Restaurant in Nara, Japan
Serious fusion dinner, easy to book.
Tama brings an Okinawan-French kitchen to Nara's Kashihara district, earning consecutive Michelin Plate recognition and a rising OAD casual Japan ranking (up from #63 in 2023 to #90 in 2025). Chef Fumihiro Tamayose's dinner-only format — open until 1 am six nights a week — suits food-focused groups and solo diners seeking something well outside Nara's traditional kaiseki register.
Tama is the right call if you want a serious dinner in Nara that doesn't follow a conventional Japanese format. Chef Fumihiro Tamayose fuses Okinawan ingredients and technique with French cooking principles, and the result has earned consecutive recognition from both Michelin (Plate, 2024 and 2025) and Opinionated About Dining, which ranked Tama #63 in Japan for casual dining in 2023 before climbing to #80 in 2024 and #90 in 2025. For a food-focused traveller spending a night or two in Nara, this is a dinner worth planning your evening around. If you want a more traditional kaiseki experience, book Wa Yamamura instead. Tama's strength is its distinctiveness, not its orthodoxy.
Tama operates out of Kashihara, a quieter pocket of Nara Prefecture, at an address that signals neighbourhood restaurant rather than destination dining room. The room itself is the first thing that sets expectations correctly: this is not a grand formal space. It reads more like a considered, intimate bar-restaurant where the cooking takes centre stage over ceremony. For guests arriving from the Nara city core or from nearby Kyoto, the location requires a deliberate commitment — which, in practice, filters the room toward people who are there specifically for the food.
The cuisine pairing of Okinawan and French is not as unusual as it might sound once you understand what it means in practice. Okinawa's food culture draws on distinct local ingredients , bitter vegetables, pork preparations, and coastal seafood traditions , that sit at a remove from mainland Japanese cooking. French technique applied to those ingredients produces something that is neither fusion novelty nor straight imports from either tradition. For the explorer-oriented diner, this is exactly the kind of cooking that rewards attention and justifies a detour.
Chef Tamayose's track record across three consecutive years of OAD ranking and two years of Michelin recognition gives the kitchen credible standing without requiring you to take the word of press release alone. OAD rankings in particular are driven by votes from frequent diners rather than anonymous inspectors, which means the #90 casual Japan ranking in 2025 reflects repeat visits from people who eat widely. That kind of sustained recognition over three years is a more reliable signal than a single award spike.
The dinner-only format , open six evenings a week from 6 pm through 1 am, closed Sundays , positions Tama firmly as a late-night serious option rather than a quick bite. The 1 am close is meaningful: this is a place where the evening can extend, and the format likely supports that. For groups looking for a meal that flows into conversation and further drinks, Tama's hours give you room to settle in without feeling rushed toward a last-order deadline at 9:30 pm. Comparable dinner-format restaurants in Japan at this price tier often close much earlier.
On price, the ¥¥¥ designation puts Tama in a mid-to-upper tier for Nara, which by national standards remains more accessible than Tokyo or Kyoto comparably ranked venues. If you have eaten at places like HAJIME in Osaka or Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, Tama will feel like a more casual register at a lower price point. That is not a criticism , it is a useful calibration. The cooking here earns its recognition within a casual, neighbourhood-rooted format. It is not positioning itself against multi-course kaiseki temples.
For solo diners, Tama's bar-restaurant setup likely works well. A late-evening counter seat at a place like this, with a kitchen doing something this specific, is a good format for eating alone with intent. Compare this to more formal dining rooms in Nara where a solo booking can feel less comfortable , the Tama format should accommodate it naturally, though booking ahead remains advisable given the small Google review count (79 reviews at 4.3) suggests a compact, not cavernous, space.
A note on the Okinawan-French combination for first-timers: if your frame of reference for Okinawan food is limited, this is actually an advantage rather than a barrier. You are not being tested on knowledge of a cuisine you may not know well. Tamayose's approach gives you entry points through French technique while adding Okinawan character. Think of it as a kitchen that explains itself through the food. For visitors who have been working through Japan's regional cooking traditions , spending time with restaurants like 6 in Okinawa or broader regional menus , Tama offers an interesting counterpoint that connects Okinawan ingredients to a European structural framework.
The private or group dining angle at Tama is less documented than its main room, given the database does not confirm a dedicated private space. What the format does support is small group dinners in an intimate room , the kind of evening where a party of four or five can claim a table and stay for several hours. The late closing time, the casual-serious tone, and the kitchen's distinctiveness make this a stronger choice for a group dinner than most formal kaiseki rooms in the prefecture, where the format is more tightly choreographed and the social dynamics of a long group evening can feel constrained. If you are organising dinner for a food-literate group visiting Nara, this is the booking that will generate the most conversation.
For broader Nara dining context, browse our full Nara restaurants guide, and check our Nara hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide to build out your stay. Other Nara restaurants worth considering alongside Tama include Oryori Hanagaki, Tsukumo, and Ajinokaze Nishimura.
Hours: Monday–Saturday 6 pm–1 am; closed Sunday. Reservations: Booking difficulty is rated Easy , call or walk in, though advance booking is sensible given the likely compact room size. Budget: ¥¥¥ (mid-to-upper casual tier for Nara). Dress: No confirmed dress code; smart casual is a safe default for a Michelin-recognised room at this price tier. Location: 4 Chome-5-14 Imaicho, Kashihara, Nara , allow travel time from central Nara.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tama | Okinawan, French | ¥¥¥ | Opinionated About Dining Casual in Japan Ranked #90 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Japan Ranked #80 (2024); Michelin Plate (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Japan Ranked #63 (2023) | Easy | — |
| akordu | Spanish, Innovative | ¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Wa Yamamura | Kaiseki, Japanese | ¥¥¥ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Araki | Sushi, Japanese | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — | |
| NARA NIKON | Japanese | ¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko | Chinese | ¥¥¥ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Nara for this tier.
Yes, with caveats. The Michelin Plate and three consecutive OAD Casual Japan rankings (including #63 in 2023) give Tama real credibility for a celebratory dinner, and the late closing time of 1 am means the evening doesn't have to end abruptly. The Kashihara address is a neighbourhood setting rather than a grand dining room, so if spectacle is part of your occasion, calibrate expectations accordingly. For a dinner focused on serious cooking over atmosphere, Tama delivers.
At the ¥¥¥ price tier, Tama sits in the mid-to-upper range for Nara, and the Okinawan-French format from Chef Fumihiro Tamayose is unusual enough to justify the spend if that combination interests you. For straightforward Japanese kaiseki at a similar price, Wa Yamamura is the stronger call. Tama earns its price through distinctiveness rather than tradition.
Tama only opens for dinner, Monday through Saturday from 6 pm, and the kitchen runs until 1 am. The cuisine is Okinawan-French, a combination you won't encounter often in Nara Prefecture. Booking is rated easy, but calling ahead is sensible given the neighbourhood scale of the venue. The Kashihara address places it outside central Nara, so factor in travel time.
Booking difficulty at Tama is rated easy, which makes it low-stress to arrange as a solo visit, and neighbourhood-format restaurants of this type typically suit solo diners at the counter or smaller tables. The late hours also make it practical for a relaxed solo dinner without feeling rushed. Nothing in the venue profile suggests it skews toward large groups.
Dinner is the only option. Tama opens at 6 pm daily (closed Sundays) and does not serve lunch. If you need a midday meal in Nara, you'll need to look elsewhere.
The venue data doesn't specify a dress code, and Tama's OAD classification as a Casual restaurant suggests the setting is relaxed rather than formal. A neat, put-together outfit is sensible at the ¥¥¥ price point, but there's no indication that a jacket is required.
For Japanese-focused cooking in Nara, Wa Yamamura and Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko are the most direct alternatives. NARA NIKON is worth considering if you want something closer to central Nara. Tama's Okinawan-French angle has no direct equivalent in the local comparison set, so if that specific combination is the draw, there isn't a like-for-like substitute.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
