Restaurant in Higashiomi, Japan
OAD-ranked kaiseki outside the big cities.
Shofukuro Honten is Higashiomi's most credentialed kaiseki restaurant, ranked #228 on Opinionated About Dining's Top Restaurants in Japan (2025) with a Tabelog Bronze Award. It is a strong choice for a special occasion dinner in Shiga Prefecture, with a structured, chef-led tasting progression and currently easy booking — rare at this award level. Contact directly for pricing before you reserve.
Shofukuro Honten is one of the most credentialed kaiseki restaurants outside Japan's major cities, and it earns serious consideration for any special occasion dinner in Shiga Prefecture. Ranked #228 on Opinionated About Dining's Leading Restaurants in Japan for 2025 (up from #253 in 2024), it holds a Tabelog Bronze Award with a score of 3.88 — a peer-reviewed signal that puts it well above the regional average. Booking is currently easy relative to its award standing, which makes this a rare window to access a high-quality kaiseki experience without the reservation battle you'd face at comparable venues in Kyoto or Tokyo. If you're planning a celebration dinner or a special-occasion meal during a trip through Kansai, Shofukuro Honten is worth the detour to Higashiomi.
Kaiseki at this level is a structured, multi-course progression — not a menu you order from, but a sequence that chef Hidetaro Nakamura controls from start to finish. That architecture matters for managing expectations: you arrive at Shofukuro Honten and submit to the progression. The reward is coherence. Each course builds on the last, with seasonal ingredients and regional Shiga produce shaping the arc of the meal. This is not a venue for diners who want to pick and choose; it is for those who trust the kitchen to make the decisions.
The setting in Higashiomi , a mid-sized city in Shiga Prefecture, roughly between Kyoto and Nagoya , gives Shofukuro Honten a quieter, more contained atmosphere than you'd find at comparably ranked venues in Gion or Ginza. The room does not have the theatrical edge of a big-city kaiseki house. What it offers instead is focus: the meal is the event. For a milestone dinner, an anniversary, or a first serious kaiseki experience, that concentration of attention works strongly in the restaurant's favour. The ambient energy is calm and unhurried, which is consistent with Shiga's broader pace as a prefecture.
Service runs across two seatings daily , lunch from 12pm to 3pm, dinner from 4pm to 10pm , every day of the week, including Monday, which is unusual for a venue at this award level. That Monday availability, combined with the relatively uncrowded booking window, means you have genuine flexibility in planning around a regional itinerary. See our full Higashiomi restaurants guide for context on what else is available locally.
Opinionated About Dining has tracked Shofukuro Honten across three consecutive years , Highly Recommended in 2023, ranked #253 in 2024, and rising to #228 in 2025. That trajectory is a meaningful signal: this is a kitchen gaining recognition, not coasting on a legacy ranking. At a time when comparable kaiseki venues in Kyoto (such as Ifuki in Kyoto or Kikunoi in Tokyo) require months of advance planning, Shofukuro Honten's current accessibility is an advantage worth acting on before its profile grows further.
Google reviewer scores sit at 4.5 across 112 reviews , a solid base for a venue of this type and size, and consistent with the Tabelog score's positioning. There is no dress code data available, but kaiseki at this level conventionally calls for smart-casual at minimum; plan accordingly for an evening sitting. Price range is not published in available data, so contact the restaurant directly via Tabelog (phone: 0748-22-0003) to confirm current menu pricing before booking.
For travellers building a Kansai itinerary, Higashiomi sits close enough to both Kyoto and Nagoya to function as a meaningful stop rather than an afterthought. Pair with accommodation in Higashiomi for a fully regional experience, or use the flexible daily hours to visit as part of a day trip. Our Higashiomi experiences guide has additional context for building the day around the meal.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Shofukuro Honten | — | |
| HAJIME | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Harutaka | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| L'Effervescence | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| RyuGin | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| HOMMAGE | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Higashiomi does not have a deep bench of OAD-ranked kaiseki alternatives at this level. If you are flexible on location within Shiga or willing to travel to Kyoto, the range of comparable kaiseki options expands considerably. Shofukuro Honten's consecutive OAD Top 300 placements (2023, 2024, 2025) and Tabelog Bronze make it the clear anchor choice in this specific area.
Kaiseki restaurants at this level typically require dietary restrictions to be communicated at the time of booking, not on arrival — the entire sequence is prepared in advance. check the venue's official channels using the Tabelog-listed phone number (0748-22-0003) when making your reservation to confirm what can be accommodated.
Book at least four to six weeks out, particularly for weekend dinner. Shofukuro Honten holds an OAD Top 300 ranking for Japan and a Tabelog Bronze Award with a score of 3.88 — that combination pulls diners from outside the region. Lunch seatings (12–3 pm daily) tend to be marginally more accessible than the evening service.
Yes — it is one of the most credentialed kaiseki restaurants in Shiga Prefecture, ranked #228 in Japan by Opinionated About Dining in 2025. The structured, chef-led kaiseki format suits celebrations where the meal itself is the event. If you want a high-stakes dinner closer to Kyoto's concentration of options, you have more choice there, but Shofukuro Honten holds its own on credential and format.
Kaiseki is not an à la carte format: chef Hidetaro Nakamura sets the sequence, and you follow it. There is no menu to select from. The practical decision is whether to come for lunch or dinner, and whether to communicate dietary needs in advance — the meal itself is in the chef's hands.
Dinner is the stronger choice for a special occasion — the 4–10 pm service allows for a longer, more deliberate kaiseki progression. Lunch (12–3 pm) is worth considering if you are building an itinerary around Shiga and want the kaiseki experience at what is often a lower price point in this format. Both services run daily.
Group capacity is not documented in available records, but kaiseki venues in this tier typically have limited seating by design. For groups larger than four, check the venue's official channels at 0748-22-0003 well in advance. Smaller parties of two are the natural fit for counter kaiseki formats.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
