2 or 3 star Michelin restaurants near our hotel Tokyo?

[kojtl1000]

Hello,

We are visiting Japan for the first time from Belgium. We love the experience of dining in Michelin starred restaurants all over the world.
We will be there in July and will stay at the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Hotel (Shibuya). We are now looking for nice 2 or 3 Michelin starred restaurants nearby the hotel. Preferably Japanese food/Sushi.
Can you guys advice us on a good restaurant?

Thanks a lot.

[joshekg]

Not necessarily near your hotel, but I greatly enjoyed my meal at Sushi Sawada last June. It was the best sushi I've ever eaten and the chef and his wife (I believe) were very gracious hosts.

And not Michelin starred, but not to miss in my book is the tempura at Iseya.

[babreu]

You're near the main station in Tokyo, so does it really need to be close to your hotel? Like someone said, public transport in Tokyo is very good, so you should look for the best places to eat, regardless of location. Troisgros (**) is near, but it's french. Nakajima (*), is also near, and japanese. Would be wiser to take the Marunouchi line do Ginza and find most of the ** and *** places.

There're many great restaurants around Shinjuku station. I recommend Tatsukichi (a kushiage restaurant). No Michelin stars, but you won't regret eating there. It's quite cheap too.

[Uncle Yabai]

Tatsukichi? Damn you! It is one of my secret favorite places, which I keep out of the grubby hands of the Chowhounding mobs, and now you've ruined it! Thanks!

[babreu]

It could have been worse. I could have post a map. :)

[Uncle Yabai]

Yea, I guess I live with the comfort that it is a hellishly difficult place to find.... How did you find it? I have my story, but you tell me yours first.

[babreu]

I always ask the locals I meet about their favorite places. In this case, it was recommended by chef Takazawa, of Aronia de Takazawa.

[Uncle Yabai]

That's a great story. In my case, believe it or not, during the Japanese bubble, Tatsukichi had a branch in Boston, of all places. Don't ask me why. During its heyday, it was probably the best Japanese restaurant in Boston. Kushiage was not the main attraction there, but it served it a la carte (you could get different number of sticks).

Sometime in 1990, I went to Japan on a business trip, and I went out of my way to find this Tatsukichi place, and it turned out all it sold was kushiage in the standard linear/omakase format, which I found bewildering the first time.

The branch in Boston closed a long time ago. But the floor manager in Shinjuku used to be the chef at the Boston branch, and he actually remembers me from the Boston days.

[babreu]

Now I understand why it's your secret place. Great story. I had no idea they had this background, though I knew it was a traditional place. My first time there I thought the idea was brilliant and should be tested outside Japan... and so they did it in Boston. :)

So you were there in 1990? Must have been an incredible time to explore Japan and its restaurants.

[Uncle Yabai]

Actually, in the quarter century I've been involved with Japan, now is the best time for food. It has only been in the last decade or so that the Japanese have truly applied their skills to foods other than Japanese, with impressive results.

[babreu]

I think that applies to the rest of the world. Specially where I live (Sao Paulo), globalization, internet and economic stability brought lots of diversity and quality to food in the last 15 years.

But I can only imagine how amazing Japan was, comparing to the rest of the world, during the 80's bubble. Not just for trying different food but for everything.

[akated]

had the restaurant bookmarked for a while, and boy was i glad i went. delicious.

although how does one eat 170 sticks of that stuff?? i could only manage 15 before the feeling of greasiness sunk me.

[babreu]

I usually eat something around 15 sticks too, but I've seen people eating way more than that. The best thing about kushikatsu is the surprise. Everytime I go there I'll eat something new, and there're seasonal ingredients too. Last time I tried some of the desert sticks, like chocolate and banana.

[yamanote]

There is also Les Creations de Narisawa, supposedly "the best restaurant in Asia." its actually located at Akasaka 1 chome, but not too far from Shinjuku.

Other posters are correct - your hotel is directly in front of the southern entrance of Shinjuku station.

[kojtl1000]

Thanks a lot all you guys.
Are there any restaurants that are not too far away and that we can reach using public transport?

Can't wait until the Tokyo and Osaka Michelin guides I ordered arrive.

[Blacken]

Tokyo Train system is extremely good. Very easy to use once you get over the first view of the map ;P

Spent two weeks there recently, initially catching cabs, but then trains, and wondered why I hadnt done it earlier

ALhtough I did use the Ipad map a fair amount when I got out of the train station

Cheers

[edozanmai]

The 2010 Guide has five 2 or 3 star restaurants near your hotel: Shigeyoshi (2 stars), Esaki (3, www.aoyamaesaki.net), Sekiho tei (2,), Kogetsu (2, www.aoyama-kogetsu.com), all in Jingumae, and Cuisines Michel Troisgros (2 stars) in Nishishinjuku. All look to be within about 1km from the hotel.

[big_apple_ken]

I did a quick google search and came up with these 2 links:

3 stars:
http://gaishoku.blogspot.com/2010/11/michelin-2011-tokyo-3-stars.html
2 stars:
http://gaishoku.blogspot.com/2010/12/...

Consider you are staying in Shinjuku (not Shibuya) based on the 2 links your closest choices are:

Ishikawa
Japanese
Tel: [phone] Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku

Cuisine Michel Troisgros
French contemporary
Tel: [phone] Hyatt Regency Hotel 1F, 2-7-2 Nishi-Shinjyuku , Shinjuku-ku

Although with that said a good handful of places listed in the links above you probably can reach by taking the subway for under 10 minutes.

[Uncle Yabai]

Nicht. The only one of those that is truly "near" is the Troisgros, and even then we're talking at least a 20 minute walk from the Sunroute. The ones in Jingumae are a good 2000 yen taxi ride away.

[shekamoo]

hmmmm, I just HAVE to ask, why not purchase the guide?

[Uncle Yabai]

The Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Hotel isn't in Shibuya. Maybe some confusion as to how to go about this?

[Hiyodori]

Um, actually it is. In Shibuya Ward, though of course very close to Shinjuku station.

Strange as it may seem, everything on the south side of the main street between the South and New South exits to the station is in Shibuya Ward (e.g. Kinokunia bookstore, Takashimaya department store, Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku hotel....)

[Robb S]

For the sake of those reading this who are new to Tokyo, or just visiting Tokyo, when we refer to neighborhoods in central Tokyo we generally refer to the nearest train or subway station (e.g. Harajuku, even though there are no actual addresses with 'Harajuku' in them anymore). Sometimes to clarify, we refer to the town name (e.g. Nishi-Shinjuku, to differentiate the west side of Shinjuku station, or Nishi-Azabu, which is closest to Roppongi but is far enough away to be a separate neighborhood.)

Referring to the special ward within Tokyo (e.g. Shibuya-ku, Minato-ku, Chiyoda-ku) is generally unhelpful in narrowing down where you are, because wards are very large and often oddly shaped. For example, getting from Hatsudai in Shibuya-ku to Daikanyama in Shibuya-ku requires taking three different trains or a long cab ride.

Conversely, two different places that are "in Shinjuku" may be across the street from each other and very close to that station, but on either side of the border between special wards. Saying that one of them is "in Shibuya" is merely confusing, and of interest only to the local tax authorities.

[kojtl1000]

I purchased the guide 3 weeks ago, but it seems it's hard to get in Europe. It's still in backorder with no specific delivery date. That's the reason of my question on this board.