The Japanese Restaurant

Should you book The Japanese Restaurant in Andermatt?

Yes — if you can get a table. Two Michelin stars, 90 points on La Liste for both 2025 and 2026, and a placement at #290 in Opinionated About Dining's European rankings make this one of the most decorated dining rooms in the Swiss Alps. The combination of serious Japanese technique, an Alpine setting at 2,344 metres above sea level, and an open kitchen worth watching puts it in a category with very few direct competitors anywhere in Switzerland, let alone in a mountain resort town. If Japanese contemporary cuisine is your format and you are visiting Andermatt, this is the booking to prioritise.

The Restaurant

The visual hook here is immediate: a minimalist room inside The Chedi Andermatt hotel, an open kitchen at its centre, and a terrace that frames the surrounding mountain backdrop in a way that no interior design budget could replicate. The open kitchen is the room's focal point in the most functional sense — watching twin brothers Dominik Sato and Fabio Toffolon work through service is part of the experience, not incidental to it. Their cooking positions classic Japanese structure against European technique: think beurre blanc inflected with Asian flavours, king crab handled with the precision you would expect from a Japanese kitchen, and N25 caviar used with the restraint that two-star cooking demands.

The format gives returning guests genuine options. The omakase kaiseki menu is the serious choice , four to six courses, chef-driven, no decisions required beyond whether you want the vegetarian version. The Shidashi Bento offers a more contained format. The sushi and sashimi selection works for diners who want to build their own meal rather than surrender to the kitchen's sequence. A children's menu is available, which is worth knowing if you are travelling with family.

The Counter Experience

Open kitchen is the reason to sit as close to the action as the room allows. At a two-star restaurant running an omakase format, proximity to the kitchen transforms the meal from a sequence of courses into a demonstration of what the kaiseki structure is actually doing , the pacing, the temperature contrasts, the moment a piece of king crab leaves the pass. This is the difference between reading about Japanese technique and watching it operate in real time at altitude. If you have been to The Japanese Restaurant once and sat away from the kitchen, requesting counter or kitchen-adjacent seating on your return visit is the single most useful thing you can do to change the experience.

Wine and sake program is worth your attention during that planning step too. The team's sake recommendations are described as expert, and the range is positioned as excellent , in an Alpine setting where the wine list at most resort restaurants defaults to predictable Swiss whites and French classics, a sake selection curated to match kaiseki structure is a practical differentiator. Ask the team for pairing guidance rather than ordering blind.

Getting There

Restaurant sits at 2,344 metres, which means access requires a cable car. The Gütsch Express runs from the lower terminal at Andermatt railway station and is the standard approach. Factor this into your timing: arriving at the station with ten minutes to spare before a reservation is not sufficient. The cable car adds a logistical layer that most urban two-star restaurants do not have, and missing a departure window has real consequences for a kitchen running timed omakase sequences.

Ratings and Recognition

Case for booking rests on credentials that have been consistent across multiple years and multiple guides. Michelin awarded two stars in 2025. La Liste scored the restaurant at 90 points in both 2025 and 2026 , consecutive identical scores suggest a kitchen operating at a stable, high level rather than a one-year outlier. The Opinionated About Dining ranking at #290 in Europe places it in competitive territory against restaurants in major European cities, not just Alpine resort peers. For context on what that credential set means in Switzerland, the country's other two-star and three-star rooms include Hotel de Ville Crissier in Crissier, Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau, Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl in Basel, and Memories in Bad Ragaz. The Japanese Restaurant is in that company. Google Reviews sit at 4.4 across 72 ratings , a floor, not a ceiling, given the sample size.

For Japanese contemporary at a comparable standard elsewhere in the region, 7132 Silver in Vals and Colonnade in Lucerne are worth knowing. Further afield, Da Vittorio in St. Moritz competes in the same Alpine luxury tier but in a different cuisine format. If Japanese contemporary is specifically what you are after, Eika in Taipei and Murakami in São Paulo represent the format in other global markets.

Practical Details

Budget: €€€€ , expect omakase pricing consistent with two-Michelin-star positioning. Reservations: Near impossible , book as far in advance as the reservation window allows; this is not a walk-in venue. Access: Gütsch Express cable car from Andermatt railway station lower terminal; plan to arrive with buffer time. Menu formats: Omakase Kaiseki Menu (vegetarian version available), Shidashi Bento, sushi and sashimi à la carte, children's menu. Drinks: Expert sake and wine pairing available; ask for team recommendations. Setting: Inside The Chedi Andermatt hotel; terrace available , request it when booking if conditions are likely to be good.

For more on where to eat, stay, drink, and explore in Andermatt, see our full Andermatt restaurants guide, our full Andermatt hotels guide, our full Andermatt bars guide, our full Andermatt wineries guide, and our full Andermatt experiences guide.