Michelin Guide, the famed French dining bible, has confirmed what most travelers already believe – Tokyo is the world’s no.1 food destination.
The Michelin Guide Tokyo 2019, released this week, has handed out stars to 230 restaurants around the Japanese capital. Of these, 13 have received three-stars – the highest designation. There are 52 two-star restaurants and 165 one-star restaurants.
The new Tokyo guide also highlights 254 Bib Gourmand restaurants – eateries that serve “exceptionally good food at moderate prices” as well as 35 hotels and ryokans.
All of this leaves Tokyo far ahead of its Japanese rivals in the south. The “Michelin Guide Kyoto Osaka 2019” has 203 Michelin-starred restaurants. Paris, meanwhile, has 113 Michelin-starred restaurants.
Debuting in 1900 as a travel guide for early motorists in France, the Michelin Guide has evolved to become an international authority on all things gastronomic.
Today, the collection features 28 titles in more than 25 countries.
Just one new 3-star restaurant
L’Osier, a French fine-dining restaurant founded in 1973, was promoted from two stars to three stars in the 2019 Tokyo edition of the Michelin Guide.
It’s the only new eatery on the three-star list.
Kanda, Quintessence, Joel Robuchon and Sukiyabashi Jiro Honten, on the other hand, have retained their three-star status every year since the guide published its first Tokyo edition, in 2007.
The 2019 version also, for the first time, singles out Okinawa cuisine and onigiri – a traditional sushi rice ball, with or without fillings, and often wrapped in nori.
Both Ryukyu Chinese Dining Tama (Okinawa cuisine) and Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku – Tokyo’s oldest onigiri restaurant – made their first appearances in the guide under the Bib Gourmand section.
Below is a list of Tokyo restaurants with three Michelin stars. For the full list of restaurants, visit the official Michelin Guide Tokyo 2019 website.
Michelin Guide Tokyo 2019: Three-star restaurants
Kagurazaka Ishikawa (Japanese)
Usukifugu Yamadaya (Fugu)
Kanda (Japanese)
Quintessence (French)
Kohaku (Japanese)
Sushi Saito (Sushi)
Joël Robuchon (French)
Sukiyabashi Jiro Honten (Sushi)
Makimura (Japanese)
Azabu Yukimura (Japanese)
Sushi Yoshitake (Sushi)
Ryugin (Japanese)
L’Osier (French)