La Bettola da Ochiai

For such a distinguished restaurant — a regular fixture on the Michelin Guide, among its many accolades — La Bettola da Ochiai has a dubious reputation among Japanese foodies. The reason? It is notoriously difficult to secure a reservation. Many gourmet review publications and magazines have famously dubbed it “the hardest restaurant to reserve in Japan”. Whether this is true or not, there are good reasons for its popularity. La Bettola da Ochiai is the passion project of the man whom many consider the grandfather of Italian cuisine in Japan, Chef Ochiai Tsutomu. Even though the restaurant now has five branches throughout the country, the tables in its original Ginza branch — and also the one most frequently featured in the Michelin Guide — remain the most fervently vied for. For the past 27 years and counting, La Bettola de Ochiai’s kitchen has been under the expert supervision of Chef Narita Naoki, a longtime friend and colleague of Chef Ochiai, who served alongside the legend himself at Akasaka Granata, Tokyo’s first ever Italian restaurant. Chef Narita and his staff continue to whip up authentic favorites like rigatoni with red wine-stewed beef cheek, or pork cutlet with rucola and tomato. Seafood options are also wildly popular, with daily specials and carpaccio selling out fast. With Michelin quality at Bib Gourmand prices, it’s no wonder as to why. Michelin Guide: 2019 - Bib Gourmand