13 Michelin Restaurants in Kyoto (2024 Updated Guide)

From the second you step off the plane and into the land of Japan, Kyoto is probably on your to-do list — especially if you’re following our 3-day Kyoto itinerary or our 7-day Japan itinerary for first-time visitors. 

Not only does Kyoto retain so much of its history and traditional beauty from its days as Japan’s capital, with over 1,600 temples to show for it, but this city also has a thriving culture of food for all occasions and tastes.

You can discover restaurants, cafes, and stalls with all the must-try traditional Japanese foods, but you didn’t think it stopped there, did you? Much like Kyoto’s eye-catching kimonos, glorious geisha, and gold leaf-coated Kinkaku-ji Temple, this city isn’t afraid to take things up a notch, boasting a wide variety of Michelin star restaurants often crossing boundaries of flavor, expertise, and even country. So, let’s take you on a journey through the best Michelin-starred restaurants in Kyoto.

There are many Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo and Kyoto, but you can expect slightly different experiences. Tokyo establishments sometimes focus on international cuisines, whereas Michelin-starred restaurants in Kyoto tend to serve traditional Japanese cuisine. In Kyoto, you can expect a more casual atmosphere that will tingle all of your senses; in Tokyo, restaurants are more formal, perhaps better suited for special occasions and anniversaries. For modern and innovative menus, Tokyo is the place to go. For traditional techniques and strictly Japanese ingredients, head to Kyoto.

Tozentei, a Michelin-starred, family-run kaiseki restaurant in Kyoto, brings fiction to life with its exquisite Kyoto cuisine. Inspired by Professor Aoki Masaru’s stories, Chef Watanabe Toshiro crafts traditional dishes like the signature steamed horsehead tilefish in pickled plum and powdered kelp broth. Nestled near Kinkaku-ji Temple, Tozentei offers a serene dining experience filled with the finest seasonal ingredients and warm hospitality.

Gion Fukushi, nestled in Kyoto's historic geisha district, offers Michelin-starred Kyoto-style kaiseki crafted by Chef Fukushi Takuyoshi. Using organic, pesticide-free vegetables and fresh local seafood, the restaurant elevates simple ingredients with refined techniques. Guests can experience an intimate eight-seat counter where each dish, from delicate ayu to fugu sashimi, is presented with seasonal elegance. The serene, sukiya-style setting enhances the traditional culinary journey.

This unassuming restaurant has one Michelin star and serves traditional Japanese cuisine featuring fresh seafood. Funaokayama Shimizu is known for its sashimi platters and grilled fish dishes. Sit back, relax, and awe at skilled chefs preparing every dish before your eyes. Expect to spend between ¥5,000 and ¥15,000 for a meal here, but the experience? It's priceless.

Honke Tankuma Honten is run by Kumasaburo Kurisu, known as “The God of Cookery” and a real pioneer when it comes to traditional Kyoto kappo cuisine — referring to the way the dishes will be prepared right in front of you, often while the chef explains what they’re doing and what you can expect from each dish.

Step into this Kyoto-style traditional house with private tatami rooms and indulge in authentic Kyoto cuisine that changes with the seasons. What hasn’t changed is the techniques used to bring out the delicate flavors, with Kumasaburo’s skills passed down from chef to chef throughout generations of Japanese cooking.

Vegetarian, kosher, and halal-friendly menus: Kumasaburo has been to over 70 countries, expanding his knowledge and understanding of international food culture. From these experiences, he’s also crafted vegetarian, kosher, and halal menus.

Kyoboshi is a third-generation Michelin star tempura restaurant with a few secrets behind their success, including a secret eggless batter, salts, and oil blends.

Clearly, the experts at the Michelin Guide saw this same potential, putting their seal of approval on Kyoboshi’s tempura omakase menu. Featuring a mix of vegetable and seafood tempura in their gentle, eggless batter — and paired with only salt and lemon as seasoning — the ingredients' freshness and flavors will shine. Expect a tantalizing tempura set-course offering that will take you on a delicious journey through around 18 courses of light, crispy morsels. 

Vegetarian tempura tip: If you have dietary restrictions or allergies, let the chef know at the time of booking so that he can prepare a somewhat personalized menu for you.

Kyou Seika is the culmination of Miyamoto Shizuo’s time at the Chinese Cooking Academy, honing his passion and skill for classic Chinese cuisine. So, if you’ve been searching for Michelin star Chinese food in Kyoto, it’s back on the menu!

Boasting a tempting 12-course meal that changes with each season, you’ll always find new surprises alongside a selection of your favorite Chinese classics, from spring rolls and omi beef to duck. For that authentic, relaxing experience, you’ll also enjoy a cup of freshly brewed oolong tea with your meal, leaving you feeling satisfied and ready to explore more of Kyoto’s must-see sights.

Reine des Pres may be known for its specialty in slow-cooking cuisine, but this is one Michelin star French restaurant near Kyoto’s Imperial Palace that you should be rushing to. 

Imagine it — while you’re catching the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, or taking snaps of the sights and temples of this historic city, your meal has likely been slow-cooking the entire time, soaking up the juices and flavors that make these dishes worthy of their Michelin star. 

Chef Nakahara Fumitaka trained in the Michelin star restaurants of Paris, and now he’s brought his mastery of texture, taste, and timings to Kyoto, where he’s created a fusion of lighter French food with a Japanese twist — including flounder with clams and a tender roast chicken breast. You’ve never tried anything like this before.

Moments from one of Kyoto’s most eye-catching spots, the Heian Shrine, Cenci is the Michelin star Italian restaurant that’s tempting you to take a detour for one of the most luxurious dining experiences in Kyoto.

While the dishes are unmistakably Italian in inspiration — with the likes of clam chowder with cauliflower and mussels, charcoal-grilled duck, and a cabbage and oyster risotto on offer — their creation and presentation is undeniably Japanese, drawing on local, seasonal ingredients. Buon appetito!

Kappo and kaiseki cuisine are as common as stunning temples and shrines in the city of Kyoto, but not many places can offer award-winning traditional Japanese food quite like Gion Sasaki. With 3 Michelin stars, this 19-seat restaurant is understandably difficult to get into, but when you do, you’ll discover a delicious and dynamic dining experience that’s well worth the wait.

You may be handed a brush to paint soy sauce onto your sushi platter or be served conger eel in a small shrine, all while the restaurant’s signature stone charcoal oven creates unique, smoky dishes before your very eyes.

Passed down through six generations of the Nakamura family, Nakamura Motokazu is the latest chef-owner of Nakamura, a world of its own in the traditional art of kaiseki cuisine. With 3 Michelin stars to its name, each dish is as thoughtful as the restaurant’s concept, based on the beauty and fleeting nature of the transience of life.

You’ll be served a selection of dishes that exude grace and centuries of culture, with modern interpretations of many traditional Japanese dishes, from fried tilefish dressed in sake to white miso rice soup with mustard. 

If Kyoto’s elegance could be refined into one dining experience, this would be it.

Muromachi Wakuden is a traditional kaiseki restaurant set in one of Kyoto’s traditional townhouse-style buildings — called “machiya” — and it gets its acclaimed Michelin Green Star as a result of its own dedicated farm, where they produce all of the rice used in their dishes. Talk about an eco-friendly claim to fame!

Not only that, but they also have a courtyard garden and a spacious dining area with a large hexagonal counter made of chestnut wood. It’s here that you’ll watch in awe as Chef Matsumoto Shinya materializes your dishes from fresh, local ingredients into fully-formed seasonal delicacies like wagyu beef shabu-shabu, grilled abalone, conger eel wrapped in matsutake mushrooms, and the winter-exclusive snow crab.

If you’re looking for award-winning Japanese cooking in the mountains of Kyoto, Nakahigashi Hisato’s Miyamasou is where you should be heading — and we’d recommend starting your journey now since it’ll take over 2 hours from Kyoto Station.

Even so, this is sustainable dining worth traveling for, offering world-class kaiseki cuisine in spacious tatami-floored rooms that look out into the wild forests of north Kyoto’s mountains. In fact, if you stay the night at this ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) or arrive early in the day, you may even see the apprentice chefs carving pieces of chestnut wood into the very chopsticks you’ll use later that evening to enjoy dishes like carp sashimi and salt-baked bamboo shoots.

Sushi Rakumi is all about serving up sensational seafood, from its irresistible appetizers to its Edomae sushi, and the views from the second floor are equally special during spring with blooming cherry blossom trees.

Take a seat at the counter and prepare for the delights of their grilled saltwater eel and three premium cuts of melt-in-your-mouth tuna, all gently laid on a bed of red vinegar rice. This is Kyoto sushi like no other.

Of the 440 Kyoto and Osaka-based restaurants that were recommended in 2024, 138 were selected, 90 of which were new.

Awarded Michelin stars in Kyoto included:

• Kikunoi Honten (Three Michelin Stars)
• Hyotei (Three Michelin Stars)
• Tenjaku (One Michelin Star)
• Tokuha Motonari (One Michelin Star)
• Doppo (One Michelin Star)
• Nijo Minami (One Michelin Star)
• Muromachi Yui (One Michelin Star)
• MASHIRO (One Michelin Star)
• MOKO (One Michelin Star)
• Anpeiji (One Michelin Star)
• Mizuno (One Michelin Star)
• La Buche (One Michelin Star)
• Shigetsu (Michelin Green Star)
• Sake To Sakana DNA (Michelin Bib Gourmand)
• Muromachi Kaji (Michelin Bib Gourmand)
• NOODLE SHOP RENNOSUKE (Michelin Bib Gourmand)
• Sonoba (Michelin Bib Gourmand)

Green Michelin Stars are relatively new and were only introduced in the 2021 Michelin Guide. These awards are given to restaurants that put serious effort into maintaining sustainable practices, such as buying — or even growing — local and seasonal ingredients and building relationships with eco-conscious suppliers, farmers, and fishermen.

You can send reservation requests to Michelin restaurants in Kyoto on sites like byFood. Let our team find a table at one of the ancient capital's most prestigious.

As you may expect, restaurants recommended in any section of the Michelin Guide are very sought-after. We recommend booking as early as possible and being flexible with your dining date and time if there's a restaurant you really want to check off your bucket list. 

Craving more information on Kyoto’s food scene and culture? Discover our guide to the most affordable Kyoto Michelin restaurants, hop onto one of Kyoto’s best food tours, or try your hand in the kitchen with our best Kyoto cooking classes. Or, if you’re heading to the nearby city of Osaka and still feel like wining and dining yourself, read through our guide for the best Michelin restaurants in Osaka.