Anthony Bourdain's Favorite Japanese Restaurant Is A Hidden Gem

Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain was never short on opinions. From his takes on the dishes you should never order at a restaurant to what he thought about vegans, the chef didn't bother holding back when he disliked something. Still, he was equally liberal in his praise. Fans may find his favorite Japanese restaurant surprising, if only because of its renown — many of the restaurants Bourdain loved were hole-in-the-wall joints, from hot dogs in Hawaii to bún bò Huế soup in Vietnam, but the sushi restaurant he liked best, Sukiyabashi Jiro, once boasted three Michelin stars.

Despite its accolades, this tiny restaurant is a hidden gem in the most literal sense, located below a nondescript office building. Bourdain claimed in a 2016 piece for The Guardian that if he had a choice, he would eat his final meal there, prepared by head chef Jiro Ono. "The rice is always perfect," Bourdain wrote, "the seaweed the right consistency and not soggy and the fish at the carefully regulated, preferred temperatures that Jiro works so hard to ensure."

When the celebrity chef visited Tokyo (one of his favorite food cities) in 2008 for his show "No Reservations," he descended into the depths for a meal at Jiro's restaurant. While the city has no shortage of sushi, Bourdain told his audience that truly great sushi like Sukiyabashi Jiro's must succeed in three areas: "Ingredients, technique, [and] timing."

In his 2016 piece for The Guardian, Anthony Bourdain wrote that he would like to visit Sukiyabashi Jiro alone. This would certainly make the trip easier, as the restaurant only has 10 seats. The establishment is so exclusive, in fact, that it was stripped of its Michelin stars in 2019 because it was too hard for would-be guests to secure a reservation. It's also pretty pricy; the chef-recommended 20-piece sushi course will set you back at least ￥88,000, or about $600.

Still, the food-writing rogue must have trusted the restaurant's head chef, as his hypothetical last meal included a "22- or 23-course omakase tasting menu" straight from Jiro Ono's hands. In omakase dining, the kitchen chooses what to serve you based on seasonality and the day's ingredients. As Bourdain noted, Jiro's sushi is not only served at the perfect temperature but must be eaten immediately and carefully. The restaurant agrees — its website even features tips on how to eat sushi the right way.

Jiro Ono, who turned 100 years old in 2025, stepped down from his head chef role two years prior, though he still oversees certain aspects of the restaurant business. His eldest son, Yoshikazu Ono, has taken on his former mantle.