Tabelog ratingPoa Jie (ポアジェ) is a twelve-seat bistro furnished with antiques. A chef runs it with his wife; he cooks alone, and she looks after the room. The kitchen is built around fish landed in Kamakura. Everything is prix fixe. A chalkboard on a wagon is wheeled to the table, and each diner assembles a course from six or seven choices per stage. The same menu is served at lunch and dinner. The restaurant was selected for Tabelog's French EAST Tabelog 100 in 2023 and 2025.
The signature dish is amadai uroko-yaki: red tilefish roasted with its scales left on until they crisp, served with a white-miso cream sauce. It is by far the most praised plate, and reviewers call it moving, even genius. Other recurring favourites include:
- a carpaccio of seasonal local fish, such as sawara (Spanish mackerel) or young amberjack, with neatly lined-up local vegetables
- a cream potage topped with sautéed red prawn
- a moist pâté de campagne
- desserts good enough that one diner ordered a second
The plating draws compliments, bread is refilled at no charge, and the couple suggest wines to match.
Not everything lands. Two recent reviewers found the chef and his wife cold or irritable, and one of them also disliked a pork main and a dessert. Supplements on many dishes push the bill up. A few diners thought the prawn in the soup was unnecessary, and one found the cooking too conventional.
On prices, reviewers in 2025–2026 paid around ¥3,900, ¥4,500 or ¥4,900 for the three lunch courses and ¥5,400 for dinner course A. Typical supplements were the tilefish at +¥1,900, kinmedai (golden-eye snapper) at +¥1,100, sea bream at +¥500–600 and wagyu at +¥1,900. With supplements and a drink, most people spend ¥6,000–8,000 at lunch or dinner. One couple paid ¥22,000 for dinner with a bottle of wine in 2022.
Value comes up again and again. Reviewers say cooking of this standard at this price is remarkable, and one likened it to a bug in the system. Portions are generous, and the total stays moderate even with supplements.
- Getting there: 8 minutes' walk from JR Kamakura Station (East Exit), on Komachi-oji.
- Booking: essential, especially at weekends. Walk-ins are unlikely to find a seat. Phone 0467-25-2258.
- Payment: credit cards (JCB, AMEX, Diners) and PayPay are accepted; electronic money is not. Reviewers report conflicting experiences: cash only in 2024, and PayPay as the only cashless option at lunch in 2026. Bring cash.
- Seating: 12 seats, including counter seating. There are no private rooms, but the restaurant can be booked for private use.
- Smoking: non-smoking.
- Parking: none; there are coin car parks nearby.
- Language: no English menu; dishes are written in Japanese on the chalkboard.
- Pace: the chef cooks alone, so allow plenty of time.
