Sukiyabashi Jiro is often considered the best sushi restaurant in the world, and made headlines in 2014 when then-President Barack Obama dined there with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The Tokyo restaurant is also the focus of the 2011 documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and has consistently earned three Michelin stars annually since 2007.

However, BBC reports that the highly exclusive sushi restaurant has been dropped from the Michelin gourmet guide because, well, it is too exclusive.

Michelin's policy is to introduce accessible restaurants to tourists

The famed sushi restaurant is run by Japanese chef Jiro Ono, 94, and his eldest son, Yoshikazu.

The restaurant only has capacity for 10 guests at a time, and to get a table, you need to be a regular, have special connections, or go through the concierge of a top hotel.

Once you get in, the prices are steep, with the chef's selection starting at around 40,000 yen (S$500).

Unfortunately, this year's Tokyo edition of the Michelin Guide decided to exclude the perennial Michelin winner, due to its policy of only offering reservations to VIPs and return customers.

"We recognise Sukiyabashi Jiro does not accept reservations from the general public, which makes it out of our scope," said a spokeswoman for the Michelin guide, according to The Telegraph.

However, the spokeswoman also clarified that the restaurant did not lose its three Michelin stars; rather, it lost coverage in the gourmet guide, as the guide's "policy is to introduce restaurants where everybody can go to eat."

Restaurant has a cult following

Although the restaurant opened in 1965, it received a cult following in recent years, after being featured in the 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, which follows the life of Jiro.

It received further publicity in 2014, after Obama visited the restaurant and called it the best sushi he had ever eaten.

BBC reported that the move would likely not faze Jiro, as the restaurant only needs to fill 10 seats, which it can likely do with regular customers.

"Truth is since the film and Obama he is the most famous Japanese sushi chef alive and he will be fine. He is ancient and only has to fill 10 spots anyway," said Allan Jenkins, editor of Observer Food Monthly.

A second branch run by Jiro's younger son remains open to the public, and has retained its Michelin two stars.

Top image from Pete Souza/ White House via Toshio Suzuki/Twitter.