The Pinnacle of Gourmet: Tokyo Meals over $500

The Pinnacle of Gourmet: Tokyo Meals over $500

What to expect in Japan when paying over $500 for dinner

Internationally active gourmets know that a $500 meal is becoming more and more common. However, these sky high prices promise something different in every country. In Tokyo, expect ingredients with a season of days, not months, rare varietals limited to certain smallholder farmers and meat and fish monopolized by highly sought after masters for their premium quality. As the raw materials are the heart of Japanese gastronomy, these wallet-stretching restaurants serve only the best.

5 Restaurants Offering Courses Over $500

1.Ginza Fukuju （銀座 福樹）/ Japanese

Two Stars

Michelin Guide, 2025

This Two-starred kaiseki restaurant is built on a daimyo's words and the pure effort of Japan's best producers. At Ginza Fukuju, a wooden countertop is the only barrier between Chef Katsuhiro Onodera's deft handiwork and the eager guests. This intimacy makes every experience unforgettable, as diners watch the chef and assistants transform ingredients into works of art. Each course features a single star ingredient, treated with ancient techniques to bring out its most pure expression. The choice of serving ware is on par with the ingredients -- incredibly seasonal and only the finest.

2.Ginza kappou ukai nikusho （銀座 kappou ukai 肉匠）/ Kaiseki

If kaiseki is defined by the elegant, the delicate, and the heavenly cuisine of emperors, then kappou is its bold and opulent foil. Ginza kappou ukai nikusho holds the 50 year-plus legacy of famed teppanyaki Ukaitei. In this modern space, abalone and premium seafood set the tone for long-raised Matsusaka wagyu and more slow-roasted over binchou charcoal. Ukai's legacy of strict selection and research gives the Nikusho team a defining edge even among top steakhouses. Celebrating the bounty of sea and land, characteristic seasonal vegetables and luxurious accents like champagne and truffles complete the meal.

3.Teppanyaki Sekishintei (Hotel New Otani) （ホテルニューオータニ 鉄板焼 石心亭）/ Teppanyaki

Most visitors expect to find a tea house and matcha service while they stroll through a Japanese garden. At the Hotel New Ohtani, they're more likely to enjoy the perfume of premium wagyu being seared at one of 3 in-garden teppanyaki restaurants. Of these, Sekishintei offers one of the most premium dinners anywhere in Tokyo. With its Kobe wagyu course, diners will enjoy foie gras, spiny lobster, and beef from Kawagishi farms in Hyogo, the only area of Japan certified to raise Kobe beef cattle. On top of the food itself, which is grilled on a circular teppanyaki counter, the view makes Sekishintei's $500 price tag more than worth the spend.

4.Ningyocho Kimi （人形町 喜見）/ Fugu

Torafugu no Kai is a legendary brand of member's only fugu specialists. Ningyocho Kimi however, is their foray into more public offerings, but at a non-insignificant cost. In return for navigating to the hidden restaurant and committing to the one-price only, surprise of the season omakase, diners are treated to course after course featuring wild-caught fugu of the highest rank. Seemingly simple dishes represent a quiet commitment that goes beyond the years of training needed to legally prepare fugu. The ponzu is made in house, mere hours before diners see it on their plates, and the karasumi (a Japanese bottarga) is sourced from a specialist on the opposite coast, in Fukui, where a 3 year curing process offers just 100kg of the precious seasoning a year.

5.Kaiseki Komuro （懐石 小室）/ Kaiseki

One Star

Michelin Guide, 2025

"How can we give them the real thing?" This is a question Chef Komuro of Michelin One Star Kaiseki Komuro asks himself daily in his chats with hunters and farmers, fishermen and foragers. As a master of tea ceremony and director for official dishes, his dedication to Japan's traditional cuisine and philosophy goes beyond the counter. Chef Komuro established his restaurant after working as a private chef, and continues to bring a personal, performative element to his dining. His storytelling is visual, auditory, gustatory and more, exciting every sense in his pursuit of honoring the ingredients in their natural state.

Restaurants Offering Courses Over $1,000

6.Nihonryori Ryugin （日本料理 龍吟）/ Japanese

Three Stars

Michelin Guide, 2025

Seiji Yamamoto, born in tiny Kagawa prefecture, has made huge waves in Japanese gastronomy. His Three Star restaurant, consistently rated among the top 50 restaurants in Asia and the top 100 Japanese cuisine restaurants domestically, preserves tradition while attending to contemporary tastes. The names of each course pay homage to Japan's natural bounty and time-honored traditions. Sashimi, rustic simmered dishes, premium farmed and wild meat. With the addition of top of the line beverages such as regional sake and premium wines, a nightly budget can stretch into the 4-digits, but each morsel is more than its weight in gold.