Japanese Restaurant Shinohara, a “mysterious” presence to many foodies for a long time despite being one of the best restaurants that always ranks in the top 3 kaiseki restaurants in Japan on Tabelog, since it is located far away from Tokyo (in Shiga Prefecture). Now that the time is ripe with its 10th anniversary, Shinohara has moved to the capital of food, Tokyo. Not missing this chance for anything, TokyoTableTrip quickly made a call on the day that it opened to reserve a spot. We finally had the chance to visit in mid-November.

Located at the basement of a building in a back alley of Ginza 2-chome, is the reborn Ginza Shinohara. Entering the restaurant, we were welcomed by the owner, 36-year-old Takemasa Shinohara, standing in the middle of the relatively wide counter. “Welcome”, he said with a soft voice, but his sharp gaze exuded a sense of dignity that didn’t seem to belong to a 36-year-old man. Shinohara, who opened his restaurant independently 10 years ago at 26, and has been serving gourmands from all over Japan, was probably not overly giddy about the move to Ginza. His demeanor seemed to show that he was brimming with confidence.

Course Menu as of November 2016 (23,000yen)
●3 types of crab (horsehair crab, Japanese blue crab, snow crab)
●Steamed glutinous rice with anago (conger eel)
●Soup with hotate scallops, daikoku shimeji mushrooms and abalone
●Botan shrimp and bigfin reef squid sashimi
●Pike conger eel, carp, olive flounder and Oma Bluefin tuna sashimi
●Hassun (The narezushi with ayu aged for 2 years is excellent)
●Foie gras and persimmon monaka sweet
●Charcoal-grilled marble eel from Lake Biwako
●Grilled figs with sesame and miso
●Crab mixed rice (with shark fin ankake sauce)

The food here is “hybrid-style” Japanese cuisine, retaining the elements of traditional Japanese cuisine, while also infusing many of Shinohara’s own ideas in it. Although Shinohara may look aggressive at first glance, his approach towards cooking is extremely calm and logical. Why did he serve this combination of food in this order? He creates the whole dining experience here like a storyteller, making the diners excited and happy.

Due to Shinohara’s life in the mountains previously, the selection of ingredients that he uses are also rarely encountered by people living in the city, making it a pleasant surprise. The narezushi, carp and bear meat we had on this day were memorably delicious.

The only flaw was probably the space. The minimalistic interior, put together in a rush 3 months after signing the lease, was neat, but we felt that it lacked character and a sense of cosiness.

No matter what, Ginza Shinohara here will definitely blow a new wind of change to the Japanese culinary scene in Tokyo that has become slightly dull. The experience that night made us feel like it was highly possible that Shinohara would break down the stronghold of the currently unrivalled Japanese restaurant Iyuki in Ginza, just like how Matsukawa had once uprooted the customers of Morikawa, which used to enjoy consistent popularity.

Our next reservation is in March. Reservations had come in at an unexpected speed. Only two months have passed since its opening.
Shinohara’s cuisine will probably only get better from now on. We definitely want to recommend all the global foodies here to visit as soon as possible.

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13200949/