445 Kuro for the luxury menu: The Shiki Omakase sets the bar high when it comes to quality, too.

Minimum age: 16. The same age restriction applies at the nearby Albertina modern for the current exhibition by Marina Abramović.

The new Shiki Omakase, which, like Shiki—with its sake bar and cooking school—is owned by conductor Joji Hattori, has a few more rules: there are no vegetarian options, and guests are expected to arrive on time. All of this may sound somewhat unwelcoming, but there is a good reason for these rules.

The fact that all guests begin together—there is room for only eight people—is not only related to the way food is served in this intimate mini-restaurant in the back room of the sake bar, but also to the timing of cooking the sushi rice. When the nigiri courses are served, the rice should have cooled naturally to approximately skin temperature.