Restaurant in Osaka, Japan
Three Michelin stars. Book months ahead.
Kashiwaya Senriyama is Osaka's most consistently decorated kaiseki restaurant: three Michelin stars, Tabelog Top 100 recognition since 2021, and a 4.08 score. Chef Hideaki Matsuo's menu follows the traditional twenty-four-season cycle, meaning the experience is genuinely different across visits. Budget JPY 20,000–30,000 per person; book two to three months out minimum.
If you are planning a serious kaiseki meal in the Osaka-Kansai region and want a restaurant with documented, sustained excellence rather than hype, Kashiwaya Senriyama is the booking to make. This is the right choice for food and travel enthusiasts who want three-Michelin-star kaiseki in a traditional house setting, at prices that sit a tier below equivalent restaurants in central Tokyo. It is particularly well-suited to business dinners, small group celebrations, and anyone willing to make the short journey outside central Osaka for a more considered, unhurried meal. If you want something walkable from Namba or Shinsaibashi, look elsewhere. If you want to understand what Osaka's kaiseki tradition actually delivers at its highest level, book here.
Kashiwaya Senriyama holds three Michelin stars (2025), a 2026 Tabelog Bronze Award with a score of 4.08, and has been named to the Tabelog Japanese Cuisine WEST "Top 100" in 2021, 2023, and 2025. La Liste rates it at 92 points (2026), and Opinionated About Dining ranked it #155 among Japan's leading restaurants in 2025. That is a consistent body of third-party recognition spanning nearly a decade of Tabelog Bronze wins dating back to 2018. Very few kaiseki restaurants outside Kyoto carry a record this deep and this consistent.
The setting reinforces the commitment. The restaurant operates as a house restaurant in Senriyamanishi, Suita, a residential area north of Osaka's central wards, reached in about five minutes by car from Senriyama Station on the Hankyu Kita-Senri Line, or ten minutes on foot from Kandai-mae Station. The building is designed in traditional sukiya-zukuri style, the architecture associated with tea culture and refined hospitality. Inside, the 40-seat space includes tatami rooms, sunken seating, and private rooms for parties ranging from two to thirty people, with full private venue hire available for groups up to fifty. This is not a compact counter experience. The rooms are spacious, the pace is slow by design, and the environment signals that the meal will take time.
Chef Hideaki Matsuo structures the cuisine around the traditional Japanese cycle of twenty-four seasons, meaning the menu moves in finer increments than the standard four-season rotation used by most kaiseki restaurants. Each visit reflects a specific seasonal moment rather than a broad seasonal theme. This matters practically: if you are visiting Osaka across different months or years, the experience at Kashiwaya will be materially different each time. Spring visits will reflect the transition from late winter restraint to the lighter preparations of early growth; autumn brings the richer, more pronounced flavours associated with harvest. Timing your visit to a specific micro-season, if your travel schedule allows flexibility, is worth considering. Matsuo has also represented Osaka food culture at Expo 2025, and the restaurant accepts international trainees, which speaks to its institutional seriousness within the Japanese culinary world.
The drink program is taken seriously. The team is particular about sake, shochu, and wine, and a sommelier is on-site. For a kaiseki meal of this calibre, allowing the sommelier to guide sake pairings course by course is the more rewarding approach than ordering à la carte from the drinks list.
Logistics: lunch last entry is 13:00, dinner last entry is 19:30. The restaurant is closed Sundays and public holidays (confirm the current schedule directly, as closure dates are not fixed). Reservations are required and the venue notes that preparation begins only once a booking is confirmed, so last-minute attempts are unlikely to succeed. Budget JPY 10,000–14,999 for lunch at the listed rate, JPY 15,000–19,999 for dinner, though review-based averages suggest actual spend is closer to JPY 20,000–29,999 per person including drinks and the 10% service charge. Credit cards are accepted (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex). Limited parking for two cars is available on-site. Dress code: avoid overly casual clothing. Children under junior high school age (12 and above) are accepted for standard reservations; younger children may only attend on designated daytime "child acceptance days."
For other high-level Japanese dining in the Osaka area, Miyamoto, Oimatsu Hisano, Tenjimbashi Aoki, Yugen, and Ajikitcho Bumbuan are all worth knowing. Beyond Osaka, comparable kaiseki experiences can be found at Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, and for Japanese fine dining outside the Kansai region, Harutaka in Tokyo, Myojaku, and Azabu Kadowaki are strong reference points. For regional Japanese restaurants further afield, see akordu in Nara, Goh in Fukuoka, 1000 in Yokohama, and 6 in Okinawa. Explore the full city coverage in our full Osaka restaurants guide, and plan the rest of your trip with our full Osaka hotels guide, our full Osaka bars guide, our full Osaka wineries guide, and our full Osaka experiences guide.
Getting a reservation here is close to impossible without significant lead time. The combination of three Michelin stars, a decade of Tabelog recognition, and a 40-seat maximum means availability is tight year-round. Book at minimum two to three months out for dinner; for specific dates during peak travel seasons (cherry blossom in late March to early April, autumn foliage in November), extend that to four months or more. The restaurant is reservation-only and does not accept walk-ins. Contact details: phone +81-6-6386-2234; website jp-kashiwaya.com. Note that international guests may find phone reservations difficult without Japanese language support. Budget for a total evening spend of JPY 20,000–30,000 per person including drinks and service charge.
This is a reservation-only kaiseki restaurant in a residential area outside central Osaka, not a casual drop-in option. The format is a set multi-course meal structured around the traditional twenty-four-season cycle. Budget JPY 20,000–30,000 per person including drinks and the 10% service charge. Arrive knowing the meal will take two hours or more. The setting is formal enough to warrant smart clothing, and the pace is unhurried by design. It is consistently rated among Japan's leading Japanese cuisine restaurants by Tabelog, Michelin, La Liste, and Opinionated About Dining.
Book two to three months ahead as a minimum for dinner on a standard date. For peak travel periods in Osaka, particularly late March to early April and November, push that to four months or more. The restaurant is reservation-only and holds three Michelin stars alongside consistent Tabelog Top 100 recognition, making it one of the harder bookings in western Japan. Call +81-6-6386-2234 or book via jp-kashiwaya.com. If you are booking from overseas without Japanese language support, consider using a concierge or specialist booking service.
Lunch is the better value entry point. Listed prices are JPY 10,000–14,999 for lunch versus JPY 15,000–19,999 for dinner, though both skew higher in practice. The kaiseki format and seasonal menu apply at both services, so the culinary experience is comparable. Lunch last entry is 13:00, which means you need to arrive by midday to get the full course. For a first visit, lunch lets you assess whether the restaurant warrants a return dinner booking. Dinner is the right choice if atmosphere matters: evening kaiseki in a sukiya-zukuri house setting is materially different from a daytime meal.
The menu is a set kaiseki course structured around the current micro-season in the traditional twenty-four-season Japanese calendar. There is no à la carte ordering. The specific dishes change with the season, so what is served depends entirely on when you visit. The drink program is taken seriously, with a particular focus on sake, shochu, and wine, and a sommelier is available. Asking the sommelier for a sake pairing through the meal is the recommended approach rather than ordering individual drinks.
The reservation notes explicitly state that if you have requests or specific preferences, you should communicate them at the time of booking. For dietary restrictions in a kaiseki format of this calibre, advance notice is both expected and necessary. The kitchen prepares courses based on confirmed guest information, so waiting until arrival to flag restrictions is not advisable. Contact the restaurant directly when booking: +81-6-6386-2234 or via jp-kashiwaya.com.
There is no bar counter format at Kashiwaya. The restaurant operates in a traditional house setting with table seating, tatami rooms, sunken seating, and private rooms. The experience is a seated kaiseki course, not a bar-style or counter meal. If you want a counter-format Japanese dining experience in Osaka, a sushi counter such as Sushi Harasho would be a better fit.
The dress code states: avoid overly casual clothing. At a three-Michelin-star restaurant with a formal kaiseki format and private dining rooms, smart casual at minimum is expected. For dinner, smart-to-formal is appropriate. Trainers, shorts, and casual sportswear are not suitable. If you are eating here as part of a business occasion (which Tabelog specifically flags as a recommended use case), standard business attire is fine.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Kashiwaya Osaka Senriyama | ¥¥¥ | — |
| HAJIME | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| La Cime | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Taian | ¥¥¥ | — |
| Fujiya 1935 | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Sushi Harasho | ¥¥¥ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Kashiwaya Osaka Senriyama and alternatives.
check the venue's official channels at the time of booking — Kashiwaya explicitly asks guests to communicate requests or preferences when making a reservation. Given the kaiseki format, which is a set sequence built around seasonal ingredients, any restrictions need to be flagged well in advance rather than at the door. Call +81-6-6386-2234 or reach out via jp-kashiwaya.com.
This is a reservation-only kaiseki restaurant holding 3 Michelin stars, a Tabelog score of 4.08, and consecutive Bronze Awards from 2018 through 2026 — so the format is set-course, not à la carte. The setting is a house restaurant with tatami rooms and sunken seating, which means the experience is unhurried and formal. Budget for dinner landing closer to ¥20,000–¥29,999 per head once drinks and the 10% service charge are included, based on actual reviewer spending data.
Lunch is the better entry point if budget is a consideration: listed pricing starts at ¥10,000–¥14,999 versus ¥15,000–¥19,999 for dinner, though actual spend at both sessions tends to run higher based on review data. Last lunch entry is 13:00 and last dinner entry is 19:30, giving you a full, unhurried sitting at either service. For a first visit, lunch lets you assess the kitchen without committing to the higher dinner spend.
Book at least two to three months out, and further if you have a fixed travel date. Kashiwaya has held 3 Michelin stars continuously through 2025, appeared in the Tabelog Japanese Cuisine WEST Top 100 in 2021, 2023, and 2025, and is ranked in both La Liste and Opinionated About Dining — the reservation pressure that combination generates is real. Contact the restaurant via jp-kashiwaya.com or call +81-6-6386-2234; walk-in access is not available.
Kashiwaya is kaiseki-only, so there is no à la carte ordering — the kitchen builds the menu around the traditional cycle of twenty-four seasons, with chef Hideaki Matsuo's concept rooted in expressing Japanese cultural and seasonal themes through each course. Communicate preferences and dietary needs at booking, not on the day.
No bar seating is listed for Kashiwaya Senriyama. The venue is a 40-seat house restaurant with tatami rooms, sunken seating, and private rooms ranging from 2 to 30 guests — the format is sit-down kaiseki in a traditional room setting, not counter or casual dining. If counter-style kaiseki is your preference, a restaurant like Taian offers a different format.
The venue asks guests to refrain from overly casual clothing — so trainers, shorts, and streetwear are out. For a 3-Michelin-star kaiseki house with tatami and private rooms, smart dress is appropriate: think neat trousers and a collared shirt or equivalent for men, and considered occasion wear for women. Avoid very formal Western dress that would be impractical on tatami or sunken seating.
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