Why Michelin 2025 Focuses on New and Promoted Spots like Yakiniku and Sushi

A sign of a restaurant that is “on the rise

The Michelin Guide Tokyo 2025 was released on October 17, 2012 at the Westin Tokyo.

A total of 507 restaurants (64 new restaurants) were listed in the guide. The breakdown is as follows: 227 Selected Restaurants (41 new), 110 Bib Gourmands (13 new), 132 One-Star (10 new, 3 promoted), 26 Two Stars (1 promoted), 12 Three Stars (1 promoted), and 12 Michelin Green Stars (1 new).

With 170 starred restaurants in Tokyo, the city has remained the most starred city in the world ever since the Michelin Guide arrived in Japan in ’07 with the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2008.

Tokyo alone is said to have over 100,000 restaurants. The ups and downs are also reflected in the Michelin Guide. While demotions and non-listed establishments are not introduced, new and promoted ones are made known. In Tokyo, one of the world’s largest gastronomic cities, restaurants that are new to the Michelin Guide or that have earned a better rating are particularly active.

Among the new restaurants and those that have been promoted, we would like to introduce some of the most noteworthy ones, along with their approximate prices per customer for dinner (the restaurant names are based on the “Michelin Guide Tokyo 2025”).

(The restaurant names are based on the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2025.) There are also yakitori (grilled chicken) and handmade pasta restaurants!　Selected Restaurants” recommended by the researcher

Selected Restaurants” are restaurants that do not have a star and are not Bib Gourmand restaurants, but that the inspectors of the Michelin Guide are eager to introduce. There are 41 new restaurants this year.

Chez Ino ” (estimated dinner price of 30,000 yen and up) is a well-known grand maison, while “L’Odorant Minornakidin ” (30,000 yen and up) offers authentic French cuisine. Jeffrey” (from 20,000 yen) by Tsubasa Jinnai, who has honed his skills at famous French restaurants, and “Mood ” (from 20,000 yen) by Ugo Pere-Galix, who also trained at “Kikunoi Honten”, are restaurants with a new sensibility.

Kei Kobayashi, the first Asian chef to win three stars in France, has created “Kay Collection Paris” (from 20,000 yen) in Toranomon Hills Station Tower and “Esprit Se Kay GINZA ” (from 20,000 yen) in Toraya Ginza Building. Both of these restaurants mainly serve a la carte dishes. Le Pristine Tokyo” (from 30,000 yen) at Hotel Toranomon Hills is a hot restaurant produced by three-star chef Sergio Herman.

There are also a number of well-received Italian restaurants, such as Depths Brianza (from 20,000 yen), where chef Yoshiyuki Okuno, owner of the Brianza Group, personally serves in the kitchen, and Orquestra (from 20,000 yen), where handmade pasta and main dishes cooked over a live fire shine.

There are also a number of well-received Italian restaurants, including “YAKITORI Burns ” (from 10,000 yen), which incorporates French flavors; “Shirogane Core” (from 15,000 yen), which combines the current trend of short courses with a la carte items; “Chinese Cuisine Huakaubou” (from 15,000 yen), where the elaborate “colorful appetizer platter” is a real treat; and ” Sakae” (from 10,000 yen), which serves a wide variety of dishes. Sukiyaki Asahi” (from 20,000 yen), where you can enjoy Sakaeya’s Omi beef in sukiyaki for the first time, and “Sushi Restaurant Yamato” (from 30,000 yen) by Yamato Yasui, who studied at the famous restaurant “Nihonbashi-Kakigaracho-Ogakushi-cho”.

Bib Gourmand” also features “standing sushi” and “fried food

In the “Bib Gourmand” category, which offers satisfaction beyond price, 13 restaurants are new. Five French restaurants, two sushi restaurants, one Italian restaurant, one Japanese restaurant, one tonkatsu restaurant, and three ramen restaurants.

Nougat” (from 10,000 yen) offers a variety of French regional dishes ordered a la carte and shared, and has a wide selection of wines. Sushi Sukawa (from 8,000 yen) is an easy-to-use restaurant where you can order only one piece of sushi at a time, and Audace (from 10,000 yen) is an Italian restaurant where guests gather at large tables for a fun time. The restaurant offers a variety of short courses, making it very flexible, and “Fry House” (from 8,000 yen) offers a course of freshly fried fries.

The drama of “new” and “promoted” starred restaurants is also a part of ……

There are 13 new and promoted “one-star” restaurants, including 5 French, 3 Japanese, 1 Italian, 1 Yakitori, 1 Sushi, 1 Contemporary, and 1 Creative. Creative is a newly established cuisine category, which includes the dessert restaurant Yama (from 20,000 yen).

The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo’s “Elitage by Kay Kobayashi ” (from 30,000 yen) is produced by Kei Kobayashi, with Teruki Murashima as chef. The restaurant also serves gibier, which is unusual for a Japanese hotel restaurant, and shows respect for French culture.

Keita Kitamura’s “Apotheose” (from 40,000 yen), which won a star in Paris, is a light French dish that makes the most of its ingredients. At “Sucre ” (from 40,000 yen), produced by three-star French chef Mauro Colagreco and headed by Yuhei Miyamoto, diners can experience unknown tastes. Kazuma Gunji’s “Saucé” (20,000 yen and up), which means “sauce to be wiped off” in French, features a sauce that makes you want to dip it in bread and eat it.

French cuisine is on the rise, but Japanese cuisine is also gaining a reputation as a one-star restaurant. Kappo Muroi (from 50,000 yen), which moved from Ginza to Nogizaka, offers a great selection of Champagne and Burgundy. Tatsumi Mishima of Higashiyama Mukunin (from 20,000 yen) has a unique background as a machine builder turned chef, and he has created a unique menu that includes dishes such as “Tuna Toro Taku Ohagi” and “Supon Ramen. The menu includes “Tuna Toro Taku Ohagi” and “Supon Ramen”.

Tempura Motoyoshi (30,000 yen and up) has been promoted to the “two-star” category. The restaurant’s “molecular tempura” using liquid nitrogen is highly acclaimed.

The newly promoted three-star restaurant is Cesan (from 60,000 yen) at the Four Seasons Hotel Marunouchi Tokyo. It is the first hotel restaurant in Tokyo to be awarded three stars. This is a great accomplishment, as Tokyo tends to be very strict in its evaluation of hotel restaurants. Daniel Calvert is the executive chef of the hotel, and his creative and consistent cuisine is appealing. Since Daniel assumed his current position in 2008, the hotel has risen from one star in the 2022 edition to two stars in the 2023 edition, finally reaching the pinnacle of its category. It is now one of the world’s leading restaurants, having won first place in this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. The restaurant’s innovative cuisine, such as the “Shanghai Crab and White Truffle Course” (101,200 yen), which perfectly combines Shanghai crab and white truffle, is a must-see.

There are more than 500 restaurants listed in the “Michelin Guide Tokyo 2025”. If you are wondering where to visit, we recommend that you select a restaurant that is new or has been promoted to the top of the list.

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