The best Japanese in Florence

Where to go and what to order to taste authentic Japanese cuisine

Florence is now more and more open to flavours and cuisines from all over the world, and after having taken you around the city to discover the ethnic restaurants you absolutely must try, we take a dive into oriental culture, stopping at the Japanese addresses we recommend you mark in your diary for a quality lunch or dinner.

Here, instead, is our complete guide to the best restaurants in Florence!

Momoyama
Borgo S. Frediano, 10r
ph. +39 055 291840

In the colourful San Frediano district, we find a place where Japanese elegance and hospitality blend with the vibrant vitality of the city. Opened in 1998, Momoyama was the first restaurant in Florence to dedicate itself to the cuisine of the Rising Sun. Here, research and quality tell the story of the Orient through both traditional and fusion dishes. We suggest you start the experience by sipping a good drink at the restaurant's cocktail bar and then continue with a mouth-watering tasting of sushi and sashimi as well as dishes of the day off the menu.

Hoseki
Via Il Prato, 64/66r
ph. +39 055 282012

In a cosy and comfortable ambience, perfect for a romantic dinner or an evening with friends, Hoseki is a Japanese restaurant where you can enjoy all the most authentic high-quality Japanese cuisine. Very fresh sushi, sashimi, tempura, ramen, tartare, gyozo, these are just some of the dishes that best combine tradition and innovation and intrigue both Florentine and tourist palates.

Bentoro Firenze
Via Capo di Mondo, 14r
ph. +39 055 0944285

Bentoro brings to the table the art of the most rigorous Japanese cuisine, essential and with delicate flavours. The name Bentoro combines three meanings. Bento is a typical Japanese meal served in a box and lovingly prepared by mothers every morning to be taken to school or work. Toro refers to Wagyu beef, while Otoro is the finest part of tuna in Japanese tradition. In this spirit, you can enjoy a menu full of authentically Japanese dishes prepared with high-quality ingredients.

Koko
Piazza Francesco Ferrucci, 4/5r
ph. +39 055 6587428

Among the most famous and renowned Japanese restaurants in Florence, we cannot fail to mention Koko, in Piazza Ferrucci. Here, ingredients are passionately blended to create sophisticated dishes that satisfy even the most refined tastes. The menu ranges from delicious rolls to gunkan prepared in different variations. A word of advice? Order the Sake Tataki, seared salmon in a sesame seed crust and chef's sauce, a real treat for the eyes and palate!

Aji Tei
Viale Spartaco Lavagnini, 20A
ph. +39 327 4067483

A quality all-you-can-eat in a bright and modern environment, popular with tourists but also with the many Florentines who work in the area. On the menu at Aji Tei a large space is reserved for the great variety of rolls, among which we recommend you try the Golden Tuna Roll and the Dragon Roll, but also tempura, udon and gyoza. If you finally want to be tempted by the dessert menu, save a spot to try the very tasty green tea tiramisu.

En Cucina Casalinga Giapponese
Piazza Lorenzo Ghiberti 26r
ph. +39 23638449

If you want to taste the most authentic Japanese cuisine, En Cucina Casalinga is just what you need. A convivial trattoria in the heart of Florence, where you can savour the most authentic flavours, in a place that even from its small size recreates the atmosphere of traditional izakaya with bright colours and typical objects on the walls. You will not find sushi or sashimi, but selected dishes that explore all the richness of Japanese taste.

Ieie da Toshi
Borgo Pinti 56
ph. +39 0552478410

Ieie da Toshi is the realm of Toshifumi Mitsubiki, who - after gaining great experience in the kitchen at the helm of the trattoria Accadì - opened this small restaurant to bring the most authentic flavours of Japanese tradition to the city. Special attention is paid to sushi and sashimi, the flagship of the restaurant, while at the trattoria Accadì, still located in front of the restaurant, the chef continues his passion for Italian cuisine.

Il Cuore
Via Romana, 123r
ph. +39 055220156

At Minato Takayama, it feels like stepping back in time and space. Il Cuore has been open for five years and brings the rituals of traditional Japanese cuisine to the city. Everything is studied in detail and traditional cuisine is reworked through the use of the best raw materials, expertise and treatment of ingredients. Must-tries include fried chicken marinated in soy sauce, chirashi-zushi and Wagyu sirloin steak.

Banki Ramen
Via dei Banchi, 14
ph. +39 055 213776

At first it was just a bar, then it expanded its offerings and became a small restaurant serving ramen, a wheat noodle soup accompanied by spicy miso. A treat for the palate that you will surely have already seen in the anime and manga that oriental culture has exported all over the world. One eats on the round tables in the café and once the portions are finished, the service stops.

If you don't mind the idea of a little outing, a half-hour from Florence we find Prato, a city that is home to a large Chinese community and that on the oriental and fusion culinary front has a few goodies that we would like to point out.

Moi Omakase
Viale Piave, 10/14
ph. +39 0574 065595

Entrepreneur-chef Francesco Preite has created a place dedicated to tasting Sake and reinterpreting recipes from Japan's vast gastronomic culture. Here the Omakase formula applies, there is no à la carte menu but an articulate if simple tasting menu, composed of a vast selection of nigiri that may be different day by day, depending on what the market and seasonality offer. You eat in front of the counter and the chef cooks in front of you and your friends, for a culinary experience to remember. The cost is 120€ per person, excluding alcoholic beverages.

Ginza Japanese Restaurant
Via Traversa Il Crocifisso, 5
ph. +39 351 8864888

Soft lighting, an exclusive atmosphere, excellent food quality - these are the ingredients for an original lunch or candlelit dinner in the Japanese restaurant Ginza. Here, typical Oriental refinement blends perfectly with the comfort of a modern concept, and finds in the Sushi-mix, the Rainbow Uramaki and the Salmon Tataki its ultimate expression of wonder and goodness.