Bruno Abreu

Beautiful restaurant, refined and delicious food.

Lunch menu:

Chawanmushi with crab, chestnut, thick mushroom sauce;
Sawara with Jerusalem Artichoke Sauce, cowpea and turnip dressed with sesame;
Kampachi sashimi with chrysanthemum shoyu and tosazu vinegared lotus root;
Owan soup with pumpkin tofu, chishatou lettuce and sudachi;
Yubeshi Hasamiage with pomfret, lily bulb and burdock tempura;
Rikyu-fu with spinach, scallops, tonburi with persimmon vinegar sauce;
Duck Meat Ball with Gensuke daikon, Kintoki carrot, dropwort, simmered in onion dashi.

Rice dishes:

Wagyu tendon and egg on rice;
Clam dashi ramen with char siu pork;
Sakura shrimp tempura mixed in rice;
Kamaage Shirasu and Katsuo-bushi on rice

Grape Sorbet
Mukago Yam Yokan
Matcha Tea Less

Cozy sushiya from the Kanesaka group, with only seven seats, headed by a Korean native, Mr. Moon. I loved the appetizers, which included chawamushi with tara shirako, sea cucumber with ponzu, a huge oyster from Akkeshi, Hokkaido, and a thick slice of ankimo.

Nigiri was formed with laser-precision and if you are a sushi enthusiast who enjoys “studying” the chef’s movements, you’ll certainly admire Moon-san’s work. A charismatic and friendly taisho who reminds me of Saito.

Fish quality was high, but unfortunately, the rice was a bit mild for my taste, lacking in acidity. Less

One of the many restaurants of the Torishiki brand. Date chicken is used for the yakitori, which was delicious as expected and similar to what you will eat at Torishiki.

The concept is a bit different though and the chef will serve many small dishes between the skewers, including a soup, salad and chicken cutlet sandwich. I found these a bit boring and the sandwich was served with chips of toasted bread that didn’t make much sense to me. Less

A small curry restaurant with counter seating, where you can enjoy delicious modern Japanese curry. They use dashi and miso to flavor the curry, giving it a deep and unique flavor.

There are three curries to choose from: chicken, keema and black pork. You can have two or three types for a couple hundred yen more, and also add some extra toppings like spicy egg and vegetables tempura.

The black pork curry, sprinkled with pink peppercorns, was amazing. Chicken and keema were also delicious and combined well with the Japanese rice. Less

An interesting and unique natural wine bar in the Nihonbashi-Hamacho neighborhood.

Wines are served in earthenware pottery instead of traditional glassware because the owner believes that natural wines taste better this way. The selection of bowls isn't random; the owner first "consults" with each bottle to determine where it should be poured.

The food is also very good and the short menu includes rillette, pasta, salad, and bread. Less

Tokuha Motonari opened in December 2023, and before completing its first anniversary, it had already become impossible to book online.

The chef comes from Wakuden, arguably the finest school for Kaiseki in Kyoto. As with other restaurants led by Wakuden alumni, you can expect a Kaiseki meal with creative touches while remaining true to the essence of Kyo-ryouri—lightly seasoned and elegantly presented.

The specialties are the dishes prepared over a hearth with binchotan. These included kuruma shrimp, used in the owan soup (a missed opportunity, as the smoked notes don’t carry over to the dashi), sawara yuanyaki, Kagoshima wagyu with hachi miso and narazuke pickles, and salt-grilled sanma for the final rice dish.

It was a long meal, lasting over two hours. The food was delicious, and the counter is one of the most beautiful in Kyoto. It's easy to see why it's so popular. Less

Popular restaurant for Japanese “spice curry” in Ginza. There’s often people lining up outside, but it moves fast and the wait on a Saturday at lunch time was about 20 minutes.

The most ordered item is the double curry dish with keema and chicken curry with rice and pickles. The keema is cooked in red wine, which gives it an interesting flavor, combined with the traditional indian spices. The rice is Japanese rice with turmeric.

The curry was good, but nothing special. The “Murugi Lunch” at Ginza Nair nearby is still my first choice when it comes to a good curry in this area. Less