Bulgari Hotel Tokyo - IL RISTORANTE, NIKO ROMITO Michelin 1-Star Lunch Menu and Breakfast

Hello.

I’m Dr. Baek of Rev Dental Clinic, a holy place for teeth whitening.

I visited Bulgari Tokyo in March 2026. It was a high-end hotel that boasted an extremely luxurious exterior and interior. I tried to capture that impression in the previous post... This Bulgari Hotel Tokyo series will be a four-part post. Today is about the Italian restaurant, IL Ristorante.

IL RISTORANTE

• NIKO ROMITO

Lunch A La Carte

If you go from the lobby of Bulgari Hotel Tokyo toward the windows, you can find the lounge, and deeper inside is this Italian restaurant. It feels endlessly luxurious... like a dreamlike place. By now, it would feel strange if there weren’t any items with BVLGARI written on them.

The wooden, antique-style desk is also lovely. The already extremely luxurious Bulgari Hotel Tokyo, which is also quite new, is so dazzling that it is hard to know where to look.

It was a little past lunchtime, but perhaps because we were hotel guests, we were kindly allowed to use it. However, we were told we could not order a course meal. The view from the seat we were shown was a skyline view.

I understand that a person named NIKO ROMITO operates several Bulgari restaurants.

A place that has received one Michelin star for three years since opening.

This is the main man himself, NIKO ROMITO! Though I didn’t actually get to meet him...

I did meet the head chef, MAURO ALOISIO, in person. He said he likes Mingles in Korea...

Anyway, here is the menu at IL RISTORANTE on the day we visited. We could choose à la carte items, and honestly, even after reading them, I didn’t really understand, so I ordered based on recommendations.

From the starters, Warm Ise-ebi salad with celeriac, wild greens and pink pepper (¥13,500)

From the pasta, Spaghetti with Niko Romito Signature tomato sauce (¥4,000) and Handmade tortelli with slow cooked beef and Parmigiano Reggiano sauce (¥6,500)

We ordered these three dishes.

Honestly, our English skills aren’t that great, so even when they explained the ingredients and dishes so well, it was a little disappointing that we couldn’t understand everything 100%...

I always make sure to capture my wife looking happy. We sat side by side at our own table, looking out the window while eating!

It’s a clean, luxurious restaurant with very beautiful colors. We also ordered a bottle of water. Since we ordered three dishes, the total came to about ¥25,000... For reference, there was no guest discount.

This is an appetizer soup made by simmering vegetables. It has a comforting, savory taste—neither sweet nor sour, just pleasantly savory and warm to the palate.

Pre-meal bread!! Ah, this was tasty. This bread also had a Niko Romito something-or-other name.

When I asked for cheese, they brought the cheese on the right. How should I put it... it wasn’t greasy, but light, plain, and pleasantly savory. It was my first time trying it, and I really liked the cheese—it had a healthy taste.

These were the crispy items that came with it. Probably fried noodles? Personally, they weren’t really to my taste... haha

Warm Ise-ebi lobster salad with celeriac, wild greens and pink pepper (¥13,500)

This was the first salad we were recommended. A salad costing around 120,000 won... But since we asked for a recommendation and received one, we happily ordered it.

This is called Ise-ebi. It’s Japanese spiny lobster, and apparently a very premium ingredient. Ise-ebi is said to be a top-grade large lobster, impossible to farm, and because demand keeps rising, the price has skyrocketed. So that’s why it was expensive. I didn’t know this history when I ate it.

A pricey plate often comes with a lot of story behind it. Haha. Of course!!! It was delicious. I didn’t know it was such an expensive lobster, and I remember the portion being quite generous.

There are so many delicious things in Japan, but it’s frustrating that even when explanations are given in English, it’s hard to get a clear sense of them. It feels like being told about something that doesn’t really exist in Korea...

Spaghetti with Niko Romito Signature tomato sauce (¥4,000)

A menu item with the signature tomato sauce! And the price was relatively approachable. If I had to describe the taste, it felt like a Japanese-style spaghetti from a casual Western restaurant. Its defining feature is a clean, neat flavor. Haha. And the tomato sauce was rich and intense, which left an impression.

Handmade tortelli with slow cooked beef and Parmigiano Reggiano sauce (¥6,500)

Think of it as Italian dumplings. Inside, there is minced beef, and on the outside, it’s topped with a creamy sauce made with Parmesan cheese.

It was really, really delicious. It was the tastiest thing I had today!!!! I kept eating it in amazement....

The most expensive lobster salad was also truly excellent, but this one left a stronger memory for me... haha

At the end, they gave us something that looked like a donut for dessert. A pretty standard sweet donut flavor. Like a mini version of a Knotted donut ~ haha

Italian breakfast!!

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It’s a handsome menu with gold lettering on a stiff, dark background.

They had Italian / Japanese / American / Chinese styles.

Of course I had to try the Italian one! Pick!

This is the à la carte menu. My wife, who was already full, said she would just have a single dish. She likes waffles, so we picked the waffle topped with whipped cream and berries!!

There were a lot of people at breakfast. The Japanese person sitting in the middle behind my wife was the famous “Morigana.” Haha.

They bring coffee one cup at a time, and as always I drink an iced latte, while my wife always drinks an iced Americano. Haha. We look pretty good together, don’t we?

Sliced seasonal fruits

Seasonal fruits are cut beautifully and served. As expected of Japan, a country famous for fruit, each piece was incredibly sweet and delicious. When you eat fruit that is presented so beautifully, you feel like a noble... haha...

This is the Italian breakfast spread in front of me. Really... should I say assorted? Each bread had a different shape, and they all looked delicious—what a lovely sight. I think I must have been Western in a past life..

It seems like a succession of delicious breads I had never seen at any hotel before. Even the jam was presented in such an appetizing way that I still vividly remember having such an enchanting breakfast.

I could meet this one again today too. A delicious, fresh item that tastes somewhere between milk butter and cheese. I spread it on all the bread and ate it!! Haha

Waffle with whipped cream and red berries (¥3,250)

The waffle and berries my wife enjoyed so much. The crispy waffle had a great texture and tasted great too. The berries were refreshing, and the whipped cream was rich... I tried stealing a bite, and it was an excellent breakfast with absolutely nothing to criticize.

I took a photo of the menu we had for breakfast together. It brings back memories ...^^;;

This is Part 2 of the four-part series I’m writing and posting!! The food at IL RISTORANTE at Bulgari Hotel, which boasts one Michelin star, was a bit difficult to fully understand and enjoy all at once... haha;; I wanted to understand the ingredients better, but even with explanations, it was still a little difficult... So that was a bit disappointing. As always, being good at English seems like such an important value when it comes to seeing the world..

The breakfast, priced at ¥8,000, was luxurious and delicious enough to say it was worth the price. How should I put it... the texture and flavor of the bread, which seemed to pay attention even to the most delicate details, were truly impressive. I didn’t have breakfast there every day, so it’s a pity I didn’t get to try the Japanese, Chinese, or American options... I’d love to visit again someday....

The remaining posts will be about the Bulgari bar and the interior facilities.

That’s the everyday life of Dr. Baek from the dental clinic!!