Tokyo Fine Dining
 

I'll be in Tokyo for the first time in a little over a month and after having reviewed countless articles and threads about the restaurant scene I'm still a little confused. Most of the fine dining restaurants have a decor/ambiance that's so uninspiring that I have a hard time booking them. Aren't there any restaurants where the food is very good AND the decor, atmosphere and crowd are noteworthy as well?

Thanks

What do you consider "noteworthy"? In other words, which restaurants have you been to that tick all your boxes?

I've been to a fair share of fine restaurants all over the world and the decor and ambiance have always been on par with the cuisine (and the price tag). But in Tokyo this doesn't seem to be the case as even many 3 Michelin star restaurants are located in small basements without windows and a charm factor close to zero.

To give you an example of big city restaurants that tick all my boxes:
-Epicure, Paris
-Eleven Madison Park, New York
-Nahm, Bangkok
-Pierre, Hong Kong
-Lung King Heen, Hong Kong
-Spago, LA
-Em Sherif, Dubai
-etc

Commercial space in Tokyo is really expensive. That's probably why the restaurants are small. I don't go in for high-priced gourmet dining, but I have eaten in countless small and unassuming restaurants in Tokyo over the years, and part of the charm is watching the owner cook and interact with the customers.

My impression is that Japanese customers are more interested in how the food is presented than in what the decor looks like.

I understand what you're saying but there must be a few good places with nice views etc.

I think I understand what OP is trying to say, and that may have to do with cultural difference in historical aspect of high end fine dining.

In Japan true high end dining is exclusively for upper class people. Those restaurants do not take reservation from outside people, true high end restaurants in Japan only take repeated known customers or referrer by repeat customers. There is a phrase in Japanese ｢一見さんお断り」(ichigensan okotowari), which mean places do not take a first time visitors, kind of unofficial members only situations.

Many true high end dining restaurants in Japan still operate like that. Even today most of those restaurants in Japan do not have a website and do not publish phone numbers nor address. When Michelin Guide started Tokyo edition on 2008, Michelin had connection to be invited into some of those true high end restaurants in Tokyo by high end executives of top Japanese corporate. However, when Michelin approached them about listing on the guide book, pretty much most of those restaurants declined and asked not to be identified in the media.

If you do dine at true high end restaurants and having difficult time finding a restaurant which match your expectation in Japan, then you may need to make a personal connection in Japan to be able to get invited into those places.

Also this maybe cultural difference, too. Many high end places in Japan, not limited to restaurants, décor concept is minimalist. Many places will not use a lot of bright color and keep decoration to simple form, like Zen concept. However, they do spend money on décor by selecting best possible materials. Woods, china, etc. are all top materials at high end places.

Many high end restaurants in Japan are small because also quiet ambiance is considered high class in Japan. I saw you listed Spago at Malibu at Los Angeles. I lived at Los Angeles for 12 years and I know the place. If that is what you are looking for in fine dining, then maybe you should look for Americanized/Europeanized fine dining in Japan, not traditional Japanese fine dining.

Takazawa and Jimbocho Den would tick all of your boxes. If you haven't already reserved, I doubt you're getting in, though.

+1 - OP if you are staying in the Ginza area I can highly recommend Chez Tomo - the Chef is a fantastic guy and the food is outstanding and ambiance is nice - slightly formal but I love it. Hopefully you know some Japanese or will be with someone who does - their English is a bit weak but getting better. Service is always attentive but not instrusive. The veggie plate is still unlike anything I've ever seen...

tokyo has more michelin rated restaurants than any other city. i have found the descriptions in the guide to be quite accurate. go through the guide, find 6 or 8 places that sound decent. go to your concierge and have her book a place for you for tomorrow. book for an early time. many fill up. we have been to japan only twice, but in our 30 or 40 some odd days, we have eaten once a day in a 1 or 2 star every day. we only ate in two 3*'s. too much food and japan does not do doggie bags.

if the place is super famous, either book months out, or don't bother trying.

Most restaurants with a view in Tokyo are going to be hotel restaurants. That's what most of the tall buildings in Tokyo are. Either that or they're just office buildings. Tokyo doesn't have a huge number of skyscrapers due to earthquake codes. That said, there are some really good hotel restaurants in Tokyo. The Brise Verte at the Prince Park Tower is one I could recommend as having an amazing view and fine dining.

Honestly if you want the best views with your food, I'd go eat somewhere in Odaiba, but I don't know if you're really going to find anything you'd call fine dining in terms of atmosphere there. There are a lot of good restaurants, though. The food at a lot of casual restaurants in Tokyo approaches the quality of a lot of so-called fine dining restaurants in the US. (I've eaten at a good number of both.)

It's always interesting to see the impressions that visitors have of Tokyo, but they don't always represent the whole picture. Most tall building in Tokyo are not, in fact, hotels. Tokyo has around as many skyscrapers of over forty stories as London. Most restaurants with a view have no connection to hotels.

Tall buildings that are office buildings do sometimes have restaurants on the upper floors, and often these are casual after-work izakaya rather than fancy dining destinations. Several office buildings in both Nishi-Shinjuku and Shiodome come to mind. (OP might like someplace like Fish Bank in Shiodome, for example, with its waterfalls and two-story dining space.)

Among hotels there's always the New York Grill, which ISTR was rated the top Tokyo restaurant in Zagat's back before Michelin came to town (FWIW).

But as has been mentioned upthread, big splashy dining rooms where people go to see and be seen aren't really so much a thing in Tokyo - people seem to prefer less ostentatious decor and more privacy.

Aren't a couple of Joel Robuchon's places in pretty nice surroundings? I haven't been as I do not have that particular affliction but have heard good things.

If I were going to spend a fortune on a meal in Tokyo, I'd try for one of the Iron Chef's places, just for the novelty factor.

There's plenty of restaurants serving great food in Tokyo with chic ambiance and/or nice views. I agree that many such restaurants are located inside hotels. But that's not unique to Tokyo. Almost all of my favorite classy restaurants in Hong Kong with nice views & ambiance are indeed inside hotels, as well. I'm typically not drawn to hotel dining in Tokyo, but places like MO's Sense (Cantonese) and New Otani's rooftop restaurant (classy buffet) may fit the bill. Mind you, OP may have higher expectation than just great food. I don't know any of the restaurants the OP lists except the ones in Hong Kong. I don't think I've even been to a Michelin 3-star place but it's not something I pay close attention to.

There's also plenty of casual places on rooftop/high floors with great views (but casual ambiance), as lobsterdog mentions.

Well, forty stories is not my definition of a skyscraper. And London doesn't have a lot of those either compared to where I'm from. So relative to what I'm used to, and relative to many other world cities, neither city has a lot of tall buildings. The few buildings in Tokyo that are tall enough, isolated enough to give you a view *and* have restaurants on top are more likely to be hotels than any other type of building.

I ate at Hiroyuki Sakai's La Rochelle in Shibuya once, and that did have a fairly nice view and was large by Tokyo standards, wrapping around two sides of an office building, but that particular location seems to be closed now. It was fun, though, and probably would have ticked all the OP's boxes. I haven't tried any of the other Iron Chefs' restaurants.

Is 200meters tall enough for you? For me, a 200metre building is definitely a legit skyscaper. Tokyo's got >20 of those. Tokyo's not Hong Kong, but to me it's definitely a city with lots of tall buildings.