Tokyo
Nihonryori RyuGin
Why we point you here
Seiji Yamamoto's "singing dragon" — progressive kaiseki from a chef once known to CT-scan a pike eel to understand it, three Michelin stars strong since 2012.
Chef Seiji Yamamoto opened RyuGin in 2003 and spent the next two decades pushing kaiseki somewhere new — keeping the form's reverence for season, balance and the life of an ingredient, but bringing an almost scientific curiosity to it (he famously once used a CT scanner to study a pike eel's skeleton). His best-known dishes run from a hand-torn beef with matsutake to a "RyuGin-style" snow crab that uses every part of the animal, and the centuries-old dragon-adorned plates are part of the theatre. The name means "the dragon's voice," nihonryori simply "Japanese cuisine." It's held three Michelin stars since the 2012 guide, ranks among the World's 50 Best, and from January to March serves an exclusive fugu course. Now in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, with city views and an open kitchen. One of the defining tables of modern Japanese cooking.
Accolades
On the map
Other charted spots in Tokyo
Worth the detour.