Dining · Japanese · Ise-Shima
Kaiseki Kamimura
A chef trained at Kyoto's Kyoyamato cooks classic kaiseki from Ise-Shima's lobster, abalone and fugu, a short walk from the Outer Shrine.
Kyoto training, Ise produce
Kaiseki Kamimura is a sukiya-style house in a residential street of Ise, a few minutes’ walk from the Outer Shrine of Ise Jingū, in Ise-Shima. Locally it has long been known as the city’s guest house, the place for family occasions, business entertaining and celebrations, served in private rooms.
Its chef, Masaharu Kamimura, spent about fourteen years at the Kyoto ryotei Kyoyamato before opening in Ise in 1988. He cooks Kyoto-style kaiseki in its traditional form, but with the seafood and seasonal produce of Ise and Shima, and with a plain style that lets each ingredient speak.
Menus that follow the catch
Beside the regular kaiseki, the restaurant builds set menus around three local seasons. From November to March it is fugu, served raw, fried and in a hot pot, with milt in January and February. From October to April the menu centres on Ise lobster, from the prefecture that lands more of it than any other in Japan, prepared as live sashimi or braised in its shell.
From May to September the focus turns to abalone gathered by the ama divers of Toba and Shima, served raw, simmered or steamed; slow-cooked abalone is one of the house signatures.
A summit lunch and two stars
In 2016 Kamimura oversaw the cooking for the lunch hosted by Akie Abe during the G7 Ise-Shima Summit. The restaurant received two Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide Aichi-Gifu-Mie 2019.
Sources: Omakase; Nap Camp; Michelin Guide
Hotels