Sometimes it’s good—even necessary—to slow things down, to take the time to savor and enjoy the finer things in life. Fine dining provides a high-quality, immersive experience that goes beyond simply enjoying delicious food. The exceptional service and luxurious atmosphere of the surroundings also play their part in setting up the anticipation and arrival of your meal. Chefs also use fine dining for their own purposes: it is a time for them to showcase their unique creativity, using seasonal specialties and going through meticulous preparations of each dish, to truly celebrate the culinary arts!
Well, if you’re looking for an elevated dining experience and a taste of elegance during the next of your culinary tours in Japan, here are 3 types of fine dining experiences available during your next visit to Tokyo!
1. Omakase
Omakase is a Japanese dining experience where guests leave the meal selections entirely up to the chef to decide. The term, which essentially translates to, “I’ll leave it up to you”, places complete trust in the chef’s culinary skills to prepare a personalized meal. Courses are menu-less: chefs are guided by their own, unique philosophies, creating bespoke, multi-course meals for diners that use fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients. Omakase meals are meant to be savored and are best enjoyed slowly. As each meal is prepared on the fly, with decisions made by chefs in the moment, this dining experience guarantees that no meal is exactly the same—which makes every trip unlike any other! Some cuisines even allow diners to watch the chefs as they prepare each course!
Omakase dining experiences in Tokyo cover a wide range of cuisines, both local and foreign. You can find omakase sushi options, others for French or Italian food, some Chinese varieties, as well as fusion cuisines, yakiniku, and, of course, kaiseki – the most prestigious of all Japanese cuisines!
Hiroo Ishizaka is a one-star Michelin restaurant that specializes in sushi; it is hidden away in the Hiroo Village in Shibuya. The restaurant is run by a husband-and-wife team, who designed their space to only seat up to eight guests at a time. The place is immaculately furnished with stylish, walnut timber counters in a cozy space featuring warm wood tones, traditional wicker, and antique artworks that complement the sushi dishes well.
Also read: 10 Kinds of Next-Level Sushi to Try in Japan
Diners can experience Chef Kenji Ishizaka’s masterful skills and culinary sensibility with an intimate omakase dining course. The meal begins with many appetizers, before moving on to the nigiri sushi, sashimi, and a warm dish at the end. The chef personally selects the wines and sake that diners are to enjoy with their fish, with sake options coming from well-established breweries in Nara and Kumamoto. This dining experience is highly recommended for those looking to elevate their understanding of Japanese sushi!
2. Sumibi Yakiniku
Sumibi yakiniku is a style of yakiniku, or Japanese barbecue, over sumibi, a charcoal-heated grill. There are many kinds of yakiniku restaurants which differ in the ways for you to cook your meat and vegetables—for example, some places use gas-powered grills, others use the more traditional sumibi, and then there are places were teppan is the standard, which is a hot metal cooking plate (similar to what you might find at Hibachi restaurants in the West). As the meats and vegetables are grilled over charcoal in sumibi yakiniku, the meat is evenly cooked to perfection, and the charcoal grill allows for a more aromatic and flavorful final dish!
Also read: Yakiniku: An Insider’s Guide to Japanese Barbecue
In the higher-end, finer dining yakiniku restaurants, chefs curate a menu that showcases the best selection of cuts from the finest beef in Japan. Their recommendations will more than likely provide a deeper appreciation for this unique dining style, with various presentations of different styles of beef, plus a range of preparation, plating, and cooking styles. This is an experience truly unlike any other, and one not to be missed during the next of your Japanese culinary tours!
Sumibi Yakiniku Nakahara is a Japanese gourmet yakiniku restaurant located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, that serves various cuts of the distinguished, Japanese wagyu beef. The restaurant specializes in a cut they call the ‘Legendary Wagyu Tongue,’ a feature of their exclusive Chef’s Selection (omakase) dining course. They have three courses, besides: (1) a standard course, (2) a special course, and (3) a variation of the special course that leaves out the offal cuts. The most exclusive seats are the restaurant’s counter tops, where guests are served by the Head Chef himself!
The restaurant serves beef prepared in a variety of ways – cured, raw tataki-style dishes, grilled, and many more! For dishes where the meat is cooked, the raw cuts of the meat are first presented to guests, before being cooked to perfection using the charcoal grill. If you’re a fan of red meat and want to take your yakiniku experience to the next level, this is the dining experience for you!
3. Kaiseki
Kaiseki is a highly regarded, traditional Japanese multi-course dinner showcasing the best of native ingredients and cooking techniques. Synonymous to Western haute cuisine, this prestigious dining experience draws its culinary traditions from the Japanese Imperial Court, Samurai warrior households, the famous tea ceremony, and ancient Buddhist traditions—making for one of the grandest, most elegant culinary tours through history and culture that Japan has to offer!
Each kaiseki experience uses local, limited ingredients that change with the passing seasons, ensuring that each dining experience is exclusive and unique! Dishes are artistically arranged using traditional, often wooden or lacquerware-type tableware, and the whole meal is meticulously decorated with seasonal details. Your eyes are guaranteed a feast long before the first piece of food even reaches your mouth!
In the spring, food items may showcase seasonal sakura (cherry blossoms), and a variety of spring vegetables and seafood. Warmer, heartier ingredients such as sweet potato, chestnuts, and kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) often make their appearance in the colder months of the year. Served in courses, kaiseki is a feast for all the senses—a dining experience that is not to be missed!
Kaiseki Komuro is a one-star Michelin restaurant located in Shinjuku. With a variety of high-quality ingredients from the sea, forest, and farm, Chef Mitsuhiro Komuro showcases his creative spirit and extensive culinary prowess with ever-evolving courses, and original, authentic dishes. Each omakase meal option features elements corresponding to seasonal ingredients showcasing the four major seasons in Japan. Kaiseki courses also have options for exclusive seasonal sake pairings, as well as featuring some of the finest brews from all around Japan available to the restaurant’s patrons. This elegant dining opportunity is the pinnacle of Japanese high culture, and is a highly recommended, once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Experiencing fine dining is one of the luxuries and indulgences that should be sampled at least once in your life. Immerse yourself in the beautiful, cozy surroundings, and savor the flavors that were meticulously prepared for you by the best in the industry!
If you’re interested in including fine dining as part of any of your culinary tours through Japan in the future, but you’re unsure of where to begin, the experienced, local tour guides at Best Experience Japan would be more than happy to take you to some of the finest places that Tokyo has to offer!