Kashiwaya

Hands down the finest food I have ever had in many trips to Japan. Exquisite in all dimensions. Simply the most gracious gentile service one could imagine. Chef Matsuo is a genius able to adhere to the grand traditions of kai-seki while at the same time adding small wrinkles and surprises. He ha...s three Michelin stars and Kashiwaya delivers on that promise of excellence.

Visited May 2024

Picture a residential neighborhood where you would probably not start a restaurant; then picture a street in that neighborhood where you would be quite unlikely to start a restaurant. That is however precisely where this three-star restaurant is located. The philosophy behind it all, just as the ful...ly zen private dining rooms with tatami mats - I assume - is the full and undivided focus should be on the dinner. And: it delivered. The food is season bound and, at times, surprising. While some of the dishes we had were ‘just’ great Japanese food, two of the twelve dishes we had were truly magnificent. With respect to the sake and wine pairing we had; the sake was lovely (as a non-sake expert) and we enjoyed the wine (although other Michelin star restaurants may certainly have better wines).

Visited April 2024

We had a wonderful lunch at Kashiwaya. The service was exceptional from the moment we walked through the door. We were led to a private room where we were served dish after dish of beautiful and delicious plates in perfect tune with the terroir of the Osaka region. The menu follows traditional ...Kaiseki format and our servers kindly explained the significance of the different components in each dish as it relates to the current season. We made our reservation on the MyConcierge website (my first time doing this) and everything went very smoothly. We have eaten at several 3 star Kaiseki restaurants and this ranks highly among them. Definitely worth the detour!!!

Visited January 2023

I have developed the theory that very good restaurants are frequently divisive. There will be many diners that love a good restaurant and leave glowing reviews. Others will simply not like the concept and, having potentially paid a very great deal of money for an experience that did not hit the spot..., will leave poor reviews. Looking at a couple of recent reviews for Kashiwaya, it seems that this is the case here. For my part, this is one of the best restaurants that I have eaten in. As my son said, it would almost be worth the journey from London to Osaka simply to visit this restaurant. It is expensive but, equally, you get what you pay for. As far as I could see, the restaurant comprises a collection of private dining rooms and we were shown to a delightful space upstairs. Decoration is traditional Japanese with cloth covered walls and a tatami mat floor. The table was close to the floor but was placed over a pit (for want of a better expression ) into which your legs went, so that you could sit very comfortably on the floor. The service is superb with an amazing sense of ceremony. Each time we were visited, typically by two or three of the staff, the door was slid open and they bowed outside before making their way to the table to serve us. Two of the staff members spoke a fair to good level of English and were perfectly well able to explain the various different courses and sake. The food is exceptional and fully deserving of three Michelin stars. Inevitably I enjoyed some course more than others but all were good. I especially like the 'moon' theme than ran through the dinner and inspired many of the courses.

Visited September 2019

I went to this restaurant after another 3 stars restaurant Hajime, which I was very happy with. So I expected some surprising tastes and textures but it was a disappointment. The food didn't worth a detour nor flying to dine here. The food tasted just like it looked. I mean raw fish tastes like raw... fish but I expected them to do something with the ingredients and turned out to be something unexpected in terms of flavors and textures. They tried to serve the best seasonal ingredients using Japanese cooking. No offense but you can imagine authentic Japanese cooking, which tend not to add much flavor to ingredients resulting in very mild flavor food, which I could have it elsewhere in Kyoto. I expected more than this from 3 stars Michelin and I know what kind restaurants to look for now. I love to be excited and surprised. So if you want an above average authentic Japanese restaurant, this restaurant maybe for you but if you are looking for something surprising, it's not for you. The decorations were like small old Japanese room and 2 small tables, which could only fit 2 persons and it was a little bit uncomfortable for me but I like how it's a private room. Also it's about 4,200 yen taxi drive from Namba. The dish I enjoyed the most was in the attachments. It's called Mizumono - Fruit balls with honey jelly. It was a very fun dish with different flavors of peeled fruit balls.

Visited May 2019