Gigio
๐ฎ๐น Italian / ๐ Shoin Jinja
๐ Visits: 1
Michelin-starred sandwiches! Well, almost. Gigio serves Italian food in the evening, is not open for lunch but is open for breakfast. It will be included in the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2026 (presumably as yet another "Selected" restaurant).
I had all items off the breakfast menu, save the "morning set".
Today's panini (¥1000) - salsicca, rocket, courgette pickles, rosette di pane
Cornetti (¥500)
Cornetti sandwich (¥650) - croissant sandwich with mortadella and rocket
There's a selection of baked sweet goods in a showcase including bomboloni, cannoli, sfogliatelle. I took home a slice of amor polenta and a bombolone alla crema di nocciola.
The panini was delicious - a thick, spicy and warm patty of meat, juices running off the plate. The sweet items and coffee were good. The cornetti was unfortunately underbaked in the centre.
The restaurant was surprisingly quiet and there was plenty of space. You can have a nice Italian breakfast in your own time and I would go back.
๐ https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1317/A131709/13298862/
❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.75
๐ฑ Booking: My visit was a walk-in on a weekday. Drinks menu in Italian and Japanese. Food menu in hand-written Japanese only. Some English spoken.
I notice that they keep adding new restaurants into the Michelin Guide Tokyo but the 2026 guide is not officially revealed until October. I haven’t seen this in other guides.
ReplyDeleteI believe they've been doing this with all Guides post-Covid. The Michelin Guide Tokyo 2026 will be announced on 25th September 2025.
DeleteReally? I don't think it is the case for the Osaka-Kyoto one for example. You only learn about new additions when they reveal the guide every year. The one for Vietnam (relatively new) is also the same.
DeleteYes, really. You can expect Michelin to start drip feeding new Kyoto/Osaka restaurants from October after the Tokyo Guide is published. Don't follow the Vietnam Guide.
DeleteLove your blog, I've been to Japan twice, and will be going for a 3rd time this winter, and your site is really helpful. I try to really eat a mix of everything, sushi, yakitori, yakiniku, tonkatsu, ramen, kaiseki, but also French, Pizza, Italian that Japan does so well, and I love that your blog showcases all of it. Not just Japanese, not just western, and so on.
ReplyDeleteBut I did have one question. I've seen this one Italian restaurant on Omakase, and it always lets you click "reserve," but then nothing is ever available. "Don Bravo." It has high reviews on Tabelog. Is it introductory only? Also, I am quite interested in the Italian spots with Japanese influence and that serve multiple pastas as part of a tasting menu. I've never tried these but I've read about a Primo Passo (seems tough to reserve), Fileja (seems easier?), Commedia (Seems tough for solo diner?) -- have you tried these type of places, or do you think more traditional Italian is better in Tokyo?
Keep up the great work!
Hi, thanks for reading and for your kind comments. I haven't been to Don Bravo. Seems like overseas Omakase accounts are blocked from making reservations, though here are plenty of seats available using a domestic account. You can also reserve via Tabelog and Pocket Concierge, but it seems like they don't allow online bookings for solo diners. Primo Passo was an easy reservation but all of a sudden seems popular now - no idea why - haven't been yet and not desperate to go. Commedia is quite hard to book now and has gone up in price a lot - again, haven't been and on the fence about going. A trusted foodie friend strongly recommends Fileja but I haven't been there yet either!
DeleteSorry, not so helpful. Try to go to Kitanozaka Kinoshita in Kobe. I think it's one of the best restaurants in Japan.
Thanks for the info! Man I didn't even realize Omakase offerings differ if you are domestic vs. international. I was almost going to pay $ to be able to search for openings by date, but the price is so high and I don't want to support a site that already puts overseas accouts at a disadvantage.
DeleteGlad your foodie friend likes Fileja, that seems like the most attainable for a solo diner so I will try that once reservations open for end of Nov or beginning of December.