Best kaiseki restaurants in Tokyo

Run by a charming husband-and-wife duo for the past eight years, Kudan Otsuka is classic kaiseki at its best. The quaint space is situated across the street from Yasukuni Shrine, whose calm surrounds extend into the restaurant. To keep things fresh, the menu changes monthly, highlighting seasonal ingredients in a traditional yet original way. Expect wow-inducing dishes featuring unique ingredients you may have never seen or tried before...

Terunari puts a creative spin on kaiseki by incorporating French influences that shine through in each and every dish. French- trained chef Kanichi Tokumoto runs the kitchen, working under chef Akihiko Murata of Terunari’s Michelin-starred sister restaurant Suzunari. Chef Tokumoto doesn’t stress over hyper-seasonality and instead works with whatever the kitchen is given, not necessarily just with what’s in season...

Tenoshima is out to reimagine austere high-end kaiseki cuisine as something more casual while continuing to push the boundaries of creativity. The interior certainly looks the part: inspired by the cosiness of a traditional Japanese kitchen/dining room, the restaurant has the relaxed vibe of a bistro but the stylings of a modern restaurant. The nine-course tasting menu, set at a reasonable ¥10,000, changes roughly every fortnight...

Synonymous with traditional Kyoto-style cuisine, Hyotei has an astonishing 450-year-long history in the ancient capital. The current owner and head chef is Yoshihiro Takahashi, who is the 15th generation in line, and the force behind this new branch at Tokyo Midtown Hibiya...

There’s a lot to love about Ao. For starters, it manages to combine the casual vibe of an izakaya with the thoughtfulness of kaiseki cuisine. Don’t get us wrong – it’s never rowdy. Instead, it’s an unassuming little neighbourhood restaurant whose cosy, homely atmosphere belies its modern yet relaxed approach to Japanese food...

Chef Tatsuya Ishiyama has over a decade of experience at Kagurazaka’s two-Michelin- starred Ren, so it makes sense that Arakicho Tatsuya feels like an establishment with a much longer history. But Ishiyama only opened this one-man operation in late 2017. Arakicho Tatsuya is a kaiseki restaurant at heart, with all the trimmings to prove it: austere counter, gorgeous crockery and of course, sublime and beautiful food made from premium ingredients minimally tweaked to bring out the best possible flavour...

A meal prepared by Shinichi Akatsuka is a rare treat. The bespectacled, softly spoken chef is one of the city’s finest practitioners of kaiseki – Japanese haute cuisine with a focus on artful, seasonal, ceremonial and perfectly balanced food. His tranquil Gaienmae restaurant, which opened 12 years ago and now boasts two Michelin stars, offers the ideal setting for such beautiful fare – there are four elegant private rooms as well as counter seating facing a quiet garden...

Kaiseki chef Yuki Tanaka has a bit of an extraordinary background: a vocational school graduate, he studied the secrets of Japanese cuisine during a four-year spell at the renowned Kikunoi in Kyoto. Tanaka then went on the road, visiting more than 15 countries while always carrying a bottle of soy sauce and some kelp with him. These travels opened his eyes to the fact that a region's food culture is always born out of locally grown ingredients...

Nobody can dispute Chef Ohara’s dedication to his craft. At six each morning the eponymous chef is at Tsukiji fish market, selecting the freshest of the day’s catch. And at midnight he’s still giving it his all, preparing his cozy, functional, Michelin-starred 12-seater Arakicho restaurant for the following day’s shift. In between, a lucky dozen customers get to experience some of Tokyo’s finest kaiseki – a culinary tradition dating back to 17th-century Kyoto with an emphasis on freshness, balance and seasonality...

At this hidden Shintomicho gem, you're in for delicate and colourful meals prepared by an itamae with 15 years of experience in New York City (plus 13 in Japan, but he barely mentions it). Easy on the eye, uncompromisingly seasonal and ambitiously out-there in terms of flavours, chef Suzuki's cuisine feels almost underpriced – despite the fact you need to shell out a flat ¥10,000 (plus tax) for the omakase, the only option on the menu...

Experimental chef Seiji Yamamoto has put modern Japanese cuisine on the map with his three-Michelin-star restaurant. Hailed as Japan’s leading molecular gastronomist, Yamamoto applies cutting-edge technology to the tradition of kaiseki ryori, which involves a theatrical series of small courses. Among his signature dishes are perfectly grilled ayu (sweetfish) and the Minus-196 Degrees Candy Apple, a glossy red toffee confection filled with powdered ice cream...

So many of Tokyo’s top Japanese restaurants have minimal and modest décor. To the uninitiated, especially those accustomed to glitzy high-end establishments in the West, it can seem strange to spend top yen to sit on a stool in what resembles a cramped (if freakishly tidy) living room. But when you eat Shotaro Hara’s hassun, a mixed platter typically served as the second course in a kaiseki meal, you’ll understand why tablecloths and fancy furniture are entirely unnecessary...