Kurogi

Iron Chef was the quintessential ’90s Japanese cooking show in which the best chefs in Japan competed to win TV’s most prestigious culinary crown of the day. In 2012 the show was revived for a special series, and one Jun Kurogi came out on top as the show’s master of Japanese cuisine. The champ is still battle-ready eight years later, running a traditional kappo restaurant in Shibakoen, Tokyo which is a consistent contender for the best in the city. In front of a rack of fiercely sharp knives, he cooks up food which focuses on drawing the hidden depths out of the ingredients by using the perfect technique for each. Expect some unusual ingredients such as boiled turtle egg, as well as innovative, seasonal spins on traditional kappo cuisine. Reservations open around a month prior for each quarterly period (meaning that at 11:30 on May 29th, reservations open for July to September). Be quick though, most dinner slots will fill up within just a few hours of going live — such is the reputation of this famous-faced chef. Though the TV series on which Kurogi-san made his name is no longer on air, inside his marvelous restaurant, the show most certainly goes on.