Umami flavour is key in Japanese cooking and the reason why it is so oishi. One of the historical explanations could be that because for many years before Meiji restoration four-legged animals meat had been forbidden, Japanese cooks had to develop other ways to bring out umami. Necessity is what…

Matsukawa tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1307/A130701/13124391/ Quintessence tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1314/A131405/13159567/ Sushi Saito tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1308/A130802/13015251/ Sugita tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1302/A130204/13018162/ Kyoaji tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130103/13002887/ Shinohara tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13200949/ L’Effervescence tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1306/A130602/13116356/ Restaurant LEquateur tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1307/A130702/13121866/ Sugalabo tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1307/A130704/13182678/ Pellegrino tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1303/A130302/13072775/ Choyo tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130103/13172920/ Hoshino tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130103/13136847/ Esquisse tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13142530/ Tomura tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1308/A130802/13005027/ Kohaku tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1309/A130905/13049130/ CHIUnE tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13203796/ Sukiyabashi Jiro tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13002260/ Mitani tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1309/A130902/13042204/ Sato Buriand tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1319/A131905/13159782/ Furuta tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1313/A131301/13176780/ Kabuto tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13016660/ Hashiguchi tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1308/A130801/13134517/ Morikawa tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1308/A130801/13002772/…

The One story ephemeral restaurant kaiseki dinner by Zaiyu Hasegawa was served on the trays of this stunning bento box, produced by Taiichi Kirimoto, 7th generation designer, producer and owner of Wajima Kirimoto lacquerware company. (in business since the 1700s!). The pale yellow wood has been coated with room temperature…

Following my post on Instagram and Facebook last weekend, here are my top 5 picks of the best sushi restaurants in London. Will be posting my top 5 Paris list soon! The Araki When fine sushi in London is concerned, The Araki has no competition. Master Mitsuhiro Araki gave away…

You can probably tell me what brand coat you have on, but can you tell me what brand of knife you used to prepare dinner last night? According to Jay Patel, owner of London-based Japanese Knife Company, the knife is humankind’s most valuable and underrated tool. There is a big…

After working for Joël Robuchon for 16 years in Paris, New York and other cities, Yosuke Suga came back to pursue his career in Japan. He has participated in Iron Chef Japan and now runs a restaurant, open only on those days he decides to open. Apart of the difficult…

As Tabelog has greatly improved its English version, you can easily see the whole of Tokyo’s best sushi list directly on the website. I have listed the top 15 as for today nonetheless, and, while Saito and Sugita have still kept their top positions, it’s Sukiyabashi Jiro that has ascended…

No other beef in the world can really compare to authentic Wagyu. Depending on the grade, sometimes the meat can be so marbled that you can barely see any muscle. And that is when the question of taste comes into question. Choosing the highest marbling beef is not always the…

Sushi is the perfect embodiment of Japanese aesthetics: simplicity and minimalism hide immense complexity and richness. Japanese sushi shokunins have turned this fast food that used to sell in Edo streets into the ultimate art of gastronomy. As some of them like to emphasize, shokunins are not chefs, they are…

I first met Takaaki Sugita at his former sushi-ya Miyakozushi in 2012. It’s never really been included in Michelin guide, but already then it was one of the hardest places to book and easily on the same level as Saito or other Tokyo’s best. Then I had the honour to…