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Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko

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Summary
Restaurant Details
Location
Location
Cuisine
Chinese
Average cost
Lunch: $105.46 - $140.62
Dinner: $105.46 - $140.62

Miyamoto Kazuyuki holds lessons on sustainability with farm-to-table dim sums and Sichuan-meets-Cantonese flair.

Restaurant Details

It’s impossible to imagine Nara’s dining scene without top-contender Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko, which swings between a double-starred Michelin restaurant and a part-time farm. This couple-run eatery is a lesson in sustainability that walks the talk. In the morning, the owner-chef Miyamoto Kazuyuki harvests “yamato yasai” — Nara’s high-quality greens — and Chinese root vegetables from the restaurant garden, located in the mountainous area close to Naramachi. Produce picked on the day is churned into beautiful, fun-flavored Cantonese and Sichuan dishes with fine-dining finesse.


Appetizers arrive in stunning porcelain mamezara with teasings of Japan-grown ingredients, which might include Yamato chicken, bonito tossed with douchi sauce, spiced-up conger eel and green beans with Chinese pickles. Miyamoto’s cooking relies on fermented seasoning and punchy Sichuan sauces — 72 seasonings sit in his kitchen — but his culinary ethos circles around a balanced meal that nourishes. The day’s healthy soup becomes a prelude to the assured lineup of dim sum; during the summer, he throws in cucumber, barley, dried shiitake, scallops, and shrimps into the stock to boost immunity and fatigue-fighting properties. Dim sums land on the table in petite steaming baskets: xiao long bao made from Yamato pork, herb-laced shumai, buns pumped with shrimp and scallops with homemade XO sauce and fragrant lo mai gai (sticky glutinous rice).


It’s a long road from produce to plate, but it’s a journey well worth it: Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko is one of the hardest restaurants to snag a reservation.


Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko received one Michelin star and a Green Star in 2024.

Reservations not available.
Browse restaurants allowing seat reservations and course menu reservations.

Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko Access Info

  • Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko is a 12-minute walk from Kyogoku Station.

Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko Phone Number

0742-42-6492

Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko Business Days

Sunday
Closed
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
11:30 AM
02:00 PM
-
06:00 PM
08:00 PM
Wednesday
11:30 AM
02:00 PM
-
06:00 PM
08:00 PM
Thursday
11:30 AM
02:00 PM
-
06:00 PM
08:00 PM
Friday
11:30 AM
02:00 PM
-
06:00 PM
08:00 PM
Saturday
11:30 AM
02:00 PM
-
06:00 PM
08:00 PM

Chugokusai Naramachi Kuko Address

913-2 Kideracho, Nara, 630-8306, Japan

Restaurant location

The historic seat of power and faith in Japan, Nara has some of the most authentic and breathtaking culture in the entire country — and also friendly deer!

Get Directions

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Reservations not available.
Browse restaurants allowing seat reservations and course menu reservations.
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