The Sun & The Moon: Tokyo’s Most Other-Worldly Table Has Grown Up—Here’s Why You Should Book It Now

Tokyo has no shortage of skyline diners, yet few feel as transportive as The Sun & The Moon. The twin café-restaurant occupies the entire 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 250 metres above the capital, where glass walls trade street-level bustle for a widescreen sweep of Tokyo Tower, Skytree, and the neon lattice in between. That vertiginous view hasn’t changed since the venue opened in 2015, but a quiet evolution—new seasonal menus, deeper sustainability commitments, and a chef whose classical French chops now tilt even harder toward Japanese terroir—make 2025 the right moment to revisit.

A “Moon Forest” Floating Over Roppongi

Step off the elevator and into what the restaurant now calls its Moon Forest: a dreamlike installation of rare cryptocereus cacti, kalanchoe, and other sculptural flora that appear to levitate against the glass. The idea, introduced in recent refurbishments, is to imagine “what a forest on the moon might look like,” pairing living greenery with rotating contemporary artworks on loan from neighbouring Mori Art Museum. The result is a dining room that feels equal parts greenhouse, gallery, and star-gazer’s observatory.

The Maestro Behind the Stove

Presiding over this celestial greenhouse is Executive Chef Takeshi Masutani. Trained at Michelin-starred kitchens in France and later sous-chef at the French Embassy in Tokyo, Masutani has helmed The Sun & The Moon since 2008—a tenure that shows in the kitchen’s confident fusion of French technique and hyper-seasonal Japanese produce. His team now sources the bulk of its vegetables, fish, and wagyu from within Japan’s borders, a move aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of imports while enhancing flavors.

Masutani’s plates are still recognisably French—think venison croquettes with cassis vinegar sauce or conger eel poached in dashi then glazed with consommé jelly—but the seasoning is feather-light, the plating painterly, and the produce unmistakably local.

Afternoon Tea With Mermaid Dreams

The venue’s cultish AfterMOON Tea has continuously evolved in tandem with museum exhibitions, but this summer’s edition is its most playful yet. Dubbed the “Peach & Tropical Fruit Mermaid Afternoon Tea,” the six-tier tower combines coral-orange tiramisu, seal-shaped tropical fruit macedonia, and white peach coconut pudding with savouries such as shrimp-corn ceviche and mortadella mini-sandwiches. Two zero-proof cocktails—Aquamarine Fizz and Tropical Forest—flow freely, and the entire experience costs ¥8,200, view charge included.

Evenings pivot to the MOONLight High Tea, half degustation, half high-tea extravaganza. The 2025 summer menu opens with a cold Dadacha bean potage dusted in pistachio dukkah, graduates through foie-gras-and-eggplant mille-feuille and roasted Amakusa conger eel, then lets diners pick a main course (Hokkaido pork with fermented-lemon-olive sauce, today’s catch, or wagyu for a ¥2,000 supplement). ¥10,000-and-up wine pairings are optional but strongly encouraged.

What’s in the Glass? — Wines, Cocktails, and a Cosmic Cellar

A resident sommelier curates roughly 100 labels, leaning Old-World but punctuated with cult Japanese koshu for those chasing local pairings. The standard five-glass match for the MOONLight course starts at ¥10,000 and might jump from Sancerre to a silky Nagano merlot before landing on late-harvest Muscat for dessert. Champagne Perrier-Jouët by the glass keeps aperitifs lively, while the bar’s signature cocktails riff on the venue’s namesake—try the citrus-and-cassis Kir Royale “Lunar Eclipse” or the yuzu-tinted “Solar Flare” spritz.

Pop-Culture Cameos: From Doraemon to Godzilla

Because the restaurant shares a floor with the Mori Art Museum, Masutani frequently designs limited menus to mirror exhibitions. Earlier collaborations have referenced Doraemon; this spring, a Godzilla art show inspired a jet-black kaiju burger, crowned with charcoal-spiked buns—a social media magnet that sold out daily.

Service, Soundtrack, and Small Details

Staff float between tables with the unhurried grace of gallery docents, eager to explain a painting or the provenance of a single peach. On the fourth Friday of each month, a string trio performs during dinner, the cello’s low register mixing with city lights that flicker like a second constellation outside. Seating is capped at two hours, and window tables carry a ¥2,000 supplement, but regulars swear by the twilight slot when Tokyo Tower’s beacon ignites the horizon.

Planning Your Visit

• Location: 52F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
• Hours: 11 am–10 pm (Fri–Sat till 11 pm); Lunch/AfterMOON Tea 11 am–5 pm; Dinner from 6 pm
• Reservations: Online bookings open two months ahead; phone for parties of 9+
• Charges: ¥500 view fee (waived with museum/observatory ticket), 10 % service; window seat ¥2,000/table
• Contact: Café 03-3470-5235, Restaurant 03-3470-0052

Why It Belongs on Every Wine Lover’s Tokyo Hit List

• Elevated Pairings: A sommelier-led programme that isn’t afraid to marry Nagano koshu with French classics.
• Terroir-Driven Cooking: Chef Masutani’s increasing locavore bent means your wagyu or conger eel probably travelled less than you did.
• View With Your Vintage: Few places let you nurse a Grand Cru while watching the city’s neon tide roll in from this altitude.

Tokyo is perpetually hungry for the next hot table, yet The Sun & The Moon proves that refinement—like a fine wine—only deepens with age. Whether you go for mermaid-themed sweets at noon or a star-lit tasting menu at dusk, you’ll leave feeling you dined somewhere just a little beyond Earth’s orbit.