Michelin Stellar Dining in Tokyo Restaurants
Tokyo Confirmed Top Culinary Destination With 36 New Michelin Stars
Dec 27, 2008
Michelin released its selection of recommended hotels and restaurants in the Michelin guide Tokyo 2009. The 2009 edition features 203 establishments in all, including 173 restaurants and 30 hotels.
This is the second annual Tokyo edition of the French bible of gastronomy: after Europe and the United States, the Michelin guide pursued its international development in Japan last year, honoring the country's outstanding cuisine, the unique cooking techniques and unrivaled quality of the products used, its rich heritage and its culinary traditions, which are handed down from one generation to the next.
The Tokyo Dining Scene Is Better Than Paris's
Tokyo is tied with Paris for the number of three-star eateries. Yet with 227 stars in all, Tokyo strengthens its position of world capital for gourmet dining with more stars than any other city anywhere in the planet.
This is 36 more stars than the 191 awarded to Tokyo last year.“Tokyo’s gastronomy has improved and evolved in the course of the year and the rise in stars shows that,” said Jean-Luc Naret, Director of Michelin Guides. “There is great potential in Tokyo and it can get even more stars.”
In the 2009 selection:
- Ishikawa joins the three-star gastronomic élite, bringing Tokyo's total count to nine (out of just 70 worldwide);
- 14 new restaurants attain the two-star rating, now counting 36 establishments (230 in the whole world);
- there are now 128 eateries in the one-star league, up 35 from last year . The list of new entries prominently features the Gordon Ramsay at the Conrad (Ramsay's restaurant in Chelsea, London has three Michelin stars).There are 1,800 one-star restaurants across the planet.
The Magnificent Nine of Tokyo's Fine Dining Scene
Japanese Cuisine
- Ishikawa (new for 2009)
- Kanda
- Koju
- Hamadaya
Sushi Restaurants
- Sukiyabashi Jiro
- Sushi Mizutani
French Cuisine
- Quintessence
- Joel Robuchon
- L'osier
An Increasingly Comprehensive Guide to Eating Out in Tokyo
- The 2009 Michelin selection covers 13 "Ku" (wards). That's five more "Ku" than last year's edition.
- Like the 2008 selection, the selection in the Michelin guide Tokyo 2009 continues to comprise exclusively of "starred" restaurants.
- Japanese cuisine continues to represent more than 60% of the selected restaurants.
Michelin Guides Rating System
A three-star restaurant is described as “exceptional cuisine, worth a journey.” A two-star rating in a Michelin guidebook means “excellent cooking, worth a detour.” One star is given to a restaurant judged “very good in its category.”
The Tokyo 2009 Michelin guide also features two brand new, custom-designed pictograms meaning "take-off the shoes" and "good selection of Sake".
Michelin updates its guides on a yearly basis. All the restaurants and hotels selected in the previous year's edition are anonymously re-evaluated, and new establishments which are potentially interesting for Michelin readers are also inspected.
Book Details
Tokyo 2009 (Michelin Red Guides) | ISBN: 9782067137141 | Publisher: Michelin Editions des Voyages |
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