Michelin Guide Unveils Top Tokyo Restaurants

[Mulboyne]

[floatl][/floatl]Guardian: Sushi knives are out for Michelin critics
The Michelin guide announced yesterday it would publish for the first time in Japan, generating an outburst of culinary chauvinism from the country's chefs, bristling at the prospect of being told how to prepare sushi by French gourmets. The Michelin Guide Tokyo will be the first edition published outside Europe and the US, and the organisation has already dispatched a team of undercover Japanese and European inspectors to assess the top restaurants in the Japanese capital..."The French do not understand anything about sushi and are so far behind in handling fresh fish. So how can they judge us?" asked Yoshikazu Ono, head chef at Sukiyabashi Jiro..."If they want to appreciate Japanese cuisine, they must first study Japan's history and culture. Then they can write their guide"...more...

See also FG Thread: J-Gov't to certify real Japanese food

The guide is actually late. According to this Ministry of Foreign Affairs PR site, the Japan National Tourist Organization reached an agreement with Michelin back in 2005 for a Japan edition and it was supposed to be out now as part of the Yokoso Japan! campaign. If it follows the original plan outlined then, it will be more guidebook than restaurant ranking.

[Mulboyne]

Most of the reports on this story are assuming that Michelin will be issuing a Tokyo version of their famous red guide but they have not confirmed whether they will be awarding stars to any restaurants which is a distinctive feature of that guide. The JNTO plan called for something between the red and green guides so we'll just have to wait and see.

It seems it will be published in both Japanese and English.

[Tsuru]

"The French do not understand anything about sushi and are so far behind in handling fresh fish. So how can they judge us?"

I wonder if this guy has ever been to Marseille or Saint-Malo.
Typical knee-jerk reaction from a pompous asshole whose only concern is losing clientèle... the biggest and most famous European chefs shit their pants thinking about getting a bad review from these undercover inspections or even -god forbid- losing a star. I'm glad they've started doing the same thing in Japan... some of the really expensive places I've been to were really not that good.

And who the hell said it was only about sushi?

[Greji]

And who the hell said it was only about sushi?

Ahh, Tsuru-san, you miss most honorable point. Rots of FGs cannot appleciate Nipponjin food. They do not understand culture of unique Japan. If one does not understand culture, he is not allowed to eat. Only unique Japanese understand unique Japanese culture, so FGs can't eat. Now do you see? Very simple, ne? (Beside that FGs don't know how to use hashi)

[DrP]

I think this clearly displays, yet again, the 'nail sticking up' . While the overall quality of Japan cuisine is quite high, nothing really stands out - nor should it, since that would clearly violate the social and cultural laws of 'out of consensus behavior'. Again - Japan shows how it embraces mediocrity.

The other funny thing is that most of the 'unique Japanese food' is actually foreign food introduced into Japan over the past thousand years or so. I've yet to see or visit ANY Japanese chef that can prepare dishes on the level of a 3 star Michelin Chef or State Chef for PRC (whom are required to have knowledge of over 3000 recipes by memory AND proficiency in CTM.) Hacking up dead fish with a sabre is hardly creative.

[Mulboyne]

Canadian Press: Michelin crowns Tokyo world's new culinary capital replacing Paris
Tokyo has unseated Paris as the world's culinary capital. That's according to Michelin Guides, the French bible of gastronomy, which announced a Tokyo edition Monday - its first outside Europe and the United States. Michelin's Tokyo guide awarded 191 stars to 150 restaurants in the Japanese capital, the most number of stars awarded in any city. Previously, Paris had the most stars, at 65. Eight restaurants in Tokyo, including two sushi eateries, received Michelin's highest three-star rating. But Paris can still claim to have the most top-rated restaurants, with 10. Michelin also crowned 82-year-old Jiro Ono of Sukiyabashi Jiro sushi restaurant in central Tokyo the world's oldest three-star chef...There were so many top restaurants that all entries in Michelin's Tokyo edition have at least one star, a first for any city, Naret said. Five of the eight awarded top honors served Japanese cuisine, while three were French restaurants...The entries in the Michelin Guide Tokyo, which goes on sale Thursday in English and Japanese, were expected to ease local skepticism that the French can be the best judge of Japan's culinary traditions...more...


Along with Sukibayashi Jiro in Ginza, the other three star restaurants are:

Quintessence in Shiroganedai
Kanda in Azabu Juban
Joel Robuchon in Ebisu
Kojyu in Ginza
Hamadaya in Ningyocho
L'Osier in Ginza
Sushi Mizutani in Ginza


See also FG Thread: Sushi Chefs Reject Michelin Guide

[Jack]

This is very obvious to all those who go out dining in Tokyo. No city comes close in terms of quality dining, not even Paris where shitty restaurants and bistros abound. Any "hole-in-the-wall" ramen place or yakitori joint offers good food in Tokyo.

Maybe only Italy could rival Japan in quality restaurants because almost any restaurant you walk into in Italy offers good tasting food. The cleanliness may not be on par with Japan but you can still get good food.

[ttjereth]

I agree with them to the extent that the Michelin people can all go get stuffed.

My tastes don't very often coincide with those snobby, rich French bastards and I am happier eating homemade shepard's pie with soggy peas than half the frilly, fancy, overpriced art dishes that Michelin recommends

[ttjereth]

This is very obvious to all those who go out dining in Tokyo. No city comes close in terms of quality dining, not even Paris where shitty restaurants and bistros abound. Any "hole-in-the-wall" ramen place or yakitori joint offers good food in Tokyo.

Maybe only Italy could rival Japan in quality restaurants because almost any restaurant you walk into in Italy offers good tasting food. The cleanliness may not be on par with Japan but you can still get good food.

I REALLY hope the cleanliness part was a joke. How many restaurant kitchens have you been through in Japan?

[Mulboyne]

The Asahi also adds a a list of the two and one star restaurants. I started to put in some links but got bored and couldn't work them all out so please do the rest yourselves.

[url=エメ・ヴィベール]Aime Vibert[/url] in Ni-Bancho
Ishikawa in Kagurazaka
Usuki Fugu Yamadaya in Nishi Azabu
Esaki (maybe this one in Aoyama)
Kikunoiin Akasaka
Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros in the Hyatt Regency Tokyo
Kogetsu in Omotesando
Sawada in Ginza
Sant Pau in Nihombashi
Kanesaka in Shimbashi
Twenty One in the Hilton Tokyo
Ristorante ASO in Daikanyama
Tsukiji Uemura
Taku in Nishi Azabu
Tsukiji Yamamoto in Tsukiji
Pierre Gagnaire in Aoyama
Hishinuma in Roppongi
Fukudaya in Kioicho
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Roppongi
Le Mange Tout in Ichigaya
Ryugin in Roppongi

[Mulboyne]

I REALLY hope the cleanliness part was a joke. How many restaurant kitchens have you been through in Japan?

I agree and disagree with that. Honne and tatemae certainly work in Japanese restaurants but the chefs in the best restaurants in Japan know how to treat their food. A friend of mine opened a Japanese restaurant in London and received a visit from the environmental health officer. He walked in sucking down a McDonalds milkshake and proceeded to instruct a 60 year old Japanese sushi chef in how to look after fresh fish. If we hadn't calmed our guy down, taken his knives away and told him to put up with it then things could have got nasty. There are good chefs in Japan who don't follow international health and safety standards but are capable of setting before you some of the best food in the world.

[Mulboyne]

Times article

[ttjereth]

I agree and disagree with that. Honne and tatemae certainly work in Japanese restaurants but the chefs in the best restaurants in Japan know how to treat their food. A friend of mine opened a Japanese restaurant in London and received a visit from the environmental health officer. He walked in sucking down a McDonalds milkshake and proceeded to instruct a 60 year old Japanese sushi chef in how to look after fresh fish. If we hadn't calmed our guy down, taken his knives away and told him to put up with it then things could have got nasty. There are good chefs in Japan who don't follow international health and safety standards but are capable of setting before you some of the best food in the world.

I agree that taste and cleanliness often have nothing to with each other, or even have an inverse relationship. I know a few tonkotsu ramen places that swear one of the secrets to flavour is NEVER washing the big stock pots (there are quite a few chinese chefs who swear by similar logic with, for example, wonton soup and such).

Also just to be clear, I am not making a comparison as in Country A's restaurants are cleaner than Japan's (I worked in enough restaurants, deli's and the like in the U.S. when I was younger and saw enough bribes handed to health inspectors to know most places don't meet the letter of the law), but the vast majority of Japanese restaurants (referring to all restaurants as a whole, not just michelin class and the like), are, just like most restaurants in every other country I've ever been to, absolutely filthy in the areas where it counts (the kitchen).

I will grant that a lot of places keep their customer seating areas cleaner than say the average chinese buffet in a mall back home, but the kitchens are often horrible.

[Catoneinutica]

I think this clearly displays, yet again, the 'nail sticking up' . While the overall quality of Japan cuisine is quite high, nothing really stands out - nor should it, since that would clearly violate the social and cultural laws of 'out of consensus behavior'. Again - Japan shows how it embraces mediocrity.

The other funny thing is that most of the 'unique Japanese food' is actually foreign food introduced into Japan over the past thousand years or so. I've yet to see or visit ANY Japanese chef that can prepare dishes on the level of a 3 star Michelin Chef or State Chef for PRC (whom are required to have knowledge of over 3000 recipes by memory AND proficiency in CTM.) Hacking up dead fish with a sabre is hardly creative.

So sadly true. I get this overpowering urge to inscribe Hitler moustaches and/or crude images of genitalia on the innumerable pictures of smarmy, arms-crossed J-chefs who run all of the restaurants here with names like "La Cuisine du Suzuki." Other big towns have genuinely interesting restaurant choices because they actually have, sacre bleu, foreign chefs. I mean, what's true for sushi in gaikokuland - that J-sushi chefs generally outclass Korean or Chinese competitors - is no less true for, say, Italian cuisine.

-catone
-not a foodie, but never setting foot in Nobu again after having the Joel Robuchon Experience (3 stars in Michelin).
-favorite Italian restaurant in Japan: Pomme d'Oro in Karuizawa (chef is an actual Italian, by way of Venezuela)

[TennoChinko]

The comments by the ignorant chef seem to indicate he assumed all evaluation was done by French people. In fact, Michelin used five evaluators for Japan: 3 were French and 2 were Japanese.

[Catoneinutica]

The comments by the ignorant chef seem to indicate he assumed all evaluation was done by French people. In fact, Michelin used five evaluators for Japan: 3 were French and 2 were Japanese.

I wonder if it's the same asshat chef who said the same things about the Zagat guide about eight years ago.

[Mulboyne]

It seems a few chefs overseas might be a bit disgruntled that Michelin has awarded so many stars to Tokyo restaurants. The rankings have such status in France that Bernard Loiseau shot himself a few years ago, apparently unable to deal with the pressure of maintaining the three stars he had earned. Michel di Grandi, Tokyo correspondent for Les Echos believes that people will be surprised that every restaurant in the guide received at least one star. Jean Luc Naret, director of the guide, is quoted in the FT saying that Tokyo has 160,000 restaurants compared with 20,000 in Paris and 23,000 in New York so the city offers an unparalled choice. He also suggests that anyone who complains has probably never visited Tokyo to see for themselves.

I glanced at a 2ch thread to read what kind of reactions had popped up. There were a few saying "What does Michelin know about Japanese food?" and "You should find restaurants yourself rather than rely on a guide". However, one commenter summed up the mood better, saying "This isn't really a topic for us. We've never been to these places so we haven't got a clue what to say about them".

[Behan]

Nice to see arrogant Chrysanthemums get their feathers ruffled.

[Mulboyne]

Now that the guide is out, I'm fairly sure Mr. Ono quoted above has changed his tune. The place he works, Sukibayashi Jiro, was one of the eight restaurants awarded three stars.

[Jack]

Let's see, I have probably dined out on average of 6 times a week (if not more) for the past 25 years for a total of 7,800 times in probably 25 countries. I'm a cleanliness freak. I can guarantee you that the average restaurant in Japan is infinitely more clean than in other countries and the best food in the world can be found in Italy and Japan. You can start nitpicking here and there about this ramen shop is horrible or that sushi joint is horrible but as a whole nothing compares to Japan. Many modern restaurants in the average to upscale categories have an open kitchen concept which forces them to keep a clean kitchen.

I REALLY hope the cleanliness part was a joke. How many restaurant kitchens have you been through in Japan?

I don't know because I have not counted but a large enough number to make a good sample size. Does that answer your rethorical question?

[Jack]

I've yet to see or visit ANY Japanese chef that can prepare dishes on the level of a 3 star Michelin Chef or State Chef for PRC (whom are required to have knowledge of over 3000 recipes by memory AND proficiency in CTM.) Hacking up dead fish with a sabre is hardly creative.

There are tons. One name is Hiramatsu in Azabu. He also owns restaurants in France. His company is a public outfit now I believe. If I do some research I could come up with several dozens. Japanese chefs are way up there in the world of "haute cuisine". You last sentence shows your utter and complete ignorance. I believe good food might be wasted on you.

not a foodie, but never setting foot in Nobu again after having the Joel Robuchon Experience (3 stars in Michelin).
-favorite Italian restaurant in Japan: Pomme d'Oro in Karuizawa (chef is an actual Italian, by way of Venezuela)

That's a totally different dining experience. Nobu is more on the casual side (although very upscale in price) with lively atmosphere while Joel Robuchon is very fine dining, like going to the theater. Saying that I wont go to Nobu again because there is Joel Robuchon makes no sense.

[ttjereth]

Let's see, I have probably dined out on average of 6 times a week (if not more) for the past 25 years for a total of 7,800 times in probably 25 countries. I'm a cleanliness freak. I can guarantee you that the average restaurant in Japan is infinitely more clean than in other countries and the best food in the world can be found in Italy and Japan. You can start nitpicking here and there about this ramen shop is horrible or that sushi joint is horrible but as a whole nothing compares to Japan. Many modern restaurants in the average to upscale categories have an open kitchen concept which forces them to keep a clean kitchen.



I don't know because I have not counted but a large enough number to make a good sample size. Does that answer your rethorical question?

[maninjapan]

My monies worth.



Have to say - I am not all that surprised with this. Looking back at Japan's history, they have always gone overseas and brought back new technology and food from the continent. In turn they have made slight changes here and there to improve on it - however, how they can say that some the Italian restaurants are better here than in Italy, I'll never know.

Having eaten at some a couple of these restaurants on the list since being in Japan - the one thing I have learnt about all these stars and reviews, is that they are all subjective. What one person likes, another person hates.

Simple things piss me off - went to one restaurant and the chef was cutting bread with a meat knife, not a serated bread knife. Petty I know, but if he couldn't use the right knife, what does it say about the meal?

Also, as stated in the article, Tokyo has about 8 times as many restaurants as Paris or New York, which lends itself to the fact that Japan is, predominantly, an eating-out culture.

Jack says he eats at restaurants 6 times a week - however, he doesn't say what kind of places he goes to? Are they izakayas, hole-in-the-wall places, hell some people consider the local kaiten sushi eating out. But I will say this, the open plan kitchen means JACK SHIT if the chef is not cooking fresh or is simply pulling bowls out fridges and dressing things.

Having worked in a professional kitchen when I was 18 for a couple of years, the chef I worked with cooked pretty much everything from fresh, the only things that came out of the fridge pre made were some of the salad dressings.

Back to my point in hand as I got lost and went off the track - wouldn't really say these stars were designed to attract Japanese people, they were more than likely for foreigners to see what places are recommended for that 'authentic' dish.

[Jack]

You know, I kind of figured everybody on here was just giving you a hard time about the whole "Japan is perfect" ideas you seem to have, but you really are deluded aren't you?

Do you have any constructive thing to ad or just want to throw insults around because you can't find a logical argument?

[ttjereth]

Do you have any constructive thing to ad or just want to throw insults around because you can't find a logical argument?

There's no point discussing anything with you, because you are somehow convinced that those of us who live in Japan are going to somehow believe the utter bullshit lies you spout about it all the time.

[Greji]

Nobu is more on the casual side (although very upscale in price)

How do you figure "very upscale in price"? We use Nobu's frequently for entertaining guests and for that level of a restaurant they are more than reasonable. 15,000 to 20,000 for the top line on the menu. There are many places that will take a much bigger bite out of your wallet than that and you won't get quality food! Went to the New York Grill at the Hyatt the other night and the food and vineyard juice was great, but had to sell the girl I was with to the maî·tre d' to pay the tab.

You're talking about eating out with a full course meal, not ordering the Big Mac value meal.

[Jack]

[quote="gboothe"]How do you figure "very upscale in price"? We use Nobu's frequently for entertaining guests and for that level of a restaurant they are more than reasonable. 15,000 to 20,000 for the top line on the menu. There are many places that will take a much bigger bite out of your wallet than that and you won't get quality food! Went to the New York Grill at the Hyatt the other night and the food and vineyard juice was great, but had to sell the girl I was with to the maî]

Sorry, I live in a poor country where 15,000 or 20,000 yen per person or course before alcohol is unheard of.

Nobu in London costs me 300 pounds for two. I call that expensive. I like Nobu. Fun place to go with lively atmosphere and lots of pretty people.

[maninjapan]

what did you eat in there that cost 300 quid for two people?!

when I went there back in december - only cost 100 and that was with alcohol.

[Samurai_Jerk]

[Catoneinutica]

There are tons. One name is Hiramatsu in Azabu. He also owns restaurants in France. His company is a public outfit now I believe. If I do some research I could come up with several dozens. Japanese chefs are way up there in the world of "haute cuisine". You last sentence shows your utter and complete ignorance. I believe good food might be wasted on you.



That's a totally different dining experience. Nobu is more on the casual side (although very upscale in price) with lively atmosphere while Joel Robuchon is very fine dining, like going to the theater. Saying that I wont go to Nobu again because there is Joel Robuchon makes no sense.

The Joel Robuchon "Atelier" branch in Roppongi Hills struck me as very similar to Nobu in terms of casualness (casuality?). Expect there weren't screaming kids running around and folks shouting into their keitais.

Plus, the menu doesn't say cheesy things like "DiNiro's favorite."