Gyokuzoin

This house, surrounded by bamboo, welcomes only one party per day. The refined gate, elegant room and tasteful garden are all the work of the proprietor. Devotion is paid to every aspect of cuisine and service in the spirit that each meal is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. Meals incorporate seasonal flavours from across Japan. To convey the proprietor’s feelings for the food directly, ingredients are brought to the table and sometimes even prepared before guests’ eyes. Western ingredients are also used, charming diners with creativity beyond Japanese cuisine.

This restaurant on Mt. Ikomayama overlooks the city. The Italy-trained chef bakes pizzas with his own original take. The key to the taste is Ikoma spring water – the water’s sweetness and softness give the pizza real character. Made using less salt compared to the Italian recipe, the crust has a uniquely fluffy texture. The standard offering is margherita pizza made with vegetables from a local farm. Have your fill of Ikoma pizza you won’t find in Naples or Rome. It’s closed for the month of February.

The chef prizes his relations with food producers; the better to express the appeal of each region’s topography. Lega’ means ‘bind’ or ‘connect’: the restaurant binds together the food cultures of Italy and Nara and puts diners in touch with the thoughts of food producers. Sushi of uncured ham and persimmon leaf, venison senbei—a dish resembling Nara’s famous deer crackers—and other unique items overlay one tradition onto another. The chef honed his skills in Italy’s Piemonte region, which is why he devotes himself to making hand-rolled pastas such as tajarin and agnolotti in autumn and winter

The chef here is a culinary master who never sways from his devotion to his craft. His daughters lend their strengths to his efforts, providing gracious service as a family. Bringing the true flavours of ingredients to the fore is the restaurant’s forte. Simple dishes such as boiled vegetables topped with bonito-flavoured soy sauce and vegetables reflect the family’s sincere devotion, embodying the chef’s adage that ‘cuisine reveals the person’. Heartfelt fare that is a true testament of the chef’s nature.

Yugen means ‘mysterious profundity’, grace whose depths can never be plumbed. It connotes the depths of Japanese cuisine, a product of constant refinement through the ages. Keisuke Mifune puts on display the skills and instincts he honed at a ryotei. He pays attention to combinations of ingredients and dishware, expressing the changing of the seasons through his menu. A Fukuoka native, the chef furnishes the bounty of Kyushu in the form of seafood from the Genkai Sea and the Goto Islands.

The stately tea-house interior and Japanese-style painting of the spray from a waterfall enfold guests in an atmosphere of tranquillity. Proclaiming a no-nonsense approach to sushi, the two chefs restrict seasoning and other preparations to the bare minimum. They add no sugar to the sushi rice, the better to draw out the natural sweetness of fish and rice. Tuna is marinated in soy sauce only briefly; conger eel dressed in sauce that is only slightly sweet. As they form sushi by hand, both chefs focus on the basics of rice, wasabi, vinegar and fish.

Intent on catering to guests’ every preference, the house restricts service to one party per lunch and one per dinner. For drinkers, there’s a surfeit of bar snacks; for diners, dishes of generous proportions. The chef assembles his omakase set menus with each diner’s preferences in mind. The name “Koikiryori” means ‘chic cuisine’, declaring a free and easy style of cooking. Some dishes incorporate elements of Western cuisine, showing a playful side. Immerse yourself in a once-in-a-lifetime experience, courtesy of a true veteran of the culinary world.