NéMo

Verdict

NéMo earns its Michelin star through a clear, disciplined idea: seafood sourced with intention, cooked without waste, served in a prix fixe format that gives the kitchen the control it needs to execute well. If you are looking for a French restaurant in Tokyo where the sourcing story is the meal, this is one of the most coherent options in the city at the ¥¥¥ price point. Book it for a special occasion or a serious dinner with someone who cares about where food comes from. If you want broader luxury or a more theatrical room, L'Effervescence or Château Restaurant Joël Robuchon will serve you better, though both sit at a higher price tier.

Portrait

NéMo is a basement-level French restaurant in Minami-Aoyama, one of Tokyo's more composed neighbourhoods for serious dining. The name and the cooking both trace back to Chef Kenichi Nemoto, who grew up fishing and has built a menu around that early relationship with the sea. That biographical thread is not decoration; it shapes every practical decision the kitchen makes, from which fishermen supply the restaurant to how preparation styles rotate to avoid repetition: frites, soups, butter roasting, other techniques cycle through the prix fixe so that seafood reads as a range rather than a single note.

The sourcing relationship with the fishermen of Shimoda is the clearest signal of how NéMo positions itself. Shimoda, on the Izu Peninsula south of Tokyo, produces fish that chefs across the city compete to access. The difference at NéMo is that the relationship is described as a bond of trust built over time, which in practice means the kitchen gets consistent access to quality product rather than whatever is available at market. For a diner, this matters because it reduces variability. You are not hoping the fish is good tonight; the supply chain is structured to make it good consistently.

The no-waste philosophy ties directly to the sourcing ethic. When a kitchen commits to using whole animals and treating mountain and sea ingredients with respect for their provenance, it tends to produce more technically considered cooking; stocks made from shells and bones, preparations that extract flavour rather than discard it. This is not a stylistic flourish. It is what makes the prix fixe feel complete rather than arbitrary. Each course exists because something from the previous one made it possible.

At ¥¥¥, NéMo sits below Tokyo's most expensive French addresses. For context, L'Effervescence and Florilège both operate in comparable French territory, with Florilège sharing the ¥¥¥ tier. NéMo's Michelin star (2024) means the quality credential is in place, but the price does not yet carry the premium of the city's heavier-spending French rooms. That gap is part of the value argument, you are getting starred-level cooking without paying for the room, the cellar depth, or the service theatre that pushes competitors to ¥¥¥¥.

The address, B1, 6 Chome, Minamiaoyama, puts the restaurant below street level, which is common for serious Tokyo dining rooms and tends to produce quieter, more focused spaces. Without confirmed seat counts, it is not possible to say exactly how intimate the room is, but a basement French restaurant in Aoyama built around a single chef's philosophy is unlikely to be a large, loud operation. Plan for a focused, course-driven meal rather than a flexible, drop-in experience.

If you have been to NéMo once and are weighing a return, the prix fixe format with rotating preparation styles is the structural reason to go back. The menu is not static, the sourcing relationships with Shimoda fishermen mean the specific fish on the menu will reflect what is genuinely available and in season rather than a fixed list. A second visit in a different season is likely to produce a meaningfully different meal. Compare that to ESqUISSE or Sézanne, where the kitchen's range covers more of the French canon, NéMo's focus is narrower but, within that focus, more consistent.

For Tokyo French dining beyond the capital, the same sourcing-led philosophy appears at HAJIME in Osaka and ingredient-driven precision can be found at akordu in Nara. Internationally, Les Amis in Singapore and Hotel de Ville Crissier operate in the same French fine dining register, though at different price tiers and with different sourcing contexts. Michelin: 1 Star (2024).

Booking

Booking at NéMo is hard. Michelin-starred basement French restaurants in Minami-Aoyama with a devoted regular base do not have open tables most weeks. Book as far in advance as you can, expect demand to outpace availability, particularly for weekend evenings. Phone and website details are not publicly listed, so your most reliable route is through a concierge, a reservation platform that covers Tokyo (Tableall and Omakase are both worth checking), or a hotel concierge if you are staying somewhere with strong local connections. Do not assume walk-in availability.

Practical

NéMo is located at B1, 6 Chome-15-4 Minamiaoyama, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0062. The restaurant is below street level in Minami-Aoyama, a neighbourhood well served by the Tokyo metro (Omotesando Station is the closest major hub). The menu format is prix fixe, so arrive ready for a multi-course meal rather than à la carte flexibility. Preparation styles rotate across the menu, so the specific dishes will vary by visit and season. Dress expectations are not formally confirmed, but a Michelin-starred French restaurant in Aoyama warrants smart dress as a minimum.

Quick reference: Michelin 1 Star (2024) · ¥¥¥ · Prix fixe · Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo · Booking: hard, reserve well in advance.

How It Compares

See below.

More to Explore

• Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, for ingredient-led Japanese fine dining outside Tokyo
• Goh in Fukuoka, creative fine dining in a different regional key
• 1000 in Yokohama, day-trip fine dining from Tokyo
• 6 in Okinawa, seafood-forward fine dining in a different Japanese context
• Our full Tokyo wineries guide