City dining guide
11 guide-listed restaurants — Michelin, Bib Gourmand, Black Pearl, Must-Eat List, World's 50 Best and more. Reference quality signals; never ranked by commission, no in-app checkout.
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.
With Nishikujo Station to guide them to the spot, every evening customers gather at Sakamoto Sushi, where the familiar chef greets them with a smile. The omakase menu, which begins with a snack, is astounding in variety and breadth. Fish are painstakingly prepared by methods such as marination and searing, and are paired with white sushi rice in the Kansai way. Nigirizushi are interspersed with bozushi and hand-rolled sushi to keep things interesting. The chef uses the highest-grade fish, yet the prices won’t break the bank.
While eating ramen, salt water from the noodles gradually dilutes the soup. You can experience this for yourself. First, pour a little of the soup into a separate bowl. Finish the noodles in the original bowl, then try sipping the reserved soup—the difference in taste will amaze you. The harmony created by a bowl of ramen goes beyond taste. The slurping of noodles forms a duet with the classical music in the background. The joy of ramen knows no bounds: ‘mugen’.
Sobakiri Karani worked with a woodworking artist to create the interior using re-used wooden materials. Large tables with mismatched chairs and unique ceiling paintings express a whimsical spirit. The menu’s appetisers, including tofu pickled in unrefined sake and duck-and-onion miso, tempts one to a cup of sake. Soba is coarse-ground and cut into both thin and thick noodles, furnishing variety in finish and flavours. Enjoy soba the way you like it in a congenial atmosphere.
This à la carte udon shop is a project of the proprietress of the Japanese restaurant Miyamoto. The plain-wood counter and bamboo accents lend the restaurant a kappo feel. À la carte dining is available for both lunch and dinner, while dinner service generally begins with a set offering of appetiser and hassun. Udon noodles are house-made, their broth light and clear like Japanese soups. Sake and side dishes end with a serving of udon; closing with udon rather than soba is one of the restaurant’s charms.
Cuisine that weaves together the seasons of Japan and the culture and climate of Italy. Flavours such as bamboo shoot, sweetfish, pike conger and game express their respective seasons. Having burnished his skills in inland and coastal regions, the chef is schooled in the bounty of both land and sea. He modifies each single ingredient by a wide range of preparation techniques, bringing out a side of it never seen before. Individual needs and tastes are catered for: guests can choose from a variety of pastas, for example, or request preferred portion sizes.
WebsiteThe shop opened its doors a quarter century ago and is as popular as ever. Father and son tend the charcoal brazier, taking the tiller together. Two breeds of free-range chicken, each suited for different cuts, are grilled over kishu-binchotan charcoal. Skewers are served one at a time on antique dishes, combining respect for yakitori with the gracious service for which Ayamuya is renowned. Omakase meals don’t include any veggie skewers, so diners can appreciate the full flavour of the chicken.
Website‘Kuude’ is ‘let’s eat’ in Osaka dialect, the chef’s nickname is Kiyo, and the whole name has a French sound to it. A colour scheme of bright blue and green declares the shop’s freedom from convention. The theme is ‘unforgettable cuisine’: each dish features no more than three items, arrangements are minimal, and portions are generous. At lunchtime, set meals of Western items paired with rice and miso soup make ku:de kiyo a local favourite.
The restaurant weaves the culture and traditional ceremonies of Japan into its menu. In the seventh lunar month, to celebrate Tanabata, the Star Festival, wanmono is served in lacquer bowls featuring the Milky Way in powdered precious metal. Other tableware also reflects the seasons. One wanmono item features a pairing of hamo and samatsu mushroom in a dish that recalls the tale of Hikoboshi and Orihime: the stars Altair and Vega, two lovers destined to meet but once a year. Sweets include umegae mochi, from Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka. Tea from the Yame area of Fukuoka is served in hom
WebsiteThe delightfully varied omakase menu begins with a snack. Bright perilla spikes and grilled soy marinated fish show the chef’s experience. Nigiri is painstakingly crafted, sparing neither effort nor inventiveness. Clams are broiled to a pungent fragrance, sweet shrimp comes with roe marinated in soy sauce. The vinegar for the rice is coupled with roasted sesame seeds for an inviting aroma. The name means ‘sushi smile’, conveying the chef’s desire that patrons enjoy the restaurant in a relaxed mood.
‘Óptimo’ means ‘best’ or ‘ideal’. With the warmth of its interior and service, the restaurant aims to be the best place for guests to dine. The diverse range of dining styles—tapas, à la carte, prix fixe—aims to ensure the ideal experience for each guest. Favourites here include a richly flavoured gratin of crab and callos, which is a stew of simmered honeycomb tripe and beans. Rice dishes simmered in a savoury broth, such as ‘arroz meloso’ and ‘arroz caldoso’, are also crowd-pleasers.