Ryu Gin

Not the same Ryugin that we have visited many years ago when Ryugin only got a star. Back then it was very, very good. Hence the reason we booked this restaurant again when we visited Japan. This visit was in July 2024, on a day we guess probably the Chef was not in. We were disappointed. Among... the many courses, there were 3 different dishes, corn soup, corn puree and corn something, all 3 tasting the same. Maybe, the junior chef has run out of ideas of what to serve us that night.

Visited July 2024

First and foremost: this is a traditional Kaizeki-style Japanese restaurant, as such it might outright not be everyone's cup of tea, purely from a conceptual point of view. We were served the menu of the night. I unfortunately failed to find a single course that I liked. Everything was very mushy, ...chewy, sometimes both. The flavors were quite one-dimensional, overwhelmingly algae and miso. I believe however that it is a question of taste. The service was unfortunately not great. While very nice, it felt quite hurried. Plates were being taken away while half the table was still eating. This is something that would never fly in a Michelin restaurant in the West, but perhaps it is acceptable in the East. Another thing is the lack of extras. There was very little off-menu which in the end felt like the price we payed (44'000 JPY) was quite high. All in all, it was a bit of a disappointing experience for a 3 star Michelin.

Visited October 2023

After 12 dishes of fish and only fish, many tasteless the bill came to 1,300 USD and we were sickened. Good wine selection but 80 dollars for a glass of grand cru and literally 3 sips poured into the glass. There was only one wow moment which was a dumping made of blowfish. Basically every course ha...d blowfish in it and we never want to eat one again. Super waste of money.

Visited March 2022

Chef Seiji Yamamoto's tasting menu depends on the season when you're visiting (Eel season and getting 1 out of 100,000 miracle large wild eel for dinner). Nihonryori RyuGin is for the adventurous especially those who don't mind about eating Ayu that was grilled alive on white charcoal until its deat...h My favorite part of the meal was the candied grapes for dessert, frozen at -196 degrees

Visited March 2019

Rated as one of the best restaurants in the world, this was amazing experience. Must order the wine and sake pairings. Worth it. Some of the courses were strange, but all were delicious. Very expensive but worth it.

Visited November 2019