Sobadokoro Shinbashi in Yuzawa delivers the kind of quietly confident, deeply local experience that turns a simple bowl of soba into a small ritual—rooted in snow country traditions, polished enough to feel special, but never overworked. A few minutes’ walk from Echigo-Yuzawa Station, it is the sort of place you start recommending to friends long…
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Shiratsuyu at ANA InterContinental Appi Kogen is less a standard hotel restaurant and more a calm, quietly luxurious alpine dining room, where polished service, thoughtful cooking, and a deep sense of place come together just steps from the snow.
Returning to Appi Kogen after a couple years has been a mixed experience. Our first time…
Tucked into the ground floor of TRUNK(HOTEL) YOYOGI PARK on the Yoyogi Park side of Shibuya, L’ombelico feels like a little slice of contemporary Tokyo-Italian: wood-fired warmth, natural wine energy, and that relaxed, park-adjacent buzz that rolls from breakfast through to late-night pizza.
AMBIENCE >
Set on a prominent corner of Inokashira-dori with three sides…
Tucked into a quiet backstreet on the Akihabara side of Chiyoda, Kufuku feels like stepping out of electric town and into a parallel world—one where time, fermentation, and French technique quietly reframe Japanese comfort food. Set inside a lovingly preserved kominka, this is destination dining for travellers who like their Tokyo with as much patina…
High above Ginza’s polished sidewalks, Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura feels less like a fashion-house spin‑off and more like a jewelled little universe of its own—part salon, part stage, part lucid dream in Gucci green. Here Italian technique, Japanese produce and a distinctly theatrical sense of storytelling converge into a tasting menu that is playful, polished…
Tucked away in the residential fringes of Jingumae, just beyond Omotesando's designer bustle, JULIA remains a Shibuya gem for those seeking Japan's seasonal essence through innovative fine dining. Returning after our acclaimed 2024 visit to the expanded space—where Chef Nao and Sommelier Kenichiro elevated their husband-and-wife intimacy to a poised team operation—this latest meal reaffirms…
Eleven Barrack feels like a grand city dining room that Sydney has been waiting for: a lavish steak and seafood grill in a heritage bank building, tuned with just enough irreverence to keep things fun. It is also the sharpest new expression of the Bentley Group’s polished food, wine and service playbook, right in the middle…
Saint Peter in Sydney is one of Australia’s (possibly the world’s) most compelling places to eat seafood right now, a restaurant that turns whole fish into high drama without ever losing sight of comfort, generosity, and genuine hospitality. Relocated to The Grand National Hotel in Paddington, it feels like both a neighbourhood dining room and…
Tucked into a narrow cut-through behind Wynyard Station, Scala Lane is down the kind of lane your mother said don’t go down. Yep it looks dodgy. Past the garbage skips, the delivery entrances and the parked vans. Here you find the kind of Italian wine and pasta bar that feels like a happy discovery rather than a foregone…
Since 1964, Chez Georges has remained one of Paris's most treasured bistro institutions—a place where time stands still, handwritten menus never falter, and the art of French cooking is executed with unwavering devotion. Tucked quietly on rue du Mail in the 2nd arrondissement, just north of Place des Victoires, this is a dining room that…
