Under 30,000 Yen：Kiyama（Kyoto）、Matsuyama（Kitakyushu）
30K-40K：Kataori（Kanazawa）
40K-50K：Hoshino（Tokyo）、Ogata（Kyoto）
60K＋＋： n/a

If under 30000 yen for only Tokyo, where would you recommend?

I’m considering Tagetsu, En and Hakun

Hi Saito-san,

Do you no longer like Kimoto? Thank you

Come to think of it, I haven't been there recently. I do have a reservation next May.

Saito-san, would ginza Fujiyama be included in the list?

I think Fujiyama is a good place, but not the best.

Hi Saito san,

Is Hoshino hard to book? Is it intro or regulars only? Just seeing if I should try next time I’m in Tokyo

Hoshino will return to membership again in 2023.

Regarding Hoshino, will it be Matsukawa kinda of membership restaurant?

It looks like only certain customers will be able to make reservations (first-time customers accompanied by regulars will not be able to make reservations).

Saitoさん、
What is the best way to book Kataori? Asked our hotel to try making a reservation for us but they were not answering the phones. Thanks in advance for your advice!

Heard that reservations for 2023 are already closed.

Wow that was quick haha! Thanks for the update Saitoさん!

What are the best kaiseki in each price range that are actually possible to book 1-2 months out? ;) Hahaha jk

Wanted to chime in regarding Kiyama: definitely splurge for the dinner menu over the lunch menu. I found the lunch menu a tad too spartan given the delicate cooking style — it needed a broader variety of ingredients to work with / showcase. E.g. the eggy rice dish isn’t the same without the generous topping of uni.

We were able to book our reservation at Kiyama excited to be returning, will be our second dinner seating and third overall visit agree with JJ that dinner is worth the premium over lunch though this will be our first time adding on the crab!

@justeat I haven't had Kaiseki too many times but I went to Tagetsu pre-COVID and enjoyed as a solo diner - dinner menu at lunch. It's also very easy to book online which is nice. I liked it enough that I plan to return.

Saito-San,
Have not been to Hoshino but my list would be pretty similar. I would add Myoujyaku in Tokyo, Ruoriya Uemura in Kobe and Nihinryori Fuji in Shizuoka to the list also

Shi,
I visited Kiyama for the first time last Nov and made the mistake of ordering the crab menu. While the crab is good, I wind up having a lot of crab dishes and missed out on other seasonal ingredients. You might want to take that into account

Anyone been to Ginza Kitagawa? Any thoughts?

@DanielfromHK How’s the crab size/quality for the crab course at Kiyama though? Prices for crab this season has skyrocketed (e.g. Kawaki, Yamagishi, etc. are all charging above ¥70,000/pax after tax and service), so ironically, Kiyama is now one of the more “affordable” places to have a crab course, assuming it’s good sized and well sourced.

I went to Ginza Kitagawa last year. Wasn't really impressed. Will continue to be popular though because it's a lot of food for the money.

that sounds familiar, haha, as one would expect from a shinohara sister shop

@JJ Quality was quite good but I don't remember him saying where the crab is from or how big it is. When it was served, it was in different pieces already so difficult to tell the size. And pictures not allowed so I can't show you how big it is either. You can actually see his pricing on Pocket Concierge. Most expensive menu is Yen 54k with each person getting their own crab

One crab per pax is actually rather generous given that price :o