Maeshiba Restaurant has moved from Osaka to Futako Tamagawa, Tokyo. They offer exquisite French cuisine created with the techniques and unique sensibilities cultivated at renowned restaurants, and provide comfortable hospitality to their guests.
Onions from Awaji Island are simmered for 4-5 hours to bring out their sweetness, then combined with a block of prosciutto, Parmigiano-Reggiano, eggs, milk, etc. to create a smooth quiche. This was a menu item offered a la carte in Osaka, with the prosciutto chopped and placed inside the quiche dough, but when the restaurant moved to Tokyo, it was elevated to a signature style of being placed on top of a course meal.
Text by Yui Togawa
Photo by Yu Mitamura
Photographs by Yu Mitamura
[Article published in the July 2025 issue of Kronos Japan]
The purity and comfort of authenticity
Born in Osaka City in 1978. After graduating from university, he was captivated by the cuisine of Motoyuki Kitajima, and spent three years at Restaurant Shichijo and Kitajimatei in Tokyo. After returning to Osaka, he worked at La Tortuga for four and a half years and Le Nou Papillon as head chef for one and a half years. In February 2015, he opened his own restaurant, Maeshiba Restaurant, in Tanimachi 6-chome, Osaka. He moved to Tokyo in December 2021.
The first dish is often referred to as a "business card." If it grabs your heart, it not only heightens your expectations for the dishes that follow, but also piques your curiosity and makes you want to approach the food more seriously as a diner.
This is the first dish served at Maeshiba Restaurant. Chef Taira Maeshiba himself stands in front of the impressive Berkel slicer, gently arranges each slice of carefully selected prosciutto on a plate, and then brings it to the guest. "We don't have a counter kitchen, so I hope you can enjoy a little bit of a live feeling," he says.
First, take a bite of the prosciutto and savor its ultimate thinness of 0.15mm. Then, you can wrap the onion quiche, hidden in the mountain of prosciutto, in a gentle brulee-like texture. When you bite into the part of the ham where the fat has melted due to the heat of the quiche, you will be enchanted and will sigh in delight. It is a dish that you will want to eat, but will never want to finish.
The expectations raised by the first dish were not betrayed, and in fact were exceeded by the many other dishes that followed. All the dishes were served on pure white plates by ceramicist Tetsuya Otani, and the clean, streamlined presentation was impressive. There was nothing lacking, and the dignified appearance filled the mouth more than enough. It was not about the flashiness or quantity, but the dishes were all essentially satisfying to eat.
"I want to create my own cuisine, with easy-to-understand deliciousness as its backbone, incorporating surprise and playfulness in the appetizers, and consistent, quintessentially French cuisine in the fish and meat dishes," says Maeshiba. This belief in cuisine is also reflected in the name of the restaurant, "Maeshiba Restaurant," written vertically above the entrance door, which is unusual for a French restaurant.
The restaurant is located in a traditional shopping street, close to an elementary school and on the approach to a shrine. A sophisticated French restaurant that has been featured in Michelin guides fits seamlessly into this location. This may explain the mysterious comfort you feel the moment you step inside Maeshiba Restaurant.
Maeshiba Restaurant
Luminous Futako Tamagawa B1F, 4-7-5 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Tel.03-5797-9830
Closed on Wednesdays and other irregular holidays
12:00-15:00 (Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and holidays only), 18:00-23:00
Lunch: 8250 yen, 13,200 yen, Dinner: 16,500 yen
