Restaurant in Osaka, Japan
Osaka chakaiseki with a Michelin star. Book early.
A Michelin-starred, Tabelog Award Bronze-winning chakaiseki counter in Osaka's Fushimimachi district, with a tea house setting and a menu that draws on the city's merchant and medicinal history. Dinner runs JPY 40,000–49,999 per head; weekend lunch is available from JPY 20,000–29,999. Reservation-only with hard booking difficulty — plan well ahead and request the counter.
This is the right booking for a serious food traveller who wants to understand Osaka through chakaiseki rather than through a tasting menu that could have been served anywhere in Japan. If you are planning a meal to mark an occasion, to host a business counterpart, or to sit at a counter and watch a chef draw dashi from vegetable offcuts with genuine care, Fushimimachi Kakoiyama is worth the effort. It is not the right call if you are after a modern Franco-Japanese hybrid, a casual lunch, or a walk-in dinner. At JPY 40,000–49,999 per head at dinner, every element of the visit needs to be deliberate.
Fushimimachi Kakoiyama operates from a 15-seat room classified as a house restaurant, and the counter seating is the correct way to experience it. At this price point and with this format, the counter is not a compromise for diners who could not secure a private room; it is the preferred position. You are watching the chef work, which in a chakaiseki context means you are watching someone execute a form of cooking that treats restraint as rigour. The chef pours tea at the counter directly. That detail matters: tea ceremony discipline informs the pacing and the ethos of the meal here, and experiencing it from the counter rather than from behind a private room partition puts you inside that logic rather than adjacent to it.
The room itself is designed to read like a tea house. There is a gate, a garden path, and a waiting area before you reach the dining space. What you see on arrival sets the register for the rest of the evening. This is not incidental atmosphere — the visual transition from Fushimimachi's business district streets into the property is part of the meal's architecture. For the explorer who wants context, not just food, this is a more coherent experience than most restaurants at this price tier in Osaka.
Private rooms are available and can accommodate the full 15-seat capacity for private use. If you are booking for a group that needs exclusivity — a corporate dinner, a meaningful celebration , the venue supports that, but the room-within-a-room format means you will be separated from the counter. For solo diners or pairs, request the counter.
The menu positions itself within the chakaiseki tradition, which is tea ceremony cuisine , lighter than kaiseki in structure, governed by seasonality and the spirit of hospitality associated with the tea ceremony. What distinguishes Kakoiyama's version is an Osaka inflection: sembajiru, a wharf soup in which dashi is drawn from vegetable offcuts, is the kind of dish that tells you something specific about this city's relationship with ingredients and its merchant history. Chinese medicinal drinks served alongside waka poetry are a reference to Osaka's past as a centre of pharmaceutical wholesaling. The menu is not merely seasonal; it is trying to make a point about place.
The Tabelog score of 4.09 and the 2026 Bronze Award, combined with a Michelin star (2024), position this kitchen in a small group of Osaka Japanese restaurants where the food justifies the price. Tabelog Bronze at that score level in Osaka is a meaningful signal , the platform's reviewer base is demanding and local. A 4.7 Google rating across 19 reviews is a thin sample but consistent in direction. This is not a venue coasting on a single accolade.
Lunch is available on weekends at JPY 20,000–29,999, which is the more accessible entry point if dinner feels steep. Weekday dinner service runs from 18:00, with a second seating from 20:45. Weekend lunch starts from 12:00, with an evening service from 18:00. Closed days are not fixed, so confirm directly before you travel.
Fushimimachi Kakoiyama opened on 1 April 2022 and operates on a reservation-only basis. Bookings at this level of difficulty require advance planning: in practical terms, this is a hard booking, and you should treat it as such. Kitahama Station is approximately 285 metres away, making it accessible from central Osaka without a car. Parking is unavailable on-site. The restaurant is non-smoking throughout. Credit cards are accepted (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners). Electronic money and QR code payments are not accepted.
The venue is not suitable for children below middle school age; the policy specifies that younger guests cannot be accommodated. Dress expectations are not formally published, but the format, price point, and tea house setting make smart-casual a minimum. See the FAQ below for more detail on dress.
For a wider picture of where Kakoiyama fits among Osaka's leading tables, see our full Osaka restaurants guide. For comparisons with comparable Japanese cuisine restaurants in Osaka, Kashiwaya Osaka Senriyama, Miyamoto, Oimatsu Hisano, Tenjimbashi Aoki, and Yugen are all worth considering depending on your priorities. If you are building an itinerary across the Kansai region, Gion Sasaki in Kyoto and akordu in Nara are natural partners. For context on Japanese counter dining in Tokyo, Myojaku and Azabu Kadowaki operate in a comparable register.
Quick reference: Reservation-only | Dinner JPY 40,000–49,999 / Weekend lunch JPY 20,000–29,999 | 15 seats | Counter + private rooms | Kitahama, 285m | Credit cards accepted | No parking | Middle school and above only
See the comparison section below.
Yes, and it is the recommended way to experience the restaurant. The 15-seat room includes counter seating, and sitting there puts you in direct view of the chef's work, including the tea pouring that is central to the chakaiseki format. If you are dining as a pair or solo, request the counter when booking. Private rooms are available for groups who need exclusivity, but you lose the counter experience in that configuration. For a single visit, the counter is the better choice.
No dress code is formally stated, but the context makes the answer direct. This is a Michelin-starred, Tabelog Award-winning house restaurant with a tea ceremony aesthetic, dinner prices around JPY 40,000–49,999 per head, and a setting designed to evoke a traditional Japanese tea house. Smart-casual is a baseline minimum. Business attire or a formal Japanese-appropriate outfit is appropriate and will match the room. Avoid casual or sportswear. In Osaka's top-tier dining scene, even venues without a published dress code expect guests to match the register of the room.
Yes, with caveats. The restaurant has 15 seats total and is available for full private hire, so a group of up to 15 can book the entire venue exclusively. Private rooms within the restaurant are also available for smaller parties. Given that this is a reservation-only venue with a hard booking difficulty, groups should plan further ahead than individual diners, and should contact the restaurant directly via phone (+81-6-6228-3007) to discuss options. Note that the venue does not accept guests below middle school age.
The format is a set course , you are not ordering à la carte. The chakaiseki menu is determined by the kitchen and changes with the season, so the specific dishes on any given evening are not something to plan around in advance. What you can expect, based on the venue's published identity, is a course structured around seasonal ingredients, dashi-forward cooking that draws from Osaka's culinary traditions, sembajiru wharf soup, and medicinal herbal drinks served with waka poetry. The chef pours tea as part of the service. There is no meaningful decision to make at the table beyond trusting the course. For a venue running at this price and accolade level, that trust is warranted.
This is not confirmed in available data, and given the set-course chakaiseki format, dietary restrictions should be raised at the time of booking rather than on arrival. Contact the restaurant directly at +81-6-6228-3007 or via the website at kakoiyama.jp before your reservation to discuss any requirements. Chakaiseki menus are typically built around specific ingredients and sequences, and substitutions at a 15-seat counter-driven restaurant may be limited. Do not leave this conversation until the day of your visit.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fushimimachi Kakoiyama | Japanese | {"Year":"2026","Award Source":"Tabelog","Award Type":"The Tabelog Award","Award Group":"bronze","Award Group Rank":"156","Restaurant Name":"Fushimi Cho Kakoi Yama","Score":"4.09","Budget":"Dinner: JPY 40,000 - JPY 49,999; Lunch: JPY 20,000 - JPY 29,999","Budget Dinner":"JPY 40,000 - JPY 49,999","Budget Lunch":"JPY 20,000 - JPY 29,999","Price":"JPY 40,000 - JPY 49,999 JPY 20,000 - JPY 29,999","Average Price":"JPY 40,000 - JPY 49,999 JPY 20,000 - JPY 29,999","Average Price (Based on reviews)":"JPY 40,000 - JPY 49,999 JPY 20,000 - JPY 29,999 View spending breakdown","Featured Item":"N/A","Full Address (with ZIP)":"大阪府大阪市中央区伏見町2-4-12, 5410044, Japan","Address":"大阪府大阪市中央区伏見町2-4-12","Postal Code":"5410044","City":"Fushimimachi Chuo-ku Osaka Osaka","State":"Osaka","Country":"Japan","Phone":"+81662283007","Phone Raw":"+81-6-6228-3007","Website":"","Description":"Check out Fushimi Cho Kakoi Yama (Kitahama/Japanese Cuisine) on Tabelog! Immerse yourself in a serene Japanese space that embodies the spirit of tea ceremony, while enjoying dishes that evoke the charm of traditional seasonal landscapes. 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Chinese medicinal drinks served with waka poetry bring to mind the Kinki region’s history as a centre of medicinal wholesaling. Also telling a tale is the menu, whose chakaiseki offerings incorporate Osaka touches. Sembajiru wharf soup, with dashi drawn from vegetable offcuts, conveys respect for ingredients; tea poured by the chef soothes the soul. This is fare that conveys the richness of Japanese culture.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Hard | — |
| HAJIME | French, Innovative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| La Cime | French | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Kashiwaya Osaka Senriyama | Japanese | Michelin 3 Star | Unknown | — |
| Taian | Kaiseki, Japanese | Michelin 3 Star | Unknown | — |
| Fujiya 1935 | Innovative | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Fushimimachi Kakoiyama and alternatives.
Counter seating is available and is the recommended way to experience the restaurant. With only 15 seats total and a reservation-only policy, you cannot simply walk in and sit at the counter — a booking is required regardless of seating preference. check the venue's official channels at 06-6228-3007 or via kakoiyama.jp to secure a spot.
No dress code is listed in the venue's official information, but the setting — a house restaurant with a tea-house aesthetic, Michelin 1-star recognition, and dinner prices running ¥40,000–¥49,999 — sets a clear expectation. Smart, understated dress is the sensible call. Avoid overly casual clothing; this is not the format for it.
Private rooms are available and the venue can be reserved for private use in its entirety, which makes it workable for small groups or special occasions. The total capacity is 15 seats, so large parties are not a practical fit. Children below middle school age are not admitted; all guests must be able to participate in the same adult course.
The format is a set course — chakaiseki — so there is no à la carte ordering. The menu draws on Osaka culinary traditions within a tea ceremony cuisine structure, and the course is the same for all diners. Lunch runs ¥20,000–¥29,999 and is the lower-commitment entry point if you want to assess the kitchen before committing to a ¥40,000–¥49,999 dinner.
No specific dietary accommodation policy is listed in the venue's published information. Given the fixed-course chakaiseki format and a 15-seat counter operation, flexibility on dietary restrictions is not guaranteed — contact the restaurant at 06-6228-3007 or through kakoiyama.jp well in advance of your booking to discuss requirements directly.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
