Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan
Historic stew, honest price, book soon.
Negima holds a 2024 Michelin Bib Gourmand for one very specific reason: its negima-nabe, an Edo-period tuna and spring onion stew reconstructed from historical recipes and served in a Toshima basement at a ¥¥ price point that makes it one of Tokyo's most focused value-for-money dinners. Book 1–2 weeks ahead. Best for dates and special occasions where the story matters as much as the meal.
Picture a basement dining room in Toshima, a neighborhood most Tokyo visitors never reach, where a proprietress has spent years reconstructing a dish that predates the Meiji Restoration. The premise sounds academic. The reality earns a 2024 Michelin Bib Gourmand. Negima is worth booking, particularly if you are after something in Tokyo's dining scene that sits entirely outside the omakase-counter circuit and costs a fraction of what that circuit demands at the ¥¥ price point.
The centrepiece is negima-nabe: a tuna and spring onion stew with documented origins in the Edo period, when fatty toro was considered texturally excessive and the stew format was developed specifically to moderate it. What makes Negima's version historically grounded is the deliberate omission of kombu and mirin, both of which are standard in contemporary Japanese hot-pot cooking. Their absence is a deliberate act of fidelity to original recipes, not an oversight. The stew ends with pepper rice, fresh-cooked rice finished in the broth from the pot, seasoned with pepper. For diners accustomed to kaiseki progressions or multi-course tasting formats, this is a tighter, more focused meal — one dish, done with precision, finished with a bowl of rice that makes the whole thing feel complete rather than abrupt.
At the ¥¥ price tier, Negima sits well below the threshold of Tokyo's Michelin-starred dining, but the Bib Gourmand recognition matters here: it signals that the quality-to-price ratio has been verified by the same evaluators who award stars to [RyuGin](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/ryugin) and [Kagurazaka Ishikawa](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/kagurazaka-ishikawa-tokyo-restaurant). You are not trading down by choosing Negima — you are choosing a different category of experience at a price that does not require negotiation with your budget.
The service context here matters for your decision. Negima is proprietress-led, which in practice means the cooking philosophy and the front-of-house disposition come from the same person. That is a different dynamic from the brigade-service model you encounter at venues like [Azabu Kadowaki](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/azabu-kadowaki-tokyo-restaurant) or [Ginza Fukuju](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/ginza-fukuju-tokyo-restaurant). At those restaurants, the service infrastructure is built to anticipate and absorb every guest need before it is expressed. At Negima, the experience is more direct , the attention is genuine but the format is intimate rather than orchestrated. If you measure a meal's success by the precision and layering of formal service, you may find Negima understated. If you measure it by whether the food and the person serving it feel aligned, Negima earns its place.
Google reviewers rate it 4.6 from 59 reviews, a score that reflects consistent satisfaction from a relatively small number of guests , which also tells you something about the restaurant's size and pace. This is not a high-volume operation. The basement location in Kitaotsuka, Toshima City (address: 2 Chome-31-19 B1) reinforces that: you are going somewhere specific, with intention, not stumbling in after a nearby attraction.
Negima is the right choice for a dinner that feels grounded in something real , historically specific, price-honest, and free of the performance register that can make Tokyo's prestige dining feel like theatre. It works particularly well as a special occasion dinner for two people who want to eat something with a story without paying ¥¥¥¥ prices to do it. It is also a strong recommendation for visitors who have already covered the high-end tier on a longer Japan trip and want contrast: after [Gion Sasaki in Kyoto](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/gion-sasaki-kyoto-restaurant) or [HAJIME in Osaka](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/hajime-osaka-restaurant), a focused, historically-framed hot-pot dinner in a Toshima basement is the kind of counterpoint that stays with you.
It is less suited to large groups, given what the venue data implies about its size, and less suited to guests whose priority is wine pairing, extensive menu choice, or the kind of tableside theatrics that venues like [Jingumae Higuchi](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/jingumae-higuchi-tokyo-restaurant) or [Myojaku](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/myojaku-tokyo-restaurant) can provide.
For a broader picture of where Negima fits in the city's dining options, see our full Tokyo restaurants guide. If you are planning a full itinerary around this trip, our Tokyo hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the rest of the city at the same level of practical detail. Elsewhere in Japan, Isshisoden Nakamura in Kyoto, Kashiwaya Osaka Senriyama in Osaka, akordu in Nara, Goh in Fukuoka, 1000 in Yokohama, and 6 in Okinawa are worth knowing about depending on your itinerary.
Within the Edo-period and traditional Japanese nabe format, direct alternatives are scarce , this is a narrow niche. For accessible Michelin-recognised Japanese dining at the ¥¥ tier, Myojaku is worth considering. If you are open to moving up a price tier for a broader kaiseki experience, Kagurazaka Ishikawa and Azabu Kadowaki both operate at ¥¥¥¥ and offer a more expansive multi-course format. See our full Tokyo restaurants guide for a wider comparison.
Yes, with one qualification: this is not a chandelier-and-white-tablecloth special occasion. It is the right choice if the occasion calls for something genuinely memorable and historically grounded rather than visually grand. The Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition gives it credibility as a serious dinner, and the focused format , one central dish, completed with pepper rice , makes the meal feel intentional rather than scattered. For a date or a low-key anniversary at the ¥¥ price point, it over-delivers. For a business dinner where formality and service polish are the priority, look instead at Ginza Fukuju or Jingumae Higuchi.
The menu is built around a single centrepiece dish: negima-nabe with tuna and spring onion. This is not a flexible à la carte format where substitutions are routine. Pescatarians will find the menu naturally suited to them, but guests with fish allergies, shellfish restrictions, or plant-based requirements should contact the venue directly before booking. No phone or website is publicly listed in the available data, so approach via your hotel concierge or a third-party reservation platform for confirmation.
One to two weeks ahead is a reasonable target for most travel dates. Negima is a small, basement-format venue with limited covers, and the 2024 Bib Gourmand recognition will have expanded its visibility to international visitors. That said, this is not in the same booking-difficulty tier as Tokyo's starred restaurants, where waits of one to three months are standard. Book as soon as your travel dates are confirmed , the downside risk of waiting is real given the seat count, but there is no evidence this requires the kind of advance planning that venues like Azabu Kadowaki demand.
Negima's format is not a conventional multi-course tasting menu , the meal is structured around negima-nabe as the centrepiece, finishing with pepper rice cooked in the pot's broth. At the ¥¥ price point, the value case is clear: you are eating a Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognised dish prepared according to historical Edo-period recipes, with the kind of singular focus that most tasting menus attempt to build across a dozen courses. If you want breadth and progression, look at kaiseki formats like Kagurazaka Ishikawa. If you want depth on a specific dish done with precision, Negima justifies the visit.
The basement location and intimate format suggest this is not built for large groups. Parties of two to four are likely the practical ceiling for a comfortable booking. No seat count is publicly available in the current data, but the venue's neighbourhood positioning and proprietress-led operation point to a small room. If you are organising a group of six or more, contact the venue in advance , and have a backup option ready. For larger group dining in Tokyo at a comparable price point, our Tokyo restaurants guide lists venues with confirmed private dining capacity.
Negima sits in a category of its own for historically reconstructed Edo-era cooking at ¥¥ pricing with a Michelin Bib Gourmand credential. If you want more contemporary Japanese cuisine at a higher price point, RyuGin or Harutaka are better fits. For French-influenced Tokyo fine dining, L'Effervescence or HOMMAGE are the stronger options. None of them deliver this specific dish format.
Yes, but calibrate expectations: the occasion here is intimacy and historical specificity, not ceremony. The proprietress-led format and Bib Gourmand-recognised negima-nabe make it a strong choice for a dinner with meaning, particularly for guests who would find prestige-theatre exhausting. It does not suit celebrations that require tableside spectacle or extended tasting progression.
The core of the meal is negima-nabe, a tuna and spring onion stew built around a specific historical recipe that uses neither kombu nor mirin, finishing with pepper rice cooked in the broth. The dish is structurally inflexible by design. Anyone with fish allergies or strict dietary requirements should check the venue's official channels before booking, as substitutions would compromise the format.
The venue is a basement dining room in Toshima with limited covers, and it holds a 2024 Michelin Bib Gourmand, which meaningfully increases demand. Book at minimum two to three weeks out; for weekend evenings, push that to a month. No website or phone number is publicly listed in current records, so reservation access may be through third-party platforms or direct contact once sourced.
Negima's format centres on negima-nabe as the main event, closing with pepper rice seasoned in the pot's broth, rather than a conventional multi-course tasting progression. At ¥¥ pricing with a Bib Gourmand recognition, the value case is strong if you are specifically interested in Edo-era cooking. If you want a broad showcase of modern Japanese technique, this is not the format to choose.
Negima is a small basement restaurant in Toshima, and the proprietress-led, historically focused format suggests limited capacity. Groups larger than four should confirm availability and seating directly before assuming a booking is feasible. Larger private group dinners would be better handled at venues with dedicated private dining infrastructure.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
