Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan
OAD-ranked French; easier to book than its peers.
Restaurant Ararat is a French kitchen in Toranomon, Tokyo, led by chef Genta Matsumoto and ranked on the Opinionated About Dining Japan list in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Booking is relatively accessible compared to Tokyo's most competitive French tables. A smart choice for food-focused visitors who want OAD-credentialed French dining without the months-ahead reservation scramble.
Yes, with context. Restaurant Ararat is a French kitchen in Toranomon, Minato City, led by chef Genta Matsumoto, and it has earned consecutive recognition on the Opinionated About Dining list of leading restaurants in Japan — ranked #315 in 2024 and #353 in 2025, following a Highly Recommended citation in 2023. That three-year track record of OAD recognition tells you this is a restaurant that serious food travellers take seriously, even if it sits outside the immediate orbit of Tokyo's most-booked French names. If you are visiting Tokyo for depth in the French genre specifically, Ararat belongs on your shortlist. If you want the safest, most-decorated French bet in the city, L'Effervescence or Sézanne will deliver more immediately legible prestige.
The restaurant sits at 1 Chome-2-15 Toranomon, inside a building in one of Tokyo's most concentrated business and hotel districts. Toranomon's character is corporate by day, which means French restaurants here tend to serve a clientele that knows what it is doing — business lunches that double as serious eating occasions, and evening services that draw diners who live or work nearby. For the food-focused explorer, this neighbourhood context matters: you are unlikely to be surrounded by tourists working through a, and the room tends toward diners who are there for the food itself.
Chef Matsumoto's French kitchen has been consistent enough over three years of OAD scrutiny to hold ranked status, which is a meaningful credential in a city where the competition at this level is relentless. The cuisine type is French, and while the database does not carry specific dish descriptions or menu detail that would be fair to report here, the OAD recognition over 2023, 2024, and 2025 is a signal of sustained kitchen quality rather than a single strong year. For the explorer planning a multi-stop itinerary across Japan, Ararat fits naturally alongside restaurants like HAJIME in Osaka or Gion Sasaki in Kyoto as part of a broader sweep of serious, chef-led dining.
Hours are not confirmed in current data, so it is worth contacting the restaurant directly to establish whether lunch service , the closest equivalent to a brunch or morning format at a French kitchen of this type , is available and on what days. In Tokyo's French dining scene, lunch is often the smarter entry point: it typically delivers the same kitchen at a lower price point than dinner. Restaurants at Ararat's OAD ranking level frequently offer a lunch menu that represents the clearest value in their format. Confirm availability before visiting, particularly if your schedule is built around a weekend slot.
Reservations: Booking is rated Easy by Pearl , this is not a restaurant where you need to plan months in advance, but given the OAD credentials, confirming a table at least a week or two ahead is sensible, especially for weekend lunch. Dress: No formal dress code is recorded, but a French kitchen of this standing in a Toranomon business district context will suit smart-casual at minimum , treat it as you would any serious French restaurant dinner. Budget: Price range is not confirmed in current data; contact the restaurant directly or check for current menu pricing before visiting. Location: Toranomon YS Building 1F, 1 Chome-2-15 Toranomon, Minato City, Tokyo. The Toranomon Hills area is well-served by Tokyo Metro.
For French dining alternatives in Tokyo, ESqUISSE, Florilège, and Château Restaurant Joël Robuchon each offer distinct approaches at different price points. If you are building out a wider Japan itinerary, consider akordu in Nara, Goh in Fukuoka, 1000 in Yokohama, or 6 in Okinawa. Pearl's full Tokyo restaurants guide covers the complete picture, and you can also browse our Tokyo hotels guide, Tokyo bars guide, Tokyo wineries guide, and Tokyo experiences guide to complete your trip. If the French format is what you are tracking internationally, Les Amis in Singapore and Hotel de Ville Crissier in Crissier are reference points for how the genre performs at the leading of the Asia-Pacific and European tiers.
Pearl rates booking difficulty as Easy, so you are not competing for a table months in advance. That said, Ararat's three consecutive years on the Opinionated About Dining Japan list mean it draws diners who plan deliberately. Aim for one to two weeks ahead for a weekday dinner, and slightly further out if you want a specific weekend slot. Walk-in availability is plausible on quieter weekday lunches, but confirm directly given the business-district setting.
No formal dress code is on record, but a French kitchen of this calibre in Toranomon's corporate environment warrants smart-casual at minimum. Think of it the way you would any serious French dinner in Tokyo: neat, considered, and not overly casual. You will not be turned away in clean contemporary clothes, but a jacket for dinner fits the room and the genre.
Specific dish data is not available, so it would not be fair to name dishes here. What the OAD recognition across 2023, 2024, and 2025 does tell you is that the kitchen has been consistent enough to hold ranked status through repeated critical scrutiny. At a French restaurant of this standing in Tokyo, a set menu or chef's selection is usually the format that leading represents the kitchen's current thinking. Ask the staff on arrival what the kitchen is leading with that day.
Seat count is not confirmed in current data. French restaurants in Tokyo at this level tend to be compact, which can make larger group bookings , six or more , worth confirming directly before assuming availability. For groups, contact the restaurant ahead of time to establish whether a private dining arrangement is possible. Smaller groups of two to four are the natural fit for most chef-led French rooms of this type in Tokyo.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed for Ararat. French kitchens in Tokyo at this tier sometimes offer counter seating that provides a closer view of the kitchen, but this varies by room layout. If counter or bar dining is important to you, confirm directly when booking. For a French experience in Tokyo where counter access is more established, Florilège is worth considering as an alternative.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant Ararat | — | |
| Harutaka | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| RyuGin | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| L'Effervescence | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| HOMMAGE | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Florilège | ¥¥¥ | — |
Comparing your options in Tokyo for this tier.
Book at least one to two weeks out. Pearl rates the reservation as Easy, which puts it well below the multi-month wait you'd face at Florilège or L'Effervescence, but the OAD Top 353 ranking for 2025 means demand is real. Confirm directly with the restaurant, as hours and availability are not published online.
Toranomon is one of Tokyo's core business and hotel districts, and Restaurant Ararat sits inside an office building on that strip, which points toward neat, business-casual dress as a safe baseline. French restaurants in this bracket in Tokyo generally don't enforce strict dress codes, but turning up in casual sportswear would be out of step with the room. When in doubt, dress as you would for a serious French lunch in a city-centre setting.
Specific menu details are not available in current data, so check the venue's official channels for the current format. What is confirmed: chef Genta Matsumoto leads a French kitchen that has held OAD recognition since 2023 and improved its ranking each year since, which suggests a kitchen with consistent direction rather than a rotating concept.
Group capacity is not confirmed in available data, so call or email ahead if you're booking for more than four. The restaurant is housed in a ground-floor space in a Toranomon office building, which typically means a compact dining room — plan accordingly if you're organising a larger party.
Bar seating is not documented for Restaurant Ararat, and given the French format and Toranomon office-building setting, a counter or bar option would be the exception rather than the rule here. check the venue's official channels to ask about seating configurations before assuming walk-in or bar access is possible.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
