Restaurant in Kyoto, Japan
Rural Japan, serious food, eight seats.
NOMI RESTAURANT is a Tabelog Award 2026 Silver winner (score 4.35) operating from a house restaurant in rural Fukuchiyama, northern Kyoto Prefecture. At JPY 30,000–39,999 per head, eight seats, and an innovative Japanese cuisine format, it suits diners who have covered central Kyoto's kaiseki circuit and want something more removed. Lunch is worth prioritising over dinner for the setting and potentially lower spend.
At JPY 30,000–39,999 per head for both lunch and dinner, NOMI RESTAURANT asks you to spend serious money in a location that will genuinely surprise you: a house restaurant in Fukuchiyama, in the rural north of Kyoto Prefecture, roughly 70 kilometres from central Kyoto city. What you get for that spend is a Tabelog Award 2026 Silver-winning experience with a 4.35 score and just eight seats — a format built around proximity and precision rather than prestige addresses. If you are the kind of diner who has already done the polished kaiseki rooms of central Kyoto and wants to understand what a deeply local, ingredient-led Japanese table looks like in a completely different register, NOMI is worth the drive. If you are looking for a classic Kyoto kaiseki experience within walking distance of Gion, book Gion Sasaki or Kikunoi Honten instead.
NOMI operates as a house restaurant , a private home converted into a dining space , in the Miwacho Shimokawai area of Fukuchiyama. The venue seats a maximum of eight people. There are no private rooms, but the entire restaurant can be reserved for private use, which makes it a genuinely functional choice for a small group that wants to eat together without distraction. The atmosphere is, by structure and scale, quiet. Eight seats in a residential setting means noise levels stay low regardless of the hour, and the energy is deliberate rather than buzzy. This is not a room where the ambient energy carries you , the food does that work.
The cooking is categorised as Japanese cuisine with an innovative approach. Tabelog's own description references knife precision and dishes that respond directly to the state of the ingredients, framing the cooking around Fukuchiyama's agricultural identity. Both the lunch and dinner service run on a fixed price structure , JPY 30,000–39,999 for the formal menu, though review-based spending data suggests some lunch visits land in the JPY 20,000–29,999 range. Hours run 12:00–15:00 for lunch and 18:00–21:00 for dinner, seven days a week including public holidays, with no fixed closing day listed.
If you have visited NOMI once and are returning, the advice shifts slightly. The lunch service , and this connects directly to what the daytime format delivers , is worth reconsidering as a primary option rather than a default dinner booking. At a restaurant this small, in a rural location with natural light as part of the ambient experience, the midday sitting uses the setting in a way an evening meal structurally cannot. Review data hints at slightly lower average spend at lunch, which at this price tier represents a meaningful difference without any evidence of a reduced menu quality. For a regular returning to NOMI, lunch on a weekday, with parking available and no crowd pressure, is arguably the better configuration.
Drinks include sake (nihonshu), shochu, and wine. No electronic money or QR code payments are accepted , bring a Visa or Mastercard. The venue is entirely non-smoking.
NOMI is not accessible without planning. The address , 710-3 Miwacho Shimokawai, Fukuchiyama, Kyoto , sits in a rural district where the practical recommendation is car or taxi. There is parking on site. From central Kyoto, the drive is approximately 70 kilometres, and the journey itself is part of the commitment this restaurant asks of you. Diners travelling from Osaka might consider pairing a NOMI booking with a broader Kansai itinerary that includes HAJIME in Osaka. Those exploring further afield in Japan's fine dining circuit might note akordu in Nara for a European-inflected contrast, or Goh in Fukuoka for another regional Japanese kitchen earning serious national recognition outside the major urban centres.
Reservations are available and booking difficulty is assessed as easy relative to Kyoto's most competitive tables. At eight seats, availability can move quickly for specific dates, but NOMI does not carry the weeks-out wait list of central Kyoto institutions like Hyotei or Mizai. The phone number on record is +81-773-59-2255. No official website is listed, which means direct phone reservation is the primary channel. Given the rural setting and the language context, non-Japanese-speaking visitors should plan accordingly , either book through a hotel concierge or use a reservation service.
For context on what else is happening in the broader Kyoto dining scene, Pearl's full Kyoto restaurants guide covers the city's full range. The Kyoto hotels guide is worth checking if you are planning an overnight stay to make the Fukuchiyama trip more practical. Pearl also covers Kyoto bars, Kyoto wineries, and Kyoto experiences for full trip planning.
For reference points outside Japan: the format , small-room, ingredient-driven, fixed-price , shares structural DNA with Lazy Bear in San Francisco and, at a different price tier and scale, with the precision hospitality approach of Le Bernardin in New York City. The comparison is not about cuisine similarity but about the commitment a small, serious table asks of the diner who books it.
Additional Kyoto options for context: Isshisoden Nakamura offers a more central location at a comparable price tier, and Harutaka in Tokyo illustrates what the same level of Tabelog recognition translates to in Japan's largest market. For another regional fine dining perspective, 1000 in Yokohama and 6 in Okinawa complete the picture of how Japan's serious restaurant culture extends far beyond Tokyo and Kyoto's historic cores.
Quick reference: JPY 30,000–39,999 per head (lunch and dinner) | 8 seats | Tabelog Silver 2026, score 4.35 | Visa/Mastercard only | Car or taxi recommended | Parking available | Reservations via phone: +81-773-59-2255.
Yes, up to eight people , which is the full restaurant. The venue offers private use for groups that want exclusive hire. There are no private rooms within the space, so full buyout is the only route to true privacy. At JPY 30,000–39,999 per head in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, that is a significant total cost, but for a private dinner for six to eight, it is a format with no direct equivalent in the city.
There is no bar seating structure listed for NOMI. The venue is a house restaurant in Fukuchiyama with eight seats total and no bar counter format. The innovative Japanese cuisine format here is built around table service, not counter dining. If a counter experience is what you are looking for in Kyoto, the kaiseki restaurants in the city centre tend to offer counter options.
Technically feasible , reservations are available and the restaurant does not list restrictions by party size , but at JPY 30,000–39,999 per head in a rural Fukuchiyama location, a solo visit requires real commitment. The eight-seat format means you will likely be sharing the room with one or two other parties, which can actually work well for solo diners who prefer a quiet, focused environment over a lively one. The low noise level and intimate setting suit solo dining better than most restaurants at this price point.
No specific dietary accommodation policy is listed in the available data. Given the small scale , eight seats, innovative Japanese cuisine format, rural Kyoto location , the kitchen almost certainly works to a set menu structure. Contact the restaurant directly at +81-773-59-2255 before booking if you have restrictions. With no official website listed, phone is the primary channel, and advance notice at a restaurant this size is more likely to result in a genuine response than at larger operations.
Three things. First, the location: Fukuchiyama is not Kyoto city , it is 70 kilometres north in rural Kyoto Prefecture, and you need a car or taxi. Second, the price: JPY 30,000–39,999 per head for both lunch and dinner, with some lunch visits tracking lower based on review data. Third, the scale: eight seats, no private rooms, Tabelog Silver 2026 with a 4.35 score. This is a serious table in an unexpected place. Book lunch if you can, confirm dietary needs by phone in advance, and bring a Visa or Mastercard , electronic payments are not accepted.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOMI RESTAURANT | JPY 30,000 - JPY 39,999 JPY 30,000 - JPY 39,999 | Easy | — |
| Gion Sasaki | ¥¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| cenci | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Ifuki | ¥¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Kyokaiseki Kichisen | ¥¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| SEN | ¥¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
The maximum party size is eight people, which is also the full seating capacity — so a group of eight can book the entire space. Private rooms are unavailable, but private use of the whole restaurant is listed as available, making NOMI a practical option for a private group dinner at JPY 30,000–39,999 per person. Parties larger than eight cannot be accommodated.
There is no bar seating listed in the venue data. NOMI operates as a house restaurant with just eight seats total, so the format is intimate and table-based rather than counter-led. If a bar counter experience is the priority, Kyoto-city venues like cenci or Ifuki offer that format closer to the city centre.
Solo dining is logistically possible given reservations are available and the venue seats up to eight, but the remote location in Fukuchiyama — car or taxi access only — makes the journey more practical for couples or small groups who can share transport costs on top of a JPY 30,000–39,999 per-head bill. If you are travelling solo and want comparable cooking without the rural logistics, Gion Sasaki in central Kyoto is an easier solo proposition.
No dietary policy or menu detail is publicly documented for NOMI. Given the eight-seat, house-restaurant format and ingredient-led approach described on Tabelog, it is worth contacting the restaurant directly by phone (+81-773-59-2255) before booking to confirm whether restrictions can be accommodated — small-format tasting venues often require advance notice to adjust.
Budget JPY 30,000–39,999 per head for either lunch or dinner, and plan your transport — the Miwacho Shimokawai address in Fukuchiyama is not walkable from any train station and requires a car or taxi. The restaurant holds a Tabelog Silver Award 2026 with a 4.35 score, placing it among the most recognised tables in the Kyoto prefecture outside the city proper. Seating is capped at eight, so availability can close without much notice; book as early as possible.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
