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How to book a Michelin stared restaurant in Japan and what you should NOT do.
    2015/10/26
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すし匠

As you may know, Japan is a country of gourmet. According to a Michelin restaurant guide 2015, there are 12 three stared restaurants, 53 two stared restaurants, and as many as 161 one stared restaurants in Tokyo. When you come to Japan, perhaps you do not want to miss some of those finest restaurants, especially Japanese ones. However, sushi, tempura and kaiseki restaurants are hard to book for foreign travelers because of the language barrier. Usually you have to make a phone call directly to the restaurants and most of them do not speak English. If you want to book, you have to call them in Japanese. The best way is to ask your friend who speak Japanese or hotel concierge.

You may think it is highly exclusive. And you might have heard that a sushi restaurant refused a group of foreigners to make a reservation. This happened due to cultural difference. In Japanese society, guests are expected to show up on time or 5-10 minutes earlier and the restaurants do not charge booking fee when they receive the reservation. Especially top-rannked tempura and sushi restaurants only accept booked guests, as those restaurants purchase ingredients every morning only for reserved guests and do meticulous preparation for them. Also, these places are usually very small, allowing only 8 to 15 guests at once. So imagine, if you are a group of 4 and do not show up at the sushi restaurant. The result is a severe damage to the restaurant −all ingredients the restaurant prepared should be abandoned because they cannot use the already prepared ingredients next day. If you reserve a traditional restaurant in Japan, never cancel it and please show up on time! Then you will definitely experience wonderful moments with the finest cuisines.

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