I make that 27 stars in 13 days. That is very punchy - I've done 14 stars in 8 days and frankly that was too much for me. These were British and Basque though, so somewhat heavier than what you'd get in Japan. You have to what to me is quite a good mix of places. I'm happy you're fitting in a tempura venue, as I think it's a shame really good tempura apparently hasn't made it out of Asia yet.

On kaiseki specifically, have you had a lot of kaiseki meals before? On the one hand I don't think that you can have too much in Kyoto, but for me personally I don't appreciate the taste of Kaiseki the way I do other Japanese cuisines (teppanyaki, for example) and so I'd have fewer in my Japan schedule just to appreciate the aesthetics.

Just got back from Tokyo and HK. Here's a quick recap:

Tokyo:

Sushi Shin (former 1 star) - good but not great. expensive (60k JPY for 2 including tax and sake) for what you get

Shima (no stars) - amazing as always and should be a 1 star. not quite as "magical" as how I remembered it two years ago but still a great choice

Sukiyabashi Jiro Honten (3 stars) - disappointing tbh. shari was packed VERY loose and fell apart at some points, making it hard to eat. neta preparation was amazing though and there were some amazing pieces. both Jiro (who only served the Japanese regulars) and his son Yoshikazu were very cold...didn't say a word or even look at us throughout the meal.

Masuda (2 Stars) - amazing! best sushi-ya I ever went to and very underrated. highly recommend it

Den (2 Stars) - food was very good, but not as good as some of the other 2 stars I've been to. service and atmosphere was the star here - you just have so much fun eating here and Zaiyu-san and his team are just so warm and nice. I think I might come back to this one

Hong Kong:

T'ang Court (3 Stars) - went here for dim sum. it was disappointing to be honest. Tin Lung Heen (2 Stars) and Sun Tung Lok (2 Stars) were much better I felt. Should've went to try Yan Toh Heen instead as I heard great things.

Love this quick overview - thank you! I personally find it very helpful when someone reviews a number of places visited during the same time frame. It is especially helpful for places like Tokyo that have the largest number of Michelin star restaurants and where you have almost too many choices.

I would ditch some starred restaurant in Kyoto for Tempura Matsu. I was disappointed it was closed for the holidays when we visited. I read about it in Rice, Noodle, Fish.

Sure. And Michelin doesn't automatically equate to fancy or pretentious (though there are certainly many fancy and pretentious starred restaurants).

Whether you'd eat at starred restaurants, particularly 2- and 3-starred ones, on an everyday basis is of course not likely, but many people do try to incorporate Michelin dining into their travels.


We ate at Nakamura a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. The level of attention (yet unobtrusive attention) given to us as diners was fantastic; we had a private dining room with multiple servers who delivered each dish, explained it, then departed. I believe the local tilefish is their specialty ingredient and features in several of their dishes, particularly a filet from which you're told not to eat the skin/scales (not that scales are good eats), as they then use it and the bones in the broth made for the next course. A white miso soup is their other specialty IIRC.

And I agree entirely on the notion of sticking to local cuisine where possible. That's not to say there isn't fantastic French food in Japan or Italian food in Greece, for example, but I always am inclined to go with the local or at least national/regional cuisine.

I was disappointed that I didn't get the reservation here, but his younger son's place has the exact opposite vibe - very sociable people behind the counter, everyone in very good spirits. The only time Jiro's younger son got a bit serious was when one of his preppers chatted a bit too long with some of the tourists eating lunch with us.

I went to both Kichisen and Nakamura when we visited Kyoto on our honeymoon back in 2014. While both restaurants were very good, with private rooms and someone to help prepare our meals for us, Kichisen (IMO) is the definitively better restaurant. Nakamura is still worth a visit, but it was a notch below, IMO. One restaurant I would highly recommend is Misougigawa, which is not starred (partly because the chef refuses to have them rate the restaurant) but is basically French food done with Japanese sensibilities. Not the best lobster I have ever had here, but the steak, even after these years, is still the best one I have ever had anywhere on this planet.

The Greenhouse Dublin, 1*

We both opted for the 110 euro menu (6 courses). They offered 2 different wine pairings (75 and 110 euros, IIRC), but we opted for a bottle of Coteaux du Loir from Domaine de Bellivière Eric Nicolas 2015 off the wine list and thoroughly enjoyed it, as it went well with everything, even the desserts.

Service was what I expect from a 1 star place: solid and unobtrusive, but fairly attentive. They could have raked the crumbs a few more times (did so twice IIRC, after the mains and between the desserts). The only ding I'd really give the service is that though they brought out the bottle of wine, they whisked it away and opened it out of sight and served from a decanter the rest of the evening. (No, no shenanigans; heck, it's not even a pricey wine at 88 euros... but it just seemed odd not to open it tableside.)

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Amuse bouche to start: A beignet with a fish cream (I don't recall which fish). A bit closer to a croquette than a beignet IMHO, but tasty.

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Second amuse bouche: A fish-based "taco" with beef tartare topping, with a cheese cream bite on the side. Sorry at the lack of details--the amuse bouche weren't on the menu proper, so I didn't have materials to refer back to later.

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My wife's first course: Ravioli in a vegetarian onion and mushroom broth (she is pescatarian, which the restaurant easily accommodated). Struck me as closer to gnocchi.than ravioli, but it was very tasty.

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Bread--it was nice to have a French-style bread instead of Irish soda bread (which so many other places we ate featured; my wife loves the latter, but I find it rather bland and textureless).

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Fois gras (on the bottom layer, albeit as more a mousse/pate), topped with apple, walnut, and smoked eel). As far as taste goes, this was one of my favorite dishes.

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Cured Clare Island salmon, oyster cream, cucumber and citrus dressing.

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Sea bass with wakame, Loire Valley asparagus, and a buttermilk and langoustine head sabayon. This was a really nice course.

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Caramelised veal sweetbreads with lemon thyme, peas, broad beans, wild garlic, and Hen of the Woods mushrooms, in a vin jaune sauce. It was good to have sweetbreads which weren't extensively breaded & fried for a change, just seared.

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My first dessert course: frozen liquorice meringue with lemon, olive oil, and sea salt. This was quite nice, with the liquorice subtle and not overwhelming at all.

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Second dessert course: chocolate souffle with salted caramel and coffee.

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Vanilla ice cream to accompany the chocolate dessert course.

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My wife's first dessert: whipped gruyere, hazelnut, and white chocolate with a preserved blackberry sorbet.

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Petit fours.

Wow, that looks lovely!

La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise - Prague (1 star)

As usual when travelling, try to fit in a local Michelin restuarant or two. When doing my planning Prague had 3 restaurants with 1 star each, upon arriving we were told that one restaurant had actually lost its start (and its chef as a consequence) earlier that week.

La Degustation's approach is to make modern dishes with classic and local ingrediants. The seating area is fairly small with a modern decor (inc glass bone chandelier) and a large kitchen/plating area with circa 6-8 chefs finishing off the dishes in full view of half the tables. The restaurant only offers a single tasting menu that changes daily with the options of matching juice or wine flight (or a normal wine menu). Offically its an 8 course menu with an equal number of drinks but a further 4 courses were off menu.

Overall I'd say the food was very good with the single exception of the chicken course that was grossly over salted (even for my wife that eats buckets of salt). Both wine and juice were good and interesting on their own and the pairing was probably average. Most the wines were Czech which in itself is interesting but does make you wonder if they could do better with the pairing if they weren't constrained in the local.

Service was attentive and fairly relaxed. Most the staff seemed fairly engaged and were happy to discuss both food and drinks or happy to give you the official intro and leave you to it if preferred. Most the guests were dressed at the smarter end of smart casual with no evidence of the jeans, t-shirt and trainers that seem to be invading most places.

A solid one star restaurant, a little pricy when you consider the location but comparable to similar restaurants elsewhere in Europe. Would be happy to go back.

I went to Jiro Roppongi Hill on my previous trip to Tokyo for my Honeymoon and I LOVED it. The food was amazing and Takashi-san was so friendly and warm. Very detail-oriented too such as cutting the Tamago in half so it's easier for my wife to eat or removing the tail for her piece of Kimuraebi because it's more "elegant" for ladies to not have to pull the tail out of the mouth. Truthfully, I had a better meal at his son's restaurant.

My pleasure :)

If you want more elaboration on any of the restaurants, feel free to let me know!

One of my favorite meals in Japan of all time was at Kashiwaya (3*) in Osaka. It's a bit outside of the city, but IMO so worth the trek! The chef himself is in the kitchen, and his wife who speaks a little bit of English provides the most excellent service. If you're into kaiseki at all, I really recommend a visit if you have the time to squeeze a dinner (or even lunch) in.

Ah there's always next time! :) Pls do report back on your experiences at Yoshitake and Narisawa! We're considering these 2 spots for our next visit in Aug. Trying to decide between Den and Narisawa.