Ryugin

KenScale: 9.5÷10
Dining in Tokyo can be at times a suffocating experience. Cancellation of your reservation is greatly frowned upon, and there are all sorts of dining manners you have to abide by. When I placed a dinner reservation at the world-​renowned modern Japanese restaurant Ryugin in Roppongi district through the concierge service at a hotel I was staying at, I received a confirmation form from the restaurant that contained an extensive list of no-​nos. You are, for instance, not allowed to wear any perfume (the restaurant specifically indicated that any dining group with a guest that wears one won’t be shown to the table). No phone calls inside the restaurant, and no flash when taking photos and no videos permitted to be taken. When I arrived at the restaurant, I asked to charge my phone but the staff politely refused (I’m thankful to this day that my phone didn’t die in the course of my meal so I was able to take the photos of all the dishes that I had eaten). For a New York diner who cares more about the quality of food than all the formalities of dining, I had to wonder whether Ryugin can actually be really worth all this fuss. Boy did this restaurant delivered. Chef Seiji Yamamoto’s modern take on traditional kaiseki multi-​course Japanese cuisine is as good as it gets, and I’m so glad that I was able to make a stop at this restaurant. As a Korean, I even felt a bit of jealousy as I have yet to see a Korean chef deliver the type of sensational modern Korean cuisine like the way chef Yamamoto does for the Japanese counterpart.
Once I sat down, I was handed a large envelope with menu inside. Titled «Plating the Prodigality of Japanese Nature,» the menu had a list of 10 dishes (at 27,000 yen per person) with different themes and philosophies of Japanese dining. The course already started with a bang with an exquisite chawanmushi with firefly squid and young pea inside. I don’t think I’ve ever had chawanmushi with squid in it, but the ingredients worked perfectly together to create an awesome dish. Then came one of the most tender clam dishes I’ve ever had. The delicate preparation at Ryugin is something that I will not forget for a long time. The prawn dumpling and abalone in soup format had the ethereal quality to it (quite aptly named «Taste of the Wine that Captures a Moment»). Following sashimi of rare delicacies such as red clam and fugu (the poisonous pufferfish) came one of the best seafood dishes I’ve had in a while. Grilled sea perch seasoned with sesame was just so wonderful, especially once I added mustard vinegar on top, perfectly cooked and having immaculate flavor. The light touch of fire made so much difference to this fish and I salivate to this day the wonderful textural sensation. The meat department didn’t lag behind either. In fact, sanuki olive beef that came with season-​fresh onion and olive asparagus is one of the best beef dishes I’ve had in a while, with incredibly juicy, tender meat that was grilled to perfection and with moderate seasoning that only further enhanced the wonderful texture of the dish. The savory part of the course ended with simmered rice flavored with cheery blossom tea and accompanied by sakura shrimp and «chrysanthemum» soup. It was another winner, with perfect texture of rice combined with the little shrimp that worked so beautifully with the soup. The desserts at Ryugin were just as memorable. The simple-​looking strawberry and sakura ice cream with brown sugar syrup underneath was so delightful that I wish there were more of it! The sake flavored desserts (one with ice cream and the other with custard-​like cake) at the end were just as marvelous, with refined sweetness that just brings pure bliss to your palate without overpowering with heavy flavor. Ryugin turned out to be one of the best meals of my life, and the three-​hour experience here was in a lot of ways life-​changing in my culinary journey, showcasing how the use of fresh, seasonal ingredients with refined but not over-​the-​top techniques can make all the differences in the dishes.
The dining space at Ryugin is not large, so make sure to book way in advance to get a table at the restaurant. The restaurant has the modern and elegant décor that fits the color and philosophy of the kitchen. There are various wine and sake menus you can complement your meal with very well. The services were overall professional (but not necessarily warm and fuzzy as I had implied above). Ryugin represents the apex of modern Japanese cuisine at its best, and I would definitely come back at some point in my life to again explore the profound depth and complexity of chef Yamamoto’s wonderful food. It is an experience I won’t forget in a long time.

This is one of the best meals I’ve ever had in Japan, and perhaps the world. The food, service, and décor is first class. The food was all made with the best ingredients, cooked perfectly, most attentive service, and thoughtful design/​décor at the restaurant. There is no ordering required, as all they have is Kaiseki. Each of the cource were well paced — mostly hot with a few cold. My favorite was the kani (crab) shabu that tasted better then most crab or lobster bisque in the US. The freshness of the crab was unmatched. There is a good list of wine, sake, beer to choose from. I asked the server to match my sake with food based on their expertise and he did it flawlessly. Dinner was approximately 29 000 and each carefe of sake was between 3000 — 5000 yen.

Committing ourselves to a restaurant like Ryugin was a huge leap of faith on our end since a kaiseki-​style dinner was something neither of us had ever experienced. But hey, if you’re going to try anything new, why not try it at one of the best restaurants in the world, right? Ryugin is an entirely pre-​fix meal that is inspired by seasonal ingredients and nature. The preparation of a kaiseki-​style meal is meticulously detailed where the food is presented on beautifully decorated plates that are chosen to enhance both the appearance and the seasonal theme of the meal. All the dishes are garnished with items that are meant to be eaten, so things like leaves and flowers that are on the dish can be eaten, especially since it represents an ode to nature and the animals used to create the dish.
We had an English-​speaking waiter who was gracious enough to explain each dish to us, make sure we were understanding what we were eating, and the order in which to eat it. I can’t begin to tell you how much my mind was COMPLETELY blown away with what we ate. Over the course of almost 2.5 hours, we ate some wildly creative and beautiful dishes that included ingredients that I know I would never go near eating. Greg’s favorite dish of the evening were two small but insanely flavorful pieces of A5 Wagyu beef garnished with some olive tapenade, garlic, and potato chip. My personal favorite was dessert that was a sake based soufflé with sake ice cream to go alongside it. Other super cool items we had was a seasonal fall vegetable hot pot that came on a burner, a number of delicious cooked and raw fish items, and a number of soups that fused the traditional with the awe-​inspiring. While I was uncomfortably full after dinner, I couldn’t be more inspired to continue exploring kaiseki meals. It honestly prompted me to ask myself, «If you enjoyed this now, what else have you been missing out on?» I absolutely MUST recommend Ryugin if you’re Tokyo. It’s expensive, but it is SO worth the experience!
side note: The restaurant does not allow for camera, but accepts mobile phone cameras. Just an FYI in case you were planning on bringing your heavy ass DSLR :)

The best restaurant in the world! (Or at least the best restaurant I’ve ever been to.) It’s not only great food; it’s loads of fun with the exciting presentations.

Some of the most (like top 5) delicious things I’ve had in my life, see the «***“s below. Everything else was «just» stunningly good and definitely on par with other 3 Michelin starred places. See photos. English speakers can expect a fluent server. Perfectly lit atmosphere, gracious service, about 2.5−3 hours.
Entrance: incense burning, just lit. Wet warm napkin smells of a summer flower. Fizzy, crisp, mango drink in a bamboo cup
Prawn: buttery and bouncy, thick hearty dashi, truly balanced saltiness, with an unremarkable bit of fried uni + nori, followed by a cold edamame soufflé — fluffy smooth, but maybe too subtle.
Sweet Corn chawanmushi– sweet and sumptuous texture under the slight acidic clean tomato liquid gelee, with leek blossoms
Pike eel– (such a light kelpy dashi, so clean and unique, wow), around eggplant (so fragrant and eggplanty, soft and oil-​steeped), a dot of perfectly salty ume.
*** Sashimi — hay-​smoked Bonito, juicy Fluke, soft supple Clam, buttery raw lobster, ocean-​y Crab. Eating wasabi leaves in between each sushi.
*** Ayu: crispy head, savouring the slightly bitter innards, and crispy tail in spicy watermelon sauce– just salt on a fish charcoal cooked for 40 min, magical.
*** Hotpot: abalone, silky smooth grey-​green tofu, slightly bitter lime rinds, goopy green onions, incredibly soft and delicious turtle’s back, with chicken-​like turtle meat and soft fatty gristle all perfectly brought together by a broth of turtle bones and the eel from earlier.
*** *** *** Kobe: not too fatty and buttery to forget that you’re eating steak — the perfect amount of graininess, served with burbling brown delicious sauce still bubbling, a wonderfully orange egg yolk dumped in, all scooped up with a few crunchy clean earthy bits of burdock, leads to a perfect holstically rich combination of fragrant meaty eggy-​gamey perfection. Easily one of the most delicious things I’ve had of all time.
rice course: perfect glutinous sticky rice melts in mouth with slight fragrance and spice of little shiso leaves and ginger, under great white fish with spicy crispy skin, with miso made from the lobster (from the sashimi course) — so clear and deep and red and a little flowery-​fragranty
*** Peach + Tomato: tomato steeped in syrup and smoothly peeled, retains its personality and combines utterly perfectly with a peach soup and a peach gelee (the fragrance and cool from the bowl hits me in the face,)
*** «National fungus» dessert — unremarkable sake+mirin icecream, with interesting fermenty little miso-​like curds, but the sweet potato sandwich with utterly buttery fluffy dissolve-​in-​the-​mouth white bread and slighyl sweet amazing slightly savoury sweet potato yellow filling — mindblowingly good and simple flavour+texture in one kokumi bomb (another top dish of my life).
Finished with a big bowl of whipped matcha, surprisingly bitter, reminds me of great 100% chocolate with that bitter teeth and smooth fatty creamy finish.

Ryugin. Here are the accolades of the restaurant:
1) 3 Michelin Stars since the beginning of time.
2) #29 on The San Pellegrino’s 2015 World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
3) #33 on The San Pellegrino’s 2014 World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
4) #4 on The San Pellegrino’s 2014 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.
5) #4 on The San Pellegrino’s 2015 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Chef Seiji Yamamoto is the ish and definitely a down to earth guy. He was kind enough to step out of the kitchen to take a picture with us. However, we were in the taxi driving off as he was stepping out of the restaurant to take a picture with us. I had to yell at the taxi driver to stop the cab. «Yo, son! Stop the muhf*ckin car and give me all your money!»
Chef Yamamoto does a modern and complex Kaiseki menu. It’s totally different from what I experienced at Narisawa, Kichisen, and Taian. Narisawa is very French influenced and Ryugin is all Japanese. It’s a seasonal menu with ingredients from all around Japan and went perfectly with the sake. Now, the shokuhin. Everything was perfect.
Overall, Ryugin was hands down my favorite dining experience as of the time of this review. The Kaiseki style menu, ingredients, flavors of the dishes, the service, the décor, and ambiance. It definitely made me what to leave my corporate desk job in America and be an expat in Japan. No not really but I thought about it for a second.
US 2015 Michelin 3 Stars Count: 8 down. 4 more.
2015 Michelin Rated Restaurant Count: 14
San Pellegrino 2014 World’s 100 Best Restaurants Count: 7
San Pellegrino 2015 World’s 100 Best Restaurants Count: 9

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ESSENTIAL TIPS & EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
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# Nihonryori Ryugin is a 3 Michelin star restaurant which has maintained all 3 of its stars since November 29^th, 2011. As of this 2015^th year, it’s still the same rating
# Ryugin specializes in contemporary Japanese kaiseki. It preserves classical kaiseki cooking, only adding modern techniques and other cooking styles as Chef Seiji Yamamoto sees fit.
# It’s a very small, intimate restaurant with only 24 seats. Dress code is semi-​formal so no t-​shirts, shorts, or sandals. Their 20,000 yen per person cancellation policy is very strict so if you need to cancel, do not cancel the day of your visit.
# Dinner service only here and it’s one tasting menu. Their menu changes according to the season too… spring will be different from summer and so on. When I dined here, I had a summer tasting menu that was 11 courses long. And wow, it’s at 27,000 yen per person today versus the 23,100 yen I paid 2 years ago for just the tasting menu.
# Unless you really really want the sake/​wine pairing, I’d skip it. It adds US$ 200+ to your bill. I thought my alcohol pairing was good, but not $ 200+ good.
# The flavors in every dish are very subtle so you need to take your time to detect and enjoy the simple, clean flavors that are at their peak freshness.
# If you’re looking for molecular gastronomy, black truffle explosions, saffron gel, or anything wild like that, this is not the restaurant to visit. Again, this is classical Japanese cooking with some modern elements! Classical Japanese cooking is all about balancing simple flavors.
# Ryugin is discretely tucked away in an alley between residential apartment buildings. You wouldn’t guess that there would be a 3 star restaurant here. I felt like I was on my way to visit a friend at his apartment. Get detailed directions from your hotel concierge and when you’re in the alley, keep your eyes peeled because it’s easy to overlook it. I attached a picture of the entrance so your eyes know what to look for. Restaurant is on the ground floor and their waiting room is on the 2^nd.
# My opinion of Ryugin is that all of the dishes were masterfully executed. Plus, it was fun trying to pick up on all of the subtle flavors. But I didn’t find anything out of this world or mind-​blowing based on what I paid (~US$ 220 for tasting menu and $ 483 total with sake/​wine pairing). The thing with Michelin star restaurants is that you expect so much for what you pay, but in reality you can only do so much with food. Adjust your expectations accordingly.
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MY EXPERIENCE:
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I visited on June 5^th, 2013 for a 9:30 PM reservation I got the same day through my hotel concierge. Yeah I know… over 2 years later do I finally pull together my dining notes, pictures, and Unilocal scribbles to breathe life into this review. Ryugin was my very first Michelin experience let alone a 3 Michelin star one! To begin, I had a hard time finding the restaurant. I followed the concierge’s directions to the alleyway and it was not until I slowly spun around did I see the restaurant’s glowing sign and lantern. It looked really peaceful.
Once I enter, I was escorted to my seat and was surprised to find a small yet cozy dining room. Quiet and intimate. I dined alone that night and had two options. Either talk to myself the entire night and scare the other diners or dine quietly while taking photos and notes on my phone. I chose the latter so here are my notes in a google doc. The word limit capped me out when I got to Dish #5 so click on the link and compare it to the photos I took. And sorry about some of the photos, I know I began eating some of the plates before I realized I gotta do picture! picture!
After the meal, my server followed me out the door and stayed on the street until I walked off into the distance. I got curious so I turned around and she waved back at me and bowed again lol. They really show the utmost respect to their customers. The overall service though was good, but not super attentive as I was expecting from a restaurant of this caliber.

Ryugin was an incredibly special blend of European, Chinese, and Japanese styles into a harmony that I haven’t seen done as well anywhere in the world. It was also eclectic and experimental– some of the dishes could compete with the most innovative techniques I’ve seen in the US, and the overall experience was a seamless blend of new and old approaches. Seiji Yamamoto is the head chef, and he is also clearly proud of his many accomplishments, including the third Michelin star. A visitors’ room I stumbled into upstairs has a flat-​screen TV playing a video from his Michelin acceptance celebration on a loop. There is also an owl.
Start to finish, every aspect of this evening was polished, almost to a fault. The menu, for instance, came in a stamped and post-​marked envelope, and a perfectly readable (though certainly full of interesting word choices) English. Each course was a carefully constructed story of tastes, textures, and flavors, some recalling Yamamoto’s childhood. The rice and chicken course, for instance, is his distant recollection of his favorite childhood restaurant’s dish.
If you’re looking for the innovation of Alinea with the execution of Saito, this is your place. Course-​by-​course description is here:

Fabulous restaurant. Food was amazing. Worthy of it’s 3 star rating. Had the price fixe menu and the drink pairing which was both sake and wine, very nice. My only complaint is the couple next to us were quite underdressed and kept playing on their cell phones. Not what one expets at such an upscale restaurant.

A revelation. Seiji Yamamoto explores kaiseki with a contemporary mindset. Before I get into the food, I have to say: TRY THE APPLE JUICE! Omfg, it was one of the best liquids I’ve ever put in my mouth. They vintage their own store juice, and it’s something heavenly, glows a beautiful golden gue, with a perfect sweetness and mild bite. There is nothing like it in the world. Japanese apple juice is already eons ahead of other countries, but Ryugin’s apple juice is even further ahead. I think we ended up drinking 3 bottles, and my only regret is not buying more to take home. Yeah, I just wrote a paragraph on apple juice, that’s how how good this meal was. I’ll TL;DR this. Service was spectacular. The ambience was a little off for me with all the black, but I can appreciate what they were going for. And when the three bathroom is stocked with flavored water, q-​tips, what I guess are makeup items, and even lip balm, you know comfort for their guests is a priority. The bathroom was literally nicer than 99% of restaurants in the world. The progression of the meal was flawless, and done mainly in kaiseki tradition, but there were surprises with how Yamamoto san plays with textures and temperatures. The egg here is probably one of the best eggs I’ve had, and if you look at my pic, you’ll see why it was just the best foodporn. The sashimi course was also perfectly balanced, and extremely high quality. Finally, the desserts here are fantastic. The «apple» was conceptually amazing, and the execution was even better. Ending with matcha, though classic, was the perfect way to finish the meal. What really made this meal over the top is that Yamamoto san rushed from the kitchen as we left, to personally thank us for coming since his restaurant isn’t like a lot of the smaller kaiseki restaurants with no boundary between the kitchen and the diners, so this was a very sin ere gesture that I really appreciated. I will definitely be back to see what summer creations Ryugin has in store. If you’re unaware, please check out Yamamoto san’s YouTube channel, TOKYOGASTRONOMY. The videos show how much effort and skill is put into many of his dishes, and the music is perfect!

I’ve been to Ryugin twice and both times I left amazed. Not only is the food delicious and its presentation exquisite, as expected, but it is also surprisingly creative. In a country that values tradition and conformity so highly, Ryugin is a breath of fresh air.
Seiji Yamamoto seamlessly blends classic kaiseki with the most original ingredients and innovative techniques.
This could easily be my favorite restaurant in Japan.

Easily my top meal I’ve ever had… ever. Boyfriend took me here on my first trip to Japan a while back, and we’ll be back again on our next trip, next week! The dishes were all so perfectly prepared, each garnish placed «just so». We really appreciated the inventiveness of the whole meal… taking the traditional kaiseki to another level! We also enjoyed our sake selections (as recommended by our server), and a special touch is the beautiful collection of cut crystal sake glasses they bring out for you to choose from! This restaurant deserves its three michelin stars; the service and food are above and beyond most restaurants in the world.

One word: Amazing!!!
Once in a lifetime experience. Totally worth every penny. The chef paid attention to every detail imaginable from the coaster they put your water cup on to the perfectly soft fluffy sake soufflé paired with the not to sweet sake soft serve paired with the crisp and clean sake… see a theme? Unforgettable. A treat not to be missed. Think: I deserve this! Carpe Diem.
Definitely a highlight of my trip even though there were so many great places to eat in Japan.
RyuGin had to be my 200^th review!

By far, one of the most memorable meals of my life. I mean, they don’t dole out three Michelin stars to just anybody who can sling an egg and some tofu together.
Kaiseki is to Japan what haute cuisine is to America. In other words, it’s delicious, yet pricey.
We’d made reservations several weeks in advance through our hotel. When we arrived (through a mysterious back alley and into a sexy, sleek reservations desk), we waited all of three minutes before we were seated.
Smooth wait service (yes, they speak English) with impeccable food. Fresh, seasonal menu items that carefully balance taste, texture, appearance, and colors; it’s an art form.
Highlights:
+The grilled hotaru ika chawan mushi (squid in a creamy custard) was heavenly. (
)
+The wagyu filet, magical (
)
+The ichiban dashi with kuruma ebi dumpling (simmered abalone in a mouth-​watering broth) is something I still dream about (
)
+Dessert consisted of «one piece of strawberry,» which was strawberry in liquid nitrogen that was cracked open to reveal candy, and then spooned with hot strawberry jam (
). We were then served the baked Ginjou sake «Oyaki soufflé» with the milk soft serve ice cream (
), which was served right before the perfectly concocted matcha tea; perfection (
).
All-​around wonderful experience.