Trattoria Buca'massimo

We visited this place for a Saturday evening dinner after making our reservation a day earlier.

This Italian restaurant is listed on Michelin guide 2022 bib gourmand category. I highly recommend visiting since food is amazing and prices are reasonable.

We were 1 hour late to our reservation, and informed the place about our situation. They held our table, and we could still have dinner after our arrival.

The restaurant was full. Average age was above 30. There were friend groups, families (without children) and couples. In general, table were full of wine bottles. Wine prices are reasonable for its quality.

The decoration was nice. You could see the chef behind the counter. I felt like the service was quite under pressure as if they have staff shortage. I have to say I would expect an Italian place to have a relax atmosphere, but instead it had a stressful one. Though, I would not call staff unfriendly or unhelpful. They were also accommodating visitors’ photo session requirements without a complaint.

We shared a pasta and beef (2 people portion), 2 glasses of wine per person and paid around 5000 yen each. Not bad. Pasta was very chewy, beef was delicious. Loved it.

It is a small place, so make a reservation. Highly recommended!

Forget all the pretentious Italian restaurants in Ebisu this is the real deal. There’s only one chef and he cooks everything. Taste is natural and good. Good use of balsamic, which you don’t really see in japanese Italian restaurants. Tremendous respect for the chef.

Honestly, I don’t have any complaints. The pasta was very good, the caprese was fresh and very tasty and the wine was great, although the portions on the glass were scant. If it holds up to scrutiny next time I visit, it will probably earn a fifth star.