Honkogetsu

Perfect 2 star restaurant with amazing quality and atmosphere. The owners did everything for we understand all we ate.

This two Michelin star Japanese restaurant is a bit hard to find despite its central location, but well worth it. It was the best restaurant I found in Dotonbori area during my stay in Osaka. I dined down at the counter. Pros: + Sublime Japanese dishes. Mackerel sushi offered was the best sushi I ...have ever sampled. + Friendly and informal atmosphere. The chef was very talkative and cheerful; rest of clients (Japanese) were having a good time. Being behind a language barrier I kept myself entertained by watching the chef’s work. + Low threshold: After finding the place everything was smooth from there. Being a foreigner was not a problem - some English was spoken or at least understood. There were at least few persons in the staff who were able to communicate in English. I was seated by the counter and dishes started rolling in. If I was confused with some of the dishes staff friendly offered assistance. In addition, I got an English translation of the menu to be taken with you. Cons: - Very minimalistic décor, even on Japanese scale. The set dinner had 12 courses, I paid roughly some ~20 000 yen. It is a lot, but in the end it is good value if you compare it with other highly rated restaurants in the area. The restaurant is located in a narrow, quiet alley with number of traditional restaurants just south and parallel to Dotonbori. Honkogetsu is roughly half way the alley. I knew roughly where the restaurant is supposed to be (from google maps), but still I walked three times past. There is another good Michelin star restaurant Kigawa on the alley and Honkogetsu is a bit west from Kigawa. Do write down the name in Japanese since the name is not written on latin letters. Also, try google images of “Honkogetsu” – you’ll find the photo of the entrance. If looking for an extreme good traditional Japanese restaurant in Dotonbori, this would be my choice.

Visited October 2012