さわやコルドンブルー — Restaurant in Tokyo

Wow- this is the only word I can think of to describe our experience eating here. Our lovely hosts, Ken and Aya, of La Familia Guest House, introduced us to this restaurant based out of a lovely couple's home on Kozushima Island. The chef used to own one (or more?) French restaurants in Kyoto (I believe by the name of Cordon Bleu) which one of my Japanese friends confirmed was quite a top notch and well-known restaurant back in the day. Now, the owner and chef apparently spends most of his time fishing and enjoying living on the little piece of paradise that is Kozushima Island, and he and his wife occasionally have lunch and dinner guests (by reservation only).

Our family of 4 chose to have lunch here, and were blown away by the quality and tastiness, not to mention presentation of, the course meal we were served. It consisted of salad, a cream based soup (potato, I believe), and crusty French bread with fresh butter, followed by the main course. Our daughters chose the 'land' option, consisting of what was a VERY high quality cut of beef (Wagu?)-tender beyond belief, and for my husband and I, we opted for the 'sea' option, which consisted of 3(!) different 4 oz. portions of different freshly caught local fish, with decadent unique sauces atop each type of fish. To finish the meal off, we were served either coffee or tea.

I am sincere when I say this was the BEST meal I've had in a LONG time. And the price for the set meal was unreal. Only 3000 yen for the beef set, and 2500 yen for the fish set.

I feel so privileged to have been able to enjoy this lovely meal in the home of one of Kyoto's greatest (former) restauranteirs.

Don't miss...

Sawaya is a very unique and delicious French restaurant here on the island.

What the owners have done is put an interesting Japanese twist on French cuisine, and they even went as far the interior design as well! We were told that their restaurant used to be a traditional Japanese inn, but they changed it into a cute dining hall mixed with both Japanese and western furniture and decoration!

I am sure some out there would say "well, I would prefer to eat local island dishes instead of French food", but check this, they use a lot of locally caught fish and grown vegetables in their cooking, so it is VERY worth your time to go and check this place out. It was absolutely divine!

We were informed that you need to reserve ahead of time, and their number and info is all listed on the island's official site (kozushima-tokyo.com). If anyone is interested in going to Sawaya, check out the site...

日本の山1000に掲載されている天上山登山で行った時に、ディナーでお世話になりました。 オーナー夫妻は話好きの様で、色々と神津島の事や釣りの事、料理の事などを教えてくれました。 コース(3000円〜)のメインは魚と肉と両方あり、魚は釣り好きのオーナーが釣った魚が出てきますが、ボリューム感あります。 肉はポークと和牛(+500円)が選択でき、和牛を選択しました。 最後に出てきた美味しいコーヒーは、オーナーがフライパンで豆を焙煎したとの事。 コーヒーは美味しかったので追加でオーダーしました。

コストパフォーマンスは非常に良く、神津島に行かれる人...