Highest Japanese culinary art: Young Frankfurt restaurant receives Michelin star

Created: 04/22/2022, 11:26 am

By: Kathrin Rosendorff

Chef Masaru Oae learned Japanese cooking when he moved to London to explore the world.

© Christoph Boeckheler

Masaru Oae can do more than sushi.

His menu in the new star restaurant Masa Japanese Cuisine in Frankfurt's Ostend follows the omakase principle.

Frankfurt – When Masaru Oae started working at the Yashin Sushi Bar in London at the age of 23, he kept cutting his finger.

That first frustrated him, then motivated him to learn Japanese cuisine in the first place.

"Today I only cut myself when I'm tired," says the 36-year-old and laughs.

He's cutting bamboo and tuna for the appetizer plate.

As is customary in Japan, the appetizers are served on ice cubes, as reported by fr.de.

It is currently difficult to get a seat in his small restaurant with 22 seats in Frankfurt's Ostend.

A few weeks ago, the Michelin restaurant guide awarded the “Masa Japanese Cuisine” a star for the first time.

It is one of the two new Frankfurt restaurants that now have a star.

Star restaurant in Frankfurt: "When I left Japan, I couldn't cook"

He really didn't expect to receive a Michelin star nine months after opening in Frankfurt.

"I was totally surprised," says Oae, who was born in Miyazaki, southern Japan, and grew up in the mountains.

“Now my parents are proud and relieved.

So far, they have doubted that I can really cook well enough to make money from it.

Because when I left Japan to explore the world without knowing what I would do for a living one day, I couldn't cook at all."

From the outside, the restaurant, which is located between the 25 Hours Hotel and a kebab shop on Hanauer Landstrasse, is hardly noticeable.

The pub sign of the predecessor that says "Japanese Restaurant" is still hanging outside.

There are no outdoor spaces.

Inside, the guests eat at tables or directly at the counter, where Oae shows his art of cutting in front of the guests.

"We still want to do some new things here," says an employee who translates into Japanese during the interview.

As is customary in Japan, the appetizers are served on ice cubes.

© christoph boeckheler*

Six knives hang behind the cook.

Sharp knives are particularly important in Japanese cuisine: This also applies to the preparation of sashimi: Unlike sushi, rice or other side dishes are completely dispensed with: it is just the raw, finely filleted, very fresh fish.

"One of my knives is so thin because I've had it for ten years and sharpened it so many times.

It's more of a memento," says Oae, and laughs.

And even if sushi and sashimi are also on the menu here, it's not a sushi restaurant.

"My cooking aims to show people that Japanese food is delicious," says Oae.

His menu follows the omakase principle: it changes often and the chef alone decides what is put on the table.

It can also be grilled, boiled or another type of preparation can be selected.

Japanese star restaurant in Frankfurt: seven courses from 130 euros

The only thing the guests can decide is whether they want to eat seven (130 euros) or nine courses (149 euros).

For example, the starter variations include tuna tartare with caviar, but also grilled eel, followed by a snow crab and black salsify soup, sushi and sashimi sets, redfish and meat dishes such as veal fillet or Wagyu beef (that costs an extra 45 euros ).

As a dessert, the guests get, for example, "Black Sesame Mochi Ice Cream".

Oae emphasizes that he combines European taste preferences with traditional Japanese cuisine.

For dinner, guests in the Frankfurt restaurant also have a selection of special wines and high-quality sake.

The restaurant

Masa Japanese Cuisine,

Hanauer Landstrasse 131, Frankfurt, opening hours Tuesday to Saturday 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., www.masa-frankfurt.de

After Oae had to leave London because his visa was not extended, he worked for the Basho-An restaurant in Freiburg for three years.

There he perfected the traditional Kaiseki style - a special Japanese style of cooking, which is based on the purism of the food and the simplicity of the dishes.

Before opening his first restaurant in Frankfurt, he worked at Nagaya, a one-star Michelin restaurant in Düsseldorf.

Michelin star for Frankfurt restaurant: now the second is here

"I kept in touch with the supplier from Düsseldorf," says Oae.

For example, he supplies him with tuna from the Mediterranean and yellow-black mackerel from Japan "not deep-frozen, but vacuum-packed." "Quality is very important to us," says Oae, who, as he emphasizes, also offers his guests pickled ginger.

"In most Japanese restaurants in Germany, the ginger often comes from pre-packaged products."

Even on days off, he thinks about new menus.

"There's a new one every month." He also likes to spend time with his four-year-old son, who speaks German better than he does.

"He's my tandem partner," says Oae and laughs.

Oae has big plans professionally: “My new goal is two stars.

But I think that will take time.

I think I'll be ready in five to ten years." (

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