Awa Naramachi

This ever-popular restaurant was covered in the Michelin Guide and has since become impossible to reserve. The menu focuses on traditional Yamato vegetables, serving a full experience of dishes based on a wide assortment of domestic and internationally grown vegetables.

Yamato vegetables are a specific variety of 40 vegetables certified by the prefecture for their long history and tradition, 20 of which are currently recognized. The traditional Yamato vegetables you’ll find here are homegrown by Mr. Masayuki Miura and his wife, who take part in the research and the cultivation preservation of indigenous varieties from the Kiyosumi no Sato Awa, the mountain village in the suburbs of Nara city. The restaurant interior of this 140-year old machiya house has been renovated, inside which you can find a number of displays for you to easily browse the many unique and eclectic vegetables that await.

For food, you’ll find course options both at lunch and dinner. The plating is colorful and playful, and while you’ll here you may hear stories from Chef Atarashi Daisuke about his deep love for vegetables, or find yourself lost in the world of Yamato’s indigenous vegetables as you savor the sweet, savory and true flavor of vegetables at their finest as they enter your mouth.