Asakusa Hirayama

For Chef Hirayama Shu to receive a spot on the Michelin Guide was almost a given. Abandoning a budding career in architecture to work part-time in a New York soba restaurant, he then returned to Tokyo to begin training at the Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded Edosoba Hosokawa. He then became the soba specialist at Ginza Koju, a two-Michelin-starred kaiseki establishment famous for kick-starting the careers of many of Tokyo’s finest chefs. And to no-one’s surprise, just two years after opening, he was rewarded with his own Michelin Bib Gourmand award in 2022. What is surprising, however, is that many come to Asakusa Hirayama not for the soba, though it is clearly Chef Hirayama’s specialty. It too is excellent, of course, but word of the soba-mae — appetizers and small plates meant to whet the appetite before the actual noodles — has spread like wildfire throughout Tokyo. Chef Hirayama draws on his involvement crafting Ginza Koju’s legendary kaiseki dishes to make some of the finest soba-mae that Tokyo has to offer. He puts his own personal touches on tried-and-true soba-mae offerings; for instance, while most kakiage (chopped and fried tempura fritters) are made from the rich, robust kuruma-ebi (Japanese tiger prawn), Chef Hirayama opts instead to use white shrimp, with a splash of sudachi citrus to cut through the oil and batter. The menu is already extensive, but yet it grows by the day, with more and more guests clamoring to try his unorthodox menu offerings. Cod milt tempura and conger eel mille-feuille are just the beginning. “I can’t help it,” says Chef Hirayama with a laugh. “I just want to make so many things.” Michelin Guide: 2022 - Bib Gourmand