i. Biography
Makoto Ueoka is chef-owner of Ninshurou in Kyoto. The work there is built from luxury-hotel discipline and several years of training in Hong Kong before his return to Japan to help open the restaurant. Chinese cuisine is the base, but under Ueoka it is carried through the polish, precision, and exacting standards of hotel kitchens, which gives the cooking a measured authority.
The Climb
Training in Hong Kong set the direction of Ueoka’s career and sharpened his understanding of Chinese cuisine at its source. Work as chef in Chinese restaurants at various luxury hotels followed, where service rhythm, operational scale, and the demand for consistency required technical control and composure. Those hotel years formed the framework of his approach: steady, exacting, and built for refinement. Since 2019, Makoto has been Executive Chef of Ninshurou. The role brought the different strands of his training into one restaurant identity. In Kyoto, the perspective gained in Hong Kong and in luxury-hotel restaurants now informs a single address, where his approach to Chinese cuisine can be read with clarity.
Today
At Ninshurou in Kyoto, the Chinese-cuisine training and hotel-restaurant background sit at the center of the kitchen. Makoto Ueoka’s work there is shaped by earlier discipline, but also by the confidence that comes from carrying that experience into a dedicated setting. Hong Kong, the hotel restaurants, and Kyoto are the three points that define the shape of his career, each one feeding the next.
Career - Executive Chef — Ninshurou, Kyoto, Japan (2019–present) - Chef in Chinese restaurants at various luxury hotels — Various luxury hotels Education: Hong Kong
Signature
Makoto's signature dishes include Egg White Fried Rice and Shanghai crab. Together, they show the range of his cooking and the way he treats familiar Chinese dishes with precision. Egg White Fried Rice points to restraint and control; Shanghai crab points to the richness and seasonal depth the cuisine can carry. At Ninshurou, those dishes frame Ueoka’s style: attentive, grounded, and shaped by training and service.
FAQ What is Makoto Ueoka's current role? Makoto Ueoka is chef-owner of Ninshurou in Kyoto. What recognition has Makoto Ueoka received? Tabelog Gold #19 (2026).
