Restaurant in Nara, Japan
Two Michelin stars. Book months ahead.
La Terrasse irisée is Nara's strongest case for French fine dining, with consecutive Michelin stars in 2024 and 2025 under Chef Benjamin Breton. At ¥¥¥ and with hard booking difficulty, it rewards advance planning — four to six weeks minimum. For food-focused travellers with a tasting menu format in mind, this is the first reservation to make in Nara.
La Terrasse irisée is the most compelling case for French fine dining in Nara, and booking a table is genuinely difficult. Chef Benjamin Breton has held a Michelin star consecutively in 2024 and 2025, which places this small restaurant in a competitive tier for the region — and demand reflects that. If you're planning a trip to Nara and serious about eating well, this should be your first reservation, not an afterthought. Book at least four to six weeks in advance, and expect limited flexibility on dates.
At the ¥¥¥ price point, La Terrasse irisée sits at the upper end of Nara's dining options, comparable to kaiseki venues like Wa Yamamura and the Spanish-influenced akordu. The Michelin recognition , sustained over two consecutive years , gives you a reliable signal that the kitchen is operating at a consistent level. A Google rating of 4.4 across 212 reviews adds further confidence: this isn't a venue coasting on a single good year.
La Terrasse irisée applies French tasting menu architecture to a Nara context, which is what makes it worth the effort over a more direct French restaurant. Chef Breton's approach draws on classical French technique, but the setting and local produce give the menu a progression that feels specific to this place. For food-focused travellers who want depth and context rather than spectacle, that positioning matters: you're not eating a Tokyo-style French menu transplanted to the provinces. The progression of a French tasting menu , from lighter, more acidic early courses through richer mid-sections to composed dessert work , is a format that rewards patience, and Breton's two-star run suggests he executes it with discipline.
Because specific dishes and current menu details are not confirmed in our database, we won't invent tasting notes here. What the awards data does tell you: two consecutive Michelin stars in Japan, one of the most rigorously audited markets in the world, means the kitchen is precise, consistent, and technically serious. Japan's Michelin inspectors assess French cuisine against a global standard, not a local one , so the star carries full weight. For comparison, HAJIME in Osaka and Gion Sasaki in Kyoto give you a sense of the broader Kansai fine-dining standard this restaurant is operating within.
If your priority is understanding the arc of a French tasting menu rather than collecting Michelin stops, La Terrasse irisée is a better choice than many better-known French restaurants in Japan's larger cities , precisely because the room is smaller, the experience more contained, and the focus is narrower. Smaller kitchens in second-tier cities often produce more personal, less performative tasting menus than their counterparts in Osaka or Tokyo. That's the case for venues like Goh in Fukuoka and it appears to apply here too.
Nara rewards visiting in spring (late March to early April) during cherry blossom season and in autumn (October to November) for the foliage around Nara Park. Both periods are high-traffic, which increases competition for tables at La Terrasse irisée. If you want the restaurant without the crowds, aim for early summer (June) or the quieter weeks of late September. Weeknight sittings will generally be easier to secure than weekend slots, and if you're travelling specifically for this meal, a Tuesday or Wednesday booking gives you the most flexibility. For broader context on eating in Nara during these periods, see our full Nara restaurants guide.
The restaurant is located at 1-chōme-34-7 Ayameikekita, Nara , a residential address in the northern part of the city. No phone number or website is confirmed in our current data, so your leading approach is to book through a concierge, a reservation platform covering Nara, or directly through the restaurant's social media presence. Hours are not confirmed; contact the restaurant to confirm current service times before planning around it. The price range is ¥¥¥, consistent with other Michelin-starred tasting menu venues in the Kansai region. Dress code is not formally documented, but a smart-casual standard is appropriate at this price point and recognition level in Japan.
For other French options at a lower price or booking difficulty in Nara, consider LA TRACE, FAON, A VOTRE SANTE, à plus, and Bon appétit Meshiagare. Each operates in the French tradition in Nara at varying price and formality levels. If you're expanding your trip to broader Kansai fine dining, Les Amis in Singapore and Hotel de Ville Crissier offer useful benchmarks for what classical French technique looks like at higher star counts. For planning the rest of your time in Nara, see our full Nara hotels guide, our full Nara bars guide, our full Nara wineries guide, and our full Nara experiences guide.
Quick reference: Michelin 1 Star (2024, 2025) · ¥¥¥ · French tasting menu · Nara, Ayameikekita · Book 4–6 weeks ahead minimum · Booking difficulty: Hard.
Four to six weeks minimum is the practical floor, and more during peak Nara travel periods , cherry blossom (late March to early April) and autumn foliage (October to November). Two consecutive Michelin stars at this price point create sustained demand in a small room. Weeknight slots are easier to secure than weekends. If you're visiting Nara for a fixed window, lock this in before you book transport or accommodation.
No confirmed booking or dietary policy data is in our records. Because this is a tasting menu format, dietary restrictions are leading communicated at the time of booking rather than on arrival , that's standard practice for French tasting menu kitchens globally. Contact the restaurant directly before your visit. Phone and website details are not currently confirmed; a concierge or reservation platform covering Nara is the most reliable booking channel.
The format here is a tasting menu, so ordering à la carte is unlikely to be an option. The kitchen, under Chef Benjamin Breton, follows French tasting menu structure , expect a multi-course progression rather than individual dish selection. Trust the menu as presented: the Michelin recognition is a signal that the kitchen's sequencing and balance are well-calibrated. Specific current dishes are not confirmed in our data, so we won't speculate on standout courses.
At ¥¥¥ with two consecutive Michelin stars and a 4.4 Google rating across 212 reviews, the value case is solid for a food-focused traveller. You're paying for a technically serious French tasting menu in a small, focused setting , not a large-room production. If tasting menu dining is your format and Nara is your destination, this is the highest-confidence option in the city. If you want more casual French at a lower price point, FAON or LA TRACE are worth considering instead.
For French cuisine in Nara at varying formality levels, LA TRACE, FAON, and A VOTRE SANTE are the closest comparisons. For Japanese fine dining at the same price tier, Wa Yamamura (kaiseki) and Araki (sushi) offer strong alternatives. akordu is worth considering if you want creative tasting menu work outside the French tradition. See our full Nara restaurants guide for a broader view.
Yes, for the right diner. Chef Benjamin Breton's back-to-back Michelin stars indicate a kitchen executing French tasting menu structure at a consistently high level , and Japan's Michelin standard is among the most demanding globally. If you want a multi-course French progression in a focused, smaller room rather than a high-volume production, this is a stronger bet than most alternatives at the same price point in Kansai. It's less suited to diners who find long tasting menus passive or who prefer à la carte flexibility. For a broader Kansai tasting menu comparison, see HAJIME in Osaka and 1000 in Yokohama.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Terrasse irisée | ¥¥¥ | Hard | — |
| akordu | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Wa Yamamura | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Araki | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Tama | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| NARA NIKON | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between La Terrasse irisée and alternatives.
Book as early as possible — weeks or months in advance is a reasonable baseline for a two-time Michelin-starred restaurant with no published website or phone number. Reservations likely go through a third-party booking platform or direct contact; confirm the current method before your trip. Walk-ins are almost certainly not viable given the demand and the restaurant's residential, low-profile address in northern Nara.
No specific dietary policy is documented for La Terrasse irisée. For a French tasting menu at this price range and Michelin level, communicating restrictions well in advance of your reservation is standard practice and generally expected. check the venue's official channels when booking to confirm what accommodations are possible.
La Terrasse irisée operates a French tasting menu format under Chef Benjamin Breton, so the menu is set rather than à la carte. The decision isn't what to order — it's whether the tasting menu format suits your group. If you prefer to choose individual dishes, a different restaurant will serve you better.
At ¥¥¥ pricing, La Terrasse irisée sits at the high end of Nara dining, and two consecutive Michelin stars (2024 and 2025) under Chef Benjamin Breton give that price range genuine backing. For a tasting menu experience in a city better known for temples than fine dining, this is the strongest case in the area. If you want French fine dining in Japan without traveling to Tokyo or Osaka, this justifies the spend.
Wa Yamamura is the clearest local alternative if you want Japanese-rooted fine dining rather than French. For French technique applied to Japanese ingredients at a higher intensity, Osaka or Kyoto offer more options within an hour by train. If booking La Terrasse irisée proves impossible, Tama offers a different register of Nara dining worth considering.
Yes, if French tasting menu format is a format you already know you enjoy. Two consecutive Michelin stars confirm consistent execution at the kitchen level, and the Nara setting gives the meal a context you won't replicate in Tokyo or Kyoto. If you're unsure about long tasting menus, this is not the place to find out — at ¥¥¥ pricing, the format should already suit you before you book.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
