Top 10 Japanese restaurants

From fresh sushi prepared by its masters and served in a traditional Japanese setting to contemporary French fusion cuisine, we take a look at some of Japan’s most acclaimed restaurants, as voted for in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards.

In a country that prides itself on tradition, yet is forever pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation, its not surprising that its restaurant scene is both contemporary yet time-honoured, home to the number two restaurant in all of Asia.

From traditional master sushi chefs to French fusions, Japan has an enviable culinary reputation with no less than 10 of its restaurants making it into Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards, second only to China which featured 16 times.

For a full list of all 50 top restaurants click here. 

10. Sushi Saito, Tokyo, Japan

One of Tokyo’s “élite-league” sushi restaurants Sushi Saito is currently based in a multi-storey car park opposite the US embassy, but is moving to new premises in early 2014. Behind it unassuming setting is a restaurant run by chef and owner Takashi Saito, a sushi master known for his perfect presentation, precision and attention to detail. Sushi specialities include  from aji (mackerel) with grated ginger and negi (spring onion), to sea urchin, eel and clam.

Head chef: Takashi Saito

Style of food: Sushi

Contact: Jidousha Kaikan Bldg. F1, 1-9-15 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052, +81 3 3589 4412

Overall: 43

Last year’s position: 39

9. Hajime, Osaka, Japan

This modern French restaurant is run by former computer engineer Hajime Yoneda who gave up a career in IT to become a chef relocating to France to learn the secrets of its cuisine. He then spent three years at chef Michel Bras’ restaurant Toya in Hokkaido before opening his own in 2008. Toneda is known for his “visually stunning” dishes and attention to detail with his signature chikyu dish comprising up to 110 different vegetables, grains and herbs arranged around shellfish foam.

Head chef: Hajime Yoneda

Style of food: Modern French

Contact: 1-9-11-1F Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka 550-0002, +81 6 6447 6688, www.hajime-artistes.com

Overall: 42

Last year’s position: 21

8. Sawada, Tokyo, Japan

A new entry to this year’s list, Sawada has just seven covers and is described as an “intense, minimalist sushi experience” known to be one of the hardest places in the city to get a reservation. Its two employees, chef Sawada Koji and his helper, produce simple and traditional sushi made from produce brought in daily from Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market.

Head chef: Sawada Koji

Style of food: Sushi

Contact: MC Building 3F, 5-9-19 Ginza, Chūō City, Tokyo, +81 3 3571 4711

Overall: No.41

Last year’s position: New entry

7. Sukiyabashi Jiro, Tokyo, Japan

Sushi master Jiro Ono, aged in his 80s, was the main subject of David Gelb’s 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. However long before the film’s release the octogenarian was known for his three-starred Michelin restaurant, hidden away next to Ginza Metro Station in Tokyo. A seat at the 10-spot sushi bar is notoriously difficult to secure, but if successful diners will be treated to specialities including tako (octopus), hamaguri (clam) and anago (saltwater eel).

Head chef: Jiro Ono

Style of food: Traditional sushi

Contact: Tsukamoto Sogyo Building, Basement 1st Floor, 2-15, Ginza 4-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, +81 3 3535 3600, www.sushi-jiro.jp

Overall: 38

Last year’s position: New entry

6. Takazawa, Tokyo, Japan

Serving contemporary Japanese cuisine, guests to Yoshiaki Takazawa’s Takazawa can expect a culinary experience which takes some well-known classics and transforms them to suit its innovative fusion-based style. Its spaghetti carbonara sees the pasta replaced with slithers of bamboo shoot, garnished with wild boar bacon and black truffle, while the restaurant’s pea soup is suspended in dashi jelly and designed to look like a pair of olives. Yoshiaki a fully-qualified sommelier curating a wine list to expertly match his dishes.

Head chef: Yoshiaki Takazawa

Style of food: Contemporary Japanese

Contact: Sanyo Akasaka Building 2F, 3-5-2 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052, +81 3 3505 5052, www.takazawa-y.co.jp/

Overall: No.34

Last year’s position: 31

5. L’Effervescence, Tokyo, Japan

Another new entry to this year’s list, L’Effervescence is run by chef Shinobu Namae who learnt his trade from chefs Michel Bras and Heston Blumenthal, working at the latter’s Fat Duck as a pastry chef for a year. His restaurant blends contemporary French cuisine and Japanese ingredients with “playful” twists to stimulate the senses with its ever-changing ‘apple pie’, a take on the American classic, featuring fillings including wild boar, sage and matutake mushrooms. Another signature dish is whole cooked turnip, with parsley oil emulsion, Basque ham and brioche. The wine list is French with a huge range of Bordeaux and Burgundy.

Head chef: Shinobu Namae

Style of food: Contemporary French with modern gastronomic twists

Contact: 2-26-4 Nishiazabu, Minato, Tokyo 106 0031, +81 3 5766 9500, www.leffervescence.jp

Overall: 25

Last year’s position: New entry

4. Quintessence, Tokyo, Japan

Another restaurant serving French cuisine in Japan’s capital is Quintessence, whose chef-patron Shuzo Kishida was sous chef at celebrated Parisian restaurant LAstrance bringing modern French cooking to Minato City. Menus are written each morning with guests handed a ‘menu’ describing the restaurant’s “concept” rather than what it serves. Dishes include Nodoguro (blackthroat sea perch), flash-roasted in a hot oven served with crab roe sauce and crunchy hazelnuts.

Head chef: Shuzo Kishida

Style of food: Modern French

Contact: 5-4-7 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108 0071, +81 3 5791 3715, www.quintessence.jp

Overall: 22

Last year’s: 16

3. Ishikawa, Tokyo, Japan

Located directly behind the Bishamonten Temple, Ishikawa is known for its simple, traditional and unpretentious setting. Kimono-clad waitresses walk silently between its four private dining rooms, or guests can also choose to sit at the seven-seat counter made from cypress wood taken from a temple-felled tree. The three-starred Michelin restaurant is dictates what diners eat, presenting its guests with a procession of courses that typically includes an appetiser, soup and sashimi before moving on to larger dishes cooked on the grill.

Head chef: Hideki Ishikawa

Style of food: Modern kaiseki

Contact: Takamura Building, 5-37 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162 0825, +81 3 5225 0173, www.kagurazaka-ishikawa.co.jp

Overall: 16

Last year’s position: 42

2. Nihonryori Ryugin, Tokyo, Japan

This 18-seat restaurant serves traditional Japanese cuisine overseen by head chef Seiji Yamamoto who scours the markets of Tokyo each morning to prepare dishes for his ever-changing daily menu. Dishes include bonito topped with dashi broth, or grilled firefly squids with butterbur leaves soup and green peas. RyuGin’s signature dessert features candied fruit which is frozen to -196 degrees using liquid nitrogen, then filled with a hot liquid version of the same fruit.

Head chef: Seiji Yamamoto

Style of food: Time-honoured Japanese dishes cooked with contemporary edge.

Contact: 1st Floor, 7-17-24 Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo 1060032, +81 3 3423 8006, www.nihonryori-ryugin.com

Overall: 5

Last year’s position: 2

1. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan

Japan’s number one restaurant, and last year’s best restaurant in Asia, is the acclaimed Narisawa. Fusing French cooking with Japanese cuisine, chef Yoshihiro Narisawa left his native Japan to train in France, Switzerland and Italy before opening is now renonwned Tokyo restaurant. Diners of this restaurant, which draws heavily on Japan’s seasonal ingredients, could be served dishes including a test-tube shot of fawn-coloured liquid revealing a dewy, peaty aroma from the darkest forests, followed by a lightly cooked Toba oyster from Mie prefecture, to the hirame Carpaccio with scallop cream sauce and olive oil.

Head chef: Yoshihiro Narisawa

Style of food: French cooking using Japanese ingredients

Contact: Minami Aoyma 2-6-15, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107 0062, +813 5785 0799, www.narisawa-yoshihiro.com

Overall: 2

Last year’s position: 1