In shortMonthly-changing Japanese course built on Nara's seasons, at a ten-seat counter in a century-old machiya. 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
One course, ¥22,000 per person (tax and service treatment not published); the course is prepaid
Hours
Lunch Mon, Tue, Sat, Sun 12:00–14:30; dinner Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun from 18:00, single start, until 21:00
Closed
Wednesdays and Thursdays
Seats
Counter 10
Payment
Course prepaid through Square after booking; cards accepted in the house (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners)
Getting there
Kintetsu Nara, 15–20 minutes on foot or 5–10 by taxi; Fukuchiin bus stop 1 minute
Hoshino opened on 1 September 2025 in Fukuchiin‑cho, the southern
edge of Naramachi where the old town thins out toward the Gango‑ji
temple district, inside a hundred‑year‑old machiya restored around a
white‑wood counter of ten seats and a modern atrium. Keisuke Hoshino,
the chef and owner, has cooked for thirty‑two years: at Nishimuraya
Honkan in Kinosaki Onsen, at Ryoriya Uemura in Kobe, and for a final
year at Iida in Kyoto before opening his own house. Eight months
later it received One MICHELIN Star (MICHELIN Guide Japan 2026)
at its first listing — the only new star in that year’s Nara
selection.
What you eat
One course, changing monthly, priced at ¥22,000, on the theme the
chef states as "cuisine that reflects the climate and seasons of
Nara". The menu leans on the prefecture: Uda beef and Haibara beef
from the hills to the east, flowering sansho in spring, matsutake in
autumn. Guests through 2026 describe a winter of clear soup, sashimi,
fugu, shirako and suppon, and a summer of sea urchin, cutlassfish and
abalone — the sea urchin served over Handa somen noodles is the dish
regulars mention twice. The magazine Kateigaho recorded a
yuzu‑scented pot‑steamed uni and a kue grouper grilled with sake and
salt. It is classical Japanese cooking rather than a concept, served
at a counter where the chef finishes each plate in front of you.
Dinner starts together at 18:00; lunch runs on Mondays, Tuesdays and
weekends only.
The booking reality
There is no website and no booking platform. You call the house in
Japanese on 0742‑27‑7070; the house then continues the conversation
by SMS or Instagram direct message to confirm the details, and sends a
Square link on which the course price is paid in advance. That
sequence is the whole procedure, and it decides who can complete it:
you need a Japanese‑reachable mobile number or an Instagram account,
and a card. No release day is published, no minimum party, no solo or
children policy; the house does not publish cancellation terms beyond
the prepayment. Through the first year, reviewers were returning
monthly without describing any difficulty, but One MICHELIN Star (MICHELIN
Guide Japan 2026), announced in May 2026, changes the arithmetic for ten seats, and the earlier the
call the better. A phone call in Japanese, a follow‑up by SMS and a
prepayment link is exactly the sequence our desk completes on a
guest’s behalf.
Travelers giving Nara an overnight instead of a day trip from Kyoto,
who want a new counter rather than the city’s
long‑established names; couples who prefer a chef’s counter
to a ryotei; and anyone with a Nara evening two to eight weeks out who
would rather have a Japanese speaker handle the call and the SMS.
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.
Hoshino: common questions
Can you book Hoshino from abroad?
Yes, through our Tokyo desk. Phone in Japanese, then SMS or Instagram DM to confirm and a Square link to prepay; no release day published. 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.
Some of these links are referral links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Restaurants never pay us to be listed or ranked. Editorial policy
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