In shortCountryside French on the south slope of Yatsugatake, built on wild mushrooms the chef forages and spring mountain vegetables. Reservations run in Japanese and are hard to place from abroad, so our Tokyo desk requests the table for you, by phone and in Japanese.
Price
Short course ¥6,600, full course ¥11,000 at lunch and dinner, tax included; a ¥16,500 full course is reported by guests
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, plus a winter break
Seats
Six, in semi-private rooms; a private room for four
Payment
Cards (Visa, Master, JCB, Amex, Diners) and QR payment; no e-money
Getting there
Kai-Koizumi (JR Koumi Line), one minute on foot; parking for five or six cars
The Koumi Line climbs out of Kobuchizawa through larch and birch,
and Kai‑Koizumi is one of its smallest stops. A minute from the
platform is Ashihana, a French restaurant with six seats whose
reason for existing is the forest around it. The chef gathers wild
mushrooms himself, and the calendar is written by what the mountain
gives: spring wild vegetables from March to June, wild mushrooms
from July to November, and in the gaps, classic French cooking
of the old school. The house’s own line is that the season of a
wild ingredient lasts a moment, and that its job is to serve that
moment at its best with the simplest possible cooking.
What you eat
Two courses, at both lunch and dinner: a short course at ¥6,600
and a full course at ¥11,000, tax included. Guests in 2024 and
2026 also describe a ¥16,500 full course of Yatsugatake
ingredients, so ask what is on when you book — the house asks you
to choose your course at reservation. In spring, diaries record a
terrine of Yatsugatake spring‑water trout wrapped in wild greens,
a morel soup with local morels beside imported ones for comparison,
a Burgundian oeufs en meurette with mushrooms, and a main of Koshu
wine beef or local venison. In autumn the plates turn to porcini
and the day’s basket, which is shown and explained before the meal.
In the off‑season, guests describe soupe de poisson, escargots and
a cassoulet — the chef’s own training dishes, served because he
wanted to. Dogs are welcome in the private room.
The booking reality
The house takes reservations by telephone only, in Japanese, on
0551‑32‑6835. There is no online calendar and no release day.
Dinner is reservation‑only and the book closes at 17:00 on
the day; lunch can be reserved, or walked into if one of the six
seats is free, which in mushroom season it will not be. The
cancellation rule is short and total: 100% on the day, because
the chef forages and buys against the bookings. Guests report
reserving the day before for a quiet Friday and, for a spring
weekend lunch, two months out; one booked through Instagram, which
is also where the house posts its closures and its winter break.
The table is easy to reach by phone but the room is tiny, and that
is what our desk is for — the Japanese call, the course fixed, the
date confirmed in your name.
Travelers based around Kobuchizawa, Kiyosato or the Hokuto
wineries who want a lunch that tastes of the mountain rather than
a hotel dining room; visitors with a dog; and anyone whose trip
falls between July and November, when the mushrooms are the point.
Free release-date alerts: the day before, on the morning of release day (08:00 JST) and about 30 minutes before when the time is known — or a weekly summary if the house opens a little every day.
Restaurant Ashihana: common questions
Can you book Restaurant Ashihana from abroad?
Yes, through our Tokyo desk. Phone only, in Japanese; dinner is reservation-only and closes at 17:00 on the day. We call the restaurant for you, in Japanese, and the ¥6,000-per-seat fee is charged only if we confirm your table — no seat, no fee.
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