Nara Cuisine Kokutoora — Restaurant in Nara

On a day trip to Nara and having checked out the beautiful Todai-ji temple and fed all the deers, it was time to get some local narazake. However, after being turned away by 10 places for being too full, I ended up just buying a bottle to take back with me and giving up to head to the station. Near there I stumbled upon coctura on the map and gave it one last shot. I entered a welcoming shop with a chef and some patrons. He seated me and was excited to have me try some local sake. I sampled a fruity sake and a Kanzake (hot sake) and loved them both. The kanzake was called golden drum I think? Though we heard golden drunk and had a good laugh.

The chef then offered to write my quite complicated name in hiragana. It was such a nice gesture and the guy had some serious calligraphy skills! The patrons also engaged with me despite my non-existent japanese skills and we talked about lives and what not. A welcoming and endearing experience in this small historic...

Visited this place while in Nara. Nice and cozy, the place boasts some fusion dishes inspired by Italian, French and Spanish cuisines; most of which are developed by the chef himself. If you are willing to lend your ear and if the chef doesn’t have a lot on his hands, you are in for some funny stories by the man. He is cool with foreign peeps but would appreciate visitors with a basic command of Japanese (only if you want to keep the stories incoming). The best thing was, he was humble from the beginning and regretted that being an one man army, food may be slow, which we gleefully accepted. You can also offer to share a drink together and he would oblige you. He could also tweak this and that in the existing dishes to suit your culinary choices. Overall an evening to remember. I promised to visit him again if ever I am in Nara sometime in the...

Highly recommend!! Super cozy ambience with amazing food and super friendly and funny chef/restaurant owner.

It's a one-man show, not for those who simply wants a quick meal. Almost all original items on the menu. As the restaurant owner explained to us, it's Japanese, Italian, French and Spanish fusion. He's able to communicate in English, so foreigners are welcome!

If you are IN for some great stories and cultural exchange with him, def talk to him though he'd highly appreciate if you could have a basic command of Japanese. ;) [Provided that he's not too occupied with serving the dishes]

We had a wonderful time with the chef who's such a cool guy!!! Please go visit if you would like to have an enjoyable...