Tabelog ratingKotowari o Hakaru Mise Bando is a counter restaurant built around precise heat. The chef cooks in a custom hearth oven named Hinokagutsuchi and a carbon-graphite rice pot. The craft shows in the details: pike conger (hamo) has its bones pulled out one by one instead of being scored. The signature dish is uni kishimen, Nagoya's flat noodle, cut fresh from local Gamagori flour and topped with sea urchin. The restaurant won a Tabelog Award Bronze in both 2025 and 2026.
Nearly every review praises the uni kishimen and the closing donabe rice. It comes three ways: first plain, then with a topping such as abalone liver or ayu sweetfish, and finally as dashi chazuke (rice in broth). A clear, deep dashi runs through the meal. A firm house pudding, eaten with silver and shell spoons, is a fixture. Several reviewers call the non-alcoholic pairing unmatched elsewhere. It includes rare teas, ice-drip gyokuro and clarified tomato soda.
Criticism is minor and mostly about price. One newcomer found the ingredients not especially luxurious for the cost, though the amount of work impressed them. One first-timer felt noticeably less warmly received than the regulars.
Reviewers around 2026 paid ¥33,000 for the dinner omakase, which includes the uni kishimen and the donabe rice. The full drinks pairing added ¥11,000. The lunch course for new guests was ¥18,000, with a non-alcoholic or half-alcoholic pairing at ¥3,500. One lunch with beer and pairing came to ¥26,000. Individual drinks cost ¥800–900. Expect roughly ¥18,000–26,000 at lunch and ¥30,000–40,000 at dinner. An ¥8,000 'secret lunch' is reserved for regulars.
The value is good if you prize labour-intensive, inventive cooking. Diners chasing premium ingredients may find ¥33,000 steep.
- Booking: reservation only, at least one day in advance, and no walk-ins. The listing says the restaurant is introduction-only. Reviewers report it partly opened to new guests in 2026, so check the current booking route on its reservation site.
- Relocation: reviewers report the previous Imaike site closed on 31 October 2026 and a new one opened on 22 November. Confirm the current address before you go.
- Getting there: the listing gives a 2-minute walk from Exit 2 or 3 of Imaike Station (Higashiyama and Sakuradori subway lines). It is about 15 minutes by taxi from JR Nagoya Station.
- Payment: VISA, Mastercard, JCB, AMEX and Diners are accepted. PayPay is not.
- Seating: 8 counter seats and no private rooms. The whole restaurant can be booked for up to 20 people.
- Smoking: non-smoking.
- Parking: none; use a nearby paid lot.
- Language: no information on English menus or English-speaking staff.
