Gentoan @ Kamakura, one Michelin star restaurant

Gentoan is one Michelin star restaurant in North Kamakura area.  It is located on the hill and the restaurant used to be an old Japanese style house which has been here for 80 years.  Japanese antiques are decorated inside of the restaurant, and you can feel very Japanese atmosphere here.

 

 

We visited here at lunch time.  There is no special menus here, but only 3 courses you choose at lunch time. We ordered JPY3,800 course.  The chef uses seasonal ingredients every day.  Here are the wonderful and artistic dishes we ate on the day.

 

 

Appetizer.

Sashimi (sliced raw fish) - yellow tail and sea bass.

 

Cooked oyster in soup, Miso sauce on top.

 

Baked Spanish mackerel and taro with Miso taste, and cheese Tofu.

 

 

Deep fried yellow tail and turnip in mustard flavored soup. 

 

Deep fried Shrimp cake, scallop, and crab meat. Crunchy!

 

 

Rice with baked salmon and salmon roe on top, Miso soup and Japanese pickles.

 

Lastly, dessert was yogurt mousse and your choice of drink (tea, coffee, or green tea).

 

Seasonal seafood was used for the most dishes and all were mild taste and delicious, of course. One thing you should know about this restaurant is the dishes come very slowly. When we ate them, it took 3 hours to finish all. So please take your time, enjoy conversation and appreciate the meal with relaxing mood in here.

 

Gentoan

823 Yamanouchi, Kamakura, Kanagawa
8 minutes's walk from Kita-Kamakura station

TEL: 0467-43-5695

Lunch Time (12:00 - 14;30 L.O) Courses - JPY3,800 / JPY5,000 / JPY8,000 + TAX

Dinner Time (18:00 - 21:00) - About JPY10,000 ~ JPY18,000 + TAX and service fee (10%)

(The restaurant serves only 2 groups of customers at dinner time)

Closed on Mondays and New Year Holidays

Reservation required

 

Experience Japan!

 

 

Au gout du jour Nouvelle Ere @ Tokyo, one Michelin star restaurant

To my surprise, Tokyo is the city which has the most Michelin stars in the world! (Year 2012)
Not only Japanese foods, but also you should enjoy Western food in Tokyo. Today, I went to Au gout du jour Nouvelle Ere (in English, The taste of the day New Era) at New Marunouchi Building in front of Tokyo station.

The restaurant has only 24 seats, and has a relaxed atmosphere, you can enjoy a meal leisurely. In fact, we were there for 3 hours at lunch time. The restaurant serves today's special.

First, bread...

 

Then, you choose two appetizers. I chose "creamy delight crab meat in white and an Herb cheese Bavarian red pepper."  Very colorful and creamy.

 

And "Marinated salmon with green smoke half soybeans."

 

And you choose a main dish from meat or fish.  I chose fish of the day, "baked sea bream." Seaweed sauce was tasty and the dish is like an art :)

 

 

 

 

 Lastly, dessert before the main dessert

And the main dessert!

My friend ordered chocolate mousse with Lychee ice cream. Mine is orange creme brulee with some ice cream... forgot the name...  

All were very delicious and they were not so expensive at lunch time. (Mine was JPY4,800 course)  Enjoy the dinner looking over Tokyo station.

The restaurant is very popular, so you should make reservation in advance.

Au gout du jour Nouvelle Ere
http://www.augoutdujour-group.com/no/index.html
1-5-1, Marunouchi
New Marunouchi Building 5F
Chiyodaku, Tokyo
TEL: 03-5224-8070

Open hours:

	11:00～15:00 (L.O.13:30) 18:00～23:00 (L.O.21:30) Menu: Lunch time: JPY4,800 and JPY 8,000 (Today's special, depends on the season) Dinner time: JPY8,000 and JPY12,000

Experience Japan!

Torishiki @ Meguro Tokyo, a Michelin star restaurant

Sushi, Tempura, Teriyaki... though there are various kinds of famous Japanese foods, I want you to try Yakitori as well.  Yakitori is grilled skewers of chicken and it is very popular in Japan, especially with beer and sake. However, at this restaurant, the atmosphere is chic and elegant and customers drink wine with Yakitori.  There is no smoke at all in this restaurant though they serve grilled chicken baked on charcoal. In fact, this restaurant has been awarded one Michelin star from 2011. 

The restaurant does not really have a food menu.  You just ask what you like and what you do not like, and the chef will serve you till you tell him to STOP. Trust and leave it all up to the chef :)

Thigh and breast fillet with wasabi... the fillet was medium rare and so soft. Next is chicken liver, this is also rare and sooo soft... and unbelievably no smell at all.

Ginkgo nuts and chicken gristle.  Nuts' texture was not the one I have ever tasted, and the gristle was tasty and crunchy.

Chochin (lantern) is the egg still not born from a hen. It spread out in your mouth as you chew it.  This is the highlight of this restaurant. And Eringi mushroom with lemon. Anyway, all are very delicious ^o^

And lastly, chicken and egg bowl and chicken soup with rice. At this time, 2 hours have already passed, wow we forgot the time! All foods are super delicious in this restaurant, I really mean it!

 

 

The restaurant has only 17 bar seats so that the chef can take care of all customers any time. You can tell the service of this restaurant is in the top level. 
Only one bad thing for this restaurant is Reservation... bookings are taken from the 1st of the month for up to 2 months in advance, but mostly all days become full very quickly. But do not give up, there is a second turn system for this restaurant.  Try to ask your hotel concierge to call Torishiki and try the second turn, there might be a spot around from 9:00 pm even though you have to wait till your phone rings. A little English is spoken at the restaurant. I wish you good luck!

Torishiki
2-14-12 Kami-Osaki, Shinagawa-ku
TEL: 03-3440-7656

Opening hours: 6-11 p.m.: closed on Monday and holidays.

The price is about from JPY5,000 plus drink

 

Experience Japan!
 

Katsuzen @ Ginza Tokyo, a Michelin star restaurant

Have you ever tried Tonkatsu? It is a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet, and Japanese people like it.  This restaurant, Katsuzen at Ginza Tokyo was awarded a Michelin star with the pork cutlet in 2013 guide book.  

I went to the restaurant on Sunday afternoon around 13:30, and the seats were available for two.  We ordered Organic vegetable plates, which includes seasonal vegetable appetizers - 5 plates with Kushikatsu (pieces of pork and vegetables, deep-fried, on a skewer) or pork cutlets.  This dish changes seasonally by the choice of the chef. The price is JPY3,800.

This is egg plant noodle. The fiber of a egg plant was like noodles and served.  The bottles of back side are source for pork cutlets, garlic source, Tonkatsu source, and soy source. 

 

Appetizers, Udo (Japanese Spikenard) with vinegar miso source and Warabi (bracken) with Japanese raddish.  Both vegetables are from mountains, it is probably difficult to eat outside of Japan.  By the way, a chopstick rest is a little pig, cute :)

 

 

 

 

 

 Shiraae, tofu paste with assorted vegetables, and a spring roll.  The spring roll was so crunchy outside and so tasty inside. 

 

 

 

And salad.  We could find potato salad inside... delicious and healthy.

 

Wow, this is the main part!! Pork cutlet comes with rice, miso soup, and Japanese pickles.  The pork meat was so soft and juicy, No wonder this is Michelin star restaurant.

 

 

 

Lastly, the dessert was served.  This is a roasted tea ice cream. I have a ice cream hole in my stomach at any time :p

 

 

 Katsuzen is located at Ginza, Tokyo. The name of the building is Kojun Building, which has Barneys Department Store. There are only 13 seats (mainly bar seats) at the restaurant.  At Kojun Building, there are 3 Michelin star restaurants out of total 14 restaurants. All others are also high graded restaurants though the price is high.  Please try other restaurants, too.     

Katsuzen

4th Floor, Kojun Building
Ginza 6-8-7, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Opening Hours: 

Lunch : Tuesday - Friday 11:30-14:30(14:00)

Dinner: Tuesday - Friday 11:30-14:30(14:00)

Lunch: Saturday and Sunday, holiday 11:30-15:00(14:30)

Dinner: Saturday and Sunday, holiday 17:00-21:30(20:00)

Closed on Monday and New Year Holiday

The restaurant has English menu.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/katsuzen/

 

Experience Japan!