Dining · French · Seto Inland Sea
Terrace Restaurant at Benesse House
A 90-seat French-leaning dining room at Benesse House on Naoshima, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the Seto Inland Sea.
The Restaurant
The Terrace Restaurant is Benesse House’s main dining room on Naoshima, beside the park and under a high ceiling, with large windows facing the Inland Sea. It seats 90 and displays works from Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Affresco series, so a meal here happens inside the museum-hotel rather than next to it. Breakfast looks onto the seascape; dinner is served as the sun sets over the water.
The stated aim is to present the true flavours of the ingredients on the plate.
The Cooking
The cooking is French in structure and local in produce. The menu builds on Setouchi ingredients and seasonal items from across Japan, such as scallop ravioli with buntan from Kochi and kinmedai from Akita. A sample Menu du Chef lists gazpacho, foie gras torchon, a mushroom galette with truffle sauce, roasted olive-fed beef fillet and a chocolate marquise. Uchi Japan names scallop ravioli with seaweed beurre blanc, sautéed flounder and sea bream, and marinated butterfish with Japanese lime jelly.
Dinner is open to hotel guests only and must be booked in advance. The restaurant opens on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and closes for maintenance in winter, so check the calendar. For the island itself, see the guide to the Seto Inland Sea art islands.
Sources: Benesse Art Site Naoshima: Restaurant; Uchi Japan: Naoshima restaurants. Check the official websites for current information.
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