Just returned Monday from our 2 weeks and 21 star extravaganza in Japan. A quick summary:
TOKYO
3* Yoshitake—truly a mind-blowing and very enjoyable experience. Really delicious. Was much more than just sushi. He made me enjoy a full raw oyster for the first time in my entire life, though that could also have been what made my husband sick later that same night! Service was excellent, and he even attempted to speak with us in English a bit during the dinner. Was full but not stuffed even after such a huge meal, but it only took 2.5 hrs. Highly recommended.
2* Narisawa—absolutely worthy of 3 stars and one of my 2 or 3 favorite meals in Japan. Food was stunning and delicious. Service was fabulous, and the mixed wine and sake pairings were tremendous. An amazing dinner, and yet I wasn’t stuffed like I’d normally be after such a lengthy 2.5 hr meal. I’d return in a second. Highly recommended, and agree that it’s one of the best in the world.
2* Sawada—very nice lunch with mostly just sushi in a sterner environment but surprisingly more casual too—perhaps because it was just 4 of us that day, all English speaking. Excellent sushi. Chefs wife was very friendly. Recommended but wasn’t blown away like everyone else.
KYOTO
3* Kitcho Arashiyama—truly the most memorable of all our meals in Japan, and worth every penny for me even as it was the most expensive at $1700 for the two of us. Absolutely delicious Kaiseki food in the most amazing authentic Japanese surroundings, providing an immersive Kaiseki/Japanese dinner experience that as much Japanese cultural and cuisine theater as it was an amazing dinner. Loved the private room and garden, loved the hardware, loved the traditional kimono garbed servers, and the food was divine. Highly recommended as long as you’re comfortable spending over $1500 for two people and think of dinner as entertainment as well as food.
2* Gion Sasaki—what a lunch, a truly memorable and very fun counter experience as the only Anglos, yet the team and chefs tried to speak with us and used Google translate even a few times, and the surrounding customers all spoke with us too! Almost everyone was surprised we’d heard of this place, and most were shocked we’d been able to get booking as foreigners. Most fun meal of our two weeks as a result, with very good food and Kaiseki, some truly intriguing courses that were all quite delicious, better even than 3* Wayamamura in Nara. Was just $100 per person for an incredible lunch. Highly recommended.
1* Tempura Mizuki—wow. Truly delicious and memorable tempura bar dinner at the RC Kyoto. Decided to go a la carte so we could do as much tempura that we wanted as possible, especially since we don’t normally like fried foods, but was so delicious we over did it and bill came to $700 for the two of us! That’s how yummy it was. Paired with reasonable champagne that was a bit too pricey, but overall would return in a heartbeat. Highly recommended.
NARA
3* Wayamamura—only $60 per person, this easily is the cheapest and most casual 3* meal of all time for us, very casual counter seating environment with extremely good food. Not as impressive as Kitcho or Gion Sasaki but the food tasted almost as good—and at this price, we were ecstatic. The staff tried hard to communicate in Engoish and were very friendly. We were only Anglos. Highly recommended.
KOBE
2* Aragawa—overpriced but still enjoyable bucket list dinner with Sanda Kobe sirloin. Truly one of the money ost delicious steaks we’ve ever had, but didn’t think it was worth the $1200 bill for the two of us. Very friendly staff in a very kitschy traditional place. Not really recommended. Only if you have money to burn.
OSAKA
3* Hajime—perhaps the absolute most beautiful and artful food and most delicious food of the entire trip, and perhaps all time, but marred by so many sloppy service fails as to be very confusing. The chef is a genius. Made me love all the things I despise: oysters, beets, uni, and even love his vegetable dish for which he is rightly famous. His service team is ill equipped. Actually refused a wine pairing due to a soured Rhône with beef pairing, otherwise the wine pairings were excellent. Complained only to discover that the sommelier was the manager, and he clearly was ill equipped to serve that role. But the food was incredible. Food wise, one of the best meals we’ve ever had. But service wasn’t even worthy of 1 star. Recommended with caution.