Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan
Bib Gourmand Italian worth the detour.
Sugahara is a Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognised Italian restaurant in Sumida City, Tokyo, delivering credentialed cooking at a ¥¥ price point that few central-Tokyo Italian venues match. Chef Keizo Shimamoto holds back-to-back Bib Gourmand awards (2024, 2025). It rewards food-focused travellers willing to travel east for value-driven quality over convenience.
Picture a second-floor room in Kotobashi, Sumida City, far enough from Tokyo's tourist circuits that the only people who find it are the ones who went looking. Sugahara is a Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognised Italian restaurant run by chef Keizo Shimamoto, and it earns that recognition on the basis of value: you get credentialed, considered Italian cooking at a ¥¥ price point that its central Tokyo counterparts rarely match. If you are a food-focused traveller willing to take the subway east of Asakusa, this is one of the more rewarding decisions you can make on a Tokyo trip.
Sugahara sits on the second floor of a building in Kotobashi 2-chome, a residential and light-commercial stretch of Sumida City that sees almost no foot traffic from tourists. The Bib Gourmand from Michelin, awarded in both 2024 and 2025, is a specific signal worth reading correctly: it denotes good cooking at a price that represents exceptional value, not a consolation prize for restaurants that missed a star. For Italian food in Tokyo, that framing matters. The city has a deep Italian dining culture, but the majority of its most talked-about Italian restaurants sit in the ¥¥¥ to ¥¥¥¥ tier. Sugahara holds its Bib Gourmand at ¥¥, which is the argument for going.
Chef Keizo Shimamoto leads the kitchen. Beyond that fact, the venue record does not provide biographical detail, and Pearl does not speculate on training or personal history. What the Michelin recognition does confirm is that the food meets a verifiable standard, sustained across two consecutive years. A 4.4 Google rating across 67 reviews adds further signal, though the sample size is small enough that a handful of outlier reviews could move that number meaningfully in either direction.
Sugahara's editorial angle here is worth addressing directly for anyone planning a weekend visit. Italian restaurants in Tokyo at the ¥¥ level occasionally run weekend lunch services that deliver the same kitchen output as dinner at a lower spend per head. Whether Sugahara operates a lunch service is not confirmed in the available data, and Pearl will not invent hours or format. What is confirmed: if you are planning a daytime or weekend visit, contact the restaurant directly to verify service times before making the trip to Sumida. The neighbourhood warrants a visit on its own terms — the area near Kotobashi is walkable from Kinshicho station and sits within reach of the Sumida River waterfront — but building your day around a meal that isn't running is a poor outcome. Verify first.
Tokyo's Italian restaurant category is deeper than most visitors expect. At the leading end, you have places like Aroma Fresca and PRISMA, both operating at price tiers that place them in direct competition with the city's leading French and Japanese fine dining. Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura Tokyo adds a high-concept, brand-affiliated entry at the luxury tier. Principio and AlCeppo represent different Italian registers in the city's middle and upper-middle band. Sugahara's position is distinct: two consecutive Bib Gourmand awards at ¥¥ means it is operating at a level most ¥¥¥ restaurants in the same category aspire to, and doing so in a location that requires deliberate intent to visit. That combination , credential plus value plus low tourist overlap , is precisely what makes it interesting for a food-focused traveller.
For broader context on Italian cooking that crosses Japan's regional boundaries, cenci in Kyoto offers a Kyoto-inflected Italian perspective worth comparing, and 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong is the regional reference point for Italian at the three-Michelin-star level if you want to benchmark how far the category can stretch in Asia.
Reservations: Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means walk-in attempts are more viable here than at heavily competed destinations, though verifying availability in advance remains sensible given the small venue footprint implied by its second-floor location. Budget: ¥¥ price range , one of the most accessible price points among Bib Gourmand-recognised Italian restaurants in Tokyo. Getting there: Kotobashi 2-chome, Sumida City; closest major station is Kinshicho on the JR Sobu Line and Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line, or Kikukawa on the Toei Shinjuku Line. Dress: No dress code is confirmed in the data; given the neighbourhood and price tier, smart casual is a reasonable assumption. Contact: Phone and website are not available in the current record , use Google Maps or a Japanese reservation platform to confirm hours and availability before visiting. Group size: Seat count is not confirmed; given the second-floor room and small review sample, this reads as a compact venue where large groups should enquire specifically before assuming availability.
Book Sugahara if you are a food traveller who measures a good Tokyo day by the ratio of quality-to-spend and is willing to go where the credential takes you rather than where the crowds already are. The Sumida location is not a drawback if you have already visited the obvious central-Tokyo Italian options and want something with a verifiable standard at a price that makes two courses and a glass of wine feel proportionate. Skip it if proximity to central Tokyo neighbourhoods is a hard requirement, or if you need confirmed hours and a bookable website before committing to a journey. For everyone else planning a serious eating trip through Japan, Sugahara sits alongside stops like HAJIME in Osaka, Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, and akordu in Nara as the kind of find that makes an itinerary feel genuinely researched rather than assembled from a generic list.
See our full Tokyo restaurants guide, Tokyo hotels guide, Tokyo bars guide, Tokyo wineries guide, and Tokyo experiences guide for broader trip planning. If you are extending your Japan itinerary, Goh in Fukuoka, 1000 in Yokohama, and 6 in Okinawa each offer credentialed dining worth building a stop around.
The venue record doesn't confirm a dedicated bar counter, and the second-floor format in a small Kotobashi building suggests limited seating configurations overall. check the venue's official channels before assuming bar seating is available. For solo counter dining with a confirmed bar setup, Harutaka or a higher-format Tokyo Italian would be a safer bet.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which makes Sugahara more approachable than most Michelin-recognised Tokyo restaurants. A few days to a week of lead time should be sufficient for most visits, though weekends may fill faster. The Bib Gourmand recognition in both 2024 and 2025 has raised its profile, so don't assume a same-day walk-in is guaranteed.
No dietary policy is documented in the venue record. Italian cooking at the ¥¥ level in Tokyo typically involves pasta, meat, and dairy-based preparations, which can be limiting for strict dietary requirements. Confirm directly with the restaurant before booking if you have specific needs.
Sugahara is a second-floor Italian in Kotobashi, Sumida City — a neighbourhood that sees almost no tourist footfall, so plan your route in advance. It holds Michelin Bib Gourmand in both 2024 and 2025 at a ¥¥ price point, which is the core draw: credentialled cooking without the outlay of Tokyo's top-end Italian tier. Factor in travel time from central Tokyo; this is a deliberate destination, not a walk-past find.
Specific menu items are not documented in the venue record, so ordering recommendations would be speculation. The Bib Gourmand designation signals that the kitchen delivers value-driven cooking rather than prestige-priced tasting menus. Ask staff for the day's recommendations on arrival.
Group capacity is not confirmed in the venue data, and the small second-floor room in Kotobashi suggests seating is limited. For groups of four or more, verify availability before booking and consider whether the format suits a group meal. Larger parties needing a private room would be better served at a higher-capacity Tokyo Italian.
Yes — the Easy booking rating and ¥¥ price point make it a low-friction solo option, and Italian formats at this level tend to accommodate single diners without issue. The Sumida City location also means you won't be competing with large tourist groups for a table. If a confirmed counter seat matters to you, check seating options when you book.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
