Nakamura

Kyoto, Japan

Motokazu Nakamura is the latest in a line of chefs who have inherited the eponymous restaurant from their fathers over the course of almost two centuries. Nakamura, in Tomikoji Oike, near Kyoto Imperial Palace, was a fish shop many years ago. Now it is a lesson in zen – soft woods, scroll hangings, lacquer tables and a courtyard. Using the finest local ingredients, Nakamura bases many of his dishes on home cooking and aims to provoke deep emotion through his food, as well as tradition and history, with guests greeted with a formal bow. There are omakase (chef's choice) menus of different lengths, depending on whether you're there for lunch or dinner. These move through sesame tofu, white miso soup, sashimi and grilled fish; the guji-no-sakayaki is a speciality – tilefish marinated in salt overnight, seasoned with sake and cooked under a hot grill.

Key Information

• Tasting menu from $272
• Lunch: Weds, Sat Dinner: Mon – Sun
• 81 75 221 5511
• Visit Nakamura's Website

Location

136 Tomikoji Oikeshita, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, 604-8093