotei’s meticulous care.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
‘Kaishoku’ is a coined word expressing a wish that guests will delight in dining with all their hearts. Toshihiro Shimizu’s vigorously inquisitive mind drove him to study agriculture out of a desire to know all he could about ingredients. He taught himself so that he could craft his own menu. A single dish may pair seafood with vegetables to explore contrasts in flavours. House-made soba is created with toppings such as dried mullet roe or mixed tempura fritters that offer the flavour of each season.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The owner-chef focuses on the blessings of nature to bring out the unvarnished flavours of his ingredients. He starts off each meal by presenting the items that have arrived that day. In support of the producers who underpin Osaka’s food, he applies his skills to the traditional vegetables of Naniwa. Past experience at a fishmonger also enables him to source high-quality seafood. He prizes the inherent flavour of each ingredient above all, so keeps arrangements simple. Antique tableware highlights seasonal dishes.
★ Michelin¥¥¥French
This restaurant strives to ensure that what you eat leaves an impression. No-nonsense preparations place the ingredients front and centre and the menu oozes luxury, with French ingredients such as caviar, foie gras and truffles. Counter-style service conveys the message of each dish directly to diners in their own language. True to its name, meaning ‘empathy’ in French, the restaurant creates in chef and diner a shared anticipation of each coming season.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The chef never forgets his connection to his apprentice days. From his two mentors, he learned the basics of Japanese cuisine and the spirit of delighting diners. Years of experience are reflected in skilful work at counter and grill, convivial conversation, and creative food preparation. The restaurant’s name, Kitagawa, includes characters meaning ‘many’ and ‘joy’. We sense a strange connection between things no one man could accomplish alone.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
Nishitemma Ichigaya upholds the traditions of Osaka while incorporating new influences. Creative inspiration and painstaking attention to detail are the watchwords here. Use of ma-kombu kelp to enliven the broth of soup dishes pays tribute to Semba merchant food culture. Traditional vegetables of Osaka showcase the attractions of that great commercial city. From time to time, French methods are employed as well. The seafood with miso sauce américain is a flavour found only here.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Korean
Meika Hoshino breathes her own creativity into Korean royal court cuisine, which she studied in Seoul. Prix fixe offerings follow ‘yakushoku-dogen’, the idea that diet has an essential role in maintaining good health. The double-tiered food box filled with multi-coloured items is an inspiration drawn from Korea’s courtly dining tables. Namul and kimchi are prepared with Kyoto vegetables; cuisine from the early Joseon dynasty comes from a time before chilli peppers were introduced. A dialogue between traditional cooking and modern sensibility brings Korean culinary culture to a wider audience.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Japanese
Abundant seasonal foods reflecting the bounty of Japan in plates and bowls, while refined preparations following Japan’s old lunisolar calendar prove the worth of ryotei experience. A range of carefully selected sakes are available; a collection of antique glassware sets off drinks and dishes in a cheerful light. ‘Zeshin’ abbreviates a phrase meaning ‘believe in your path and follow it wholeheartedly, always asking whether a thing is right or wrong’. The restaurant’s wish is to impart the joy of eating.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Contemporary, Italian
The book ‘Tosara no Ryori’ (‘Ten-Plate Cuisine’) became the guiding light of the chef’s life. One line in the book defines ‘cuisine’ as ‘a word that conveys boundless gratitude to the greatness of Nature for the vast bounty the Earth provides’. Deeply moved by the author’s values and perspective on life, the chef expresses the fascination of the natural world and food producers through a prix fixe menu of ten courses. Cuisine formed from his bonds with others is the tale of the chef’s journey.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Chinese
This restaurant explores the possibilities of Chinese cooking and wine. The name of the shop incorporates the phrases ‘Chinois-Fume’ and ‘Chinese Futurism’, announcing a cuisine that fuses the two. This spirit is reflected in the amuse-bouche arranged on a display shelf for tea utensils, tofu skin and vegetables in Peking Duck style, sauces fragrant with Shaoxing wine. Applying French techniques to Chinese fare, the house experiments with wine pairings. The menu, enigmatic and poetic, lends a playful mood.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Tempura
Tempura is simple: coat food in batter and deep-fry it. Yet from that very simplicity arises the subtlety and difficulty of the craft. Green asparagus spears are plump with flavoursome moisture; drop the spears into hot oil and their moisture quickly heats up, turns to steam and leaps from the fryer. The role of the coating, and the essence of tempura, is to capture that delicious moisture and concentrate it. Experience cultivated through training turns tempura from good to magnificent.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
Great ingenuity is poured into the menu to fill it with creative cuisine. Sashimi is garnished with condiments such as deep-fried onions and coarsely grated daikon. Fish cuisine is accented with sauces of mushrooms and vegetables. As a born-and-bred Osakan, the chef gravitates toward Naniwa’s traditional vegetables. The meal wraps up with three types of rice dishes: white rice and several accompaniments, pickled fish on rice and seasonal mixed rice. The generosity of free refills ensures that guests leave satisfied.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Italian
In Italy, the chef experienced the fierce pride the Italians have in their home regions. Deeply impressed by the unique cuisines of people who produce and consume locally all their lives, he set his sights on combining Japanese sensibilities with Italian cooking. One example is anago carpaccio: deboned conger eel accompanied by tomato and bagna càuda. The focus on seafood derives from his love of the bounty of the sea, learned at his grandmother’s house in Okinoshima.
★ MichelinTabelog 银¥¥¥Yakitori
The purely Japanese interior, with its orderly row of lacquer trays, is a setting fit for a kappo. The chef’s kaiseki experience manifests everywhere in the restaurant’s offerings. The name-brand chicken he uses is tender and richly flavoursome. Salt is used with restraint; instead, a light dipping sauce brings out the native flavour of the chicken. Breast meat fried with crumbled rice crackers and rice cooked with seasoned chicken mince are ideas that spring from Japanese cuisine. The restaurant’s name means ‘chicken artisan’, and it’s not hard to see why.
★ Michelin¥¥¥French
The chef prizes ‘combinations of flavours and aromas’. His mentor in Paris, Christian Le Squer, taught him to seek out new flavours by developing the sensibility of a perfumer. Experience and ideas come together in the ‘Warm Salad’. Vegetables picked in the Takagamine district of Kyoto’s Kita Ward are cooked in a variety of ways, drawing the flavour of each to the fore. Interplay of aromas between char-grilled meat dishes and their sauces express this fare’s unique character.
★ Michelin¥¥¥French
PRESQU'ÎLE takes its name from a district of Lyons, reflecting the chef’s respect for the place where he trained and his resolve to carry its traditions forward for the next generation. Classical technique underpins French cooking in which sauces play a central role. A speciality is duck and foie gras tourte served with sauce poured tableside. Fruit displayed on the table may also appear as crêpes suzette.
★ Michelin¥¥¥Chinese
Having honed his creativity through a series of gastronomic contests, the chef serves a unique interpretation of Chinese cuisine. Made using the finest Kawachi duck, the Peking duck is a vibrant and elegant dish, rich in both colour and visual appeal; with impressive attention to detail, the accompanying Kinzanji miso is sourced specially for this dish. The lively sounds echoing from the kitchen and the aroma of freshly made dishes make ‘atelier’ an apt name for this dining room.
★ Michelin¥¥¥French
To mark its half-century anniversary, LE PONT DE CIEL broke new ground, converting to a ‘counter French’ format. The open kitchen buzzes with activity as cooks and serving staff attend customers. The key to the fare here is cooking with firewood. Vegetables are roasted, fish smoked, meat wrapped in flame. The name means ‘bridge across the sky’, reflecting the chef’s desire to foster a culture that connects a relaxing time with delicious cuisine.
★ Michelin¥¥¥¥Japanese
The chef’s creed is devotion to his craft heart and soul. Having learned this attitude to cooking from his mentor at Taian, where he apprenticed, he constantly burnishes his culinary skills through meticulous attention to ingredient selection, food preparation methods and use of dishware. One vital contributor to his menus is the charcoal flame. The chef’s experience speaks through his pan-seared sashimi and grilled dishes wreathed in aromatic smoke. Inventiveness and painstaking diligence create cuisine that impresses.