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Eating in Kyoto: 10 Must-Try Restaurants

TripBlog
TripBlog
Oct 11, 2019

Catalogue

  • Hyotei :
  • Chihana :
  • Giro giro hitoshina :
  • Nishiki warai :
  • Ippudo ramen :
  • Omen :
  • Yoshikawa tempura :
  • Falafel garden :
  • Sushisei :
  • Kagizen :
  • Show More

Kyoto is a beautiful city on the island of Honshu in Japan. Restaurants in Kyoto are famous in the city apart from many other things. Washoku is the traditional Japanese cuisine. Here, a lot of attention is given to seasonal ingredients. Japanese are also known for seafood restaurants in Kyoto. The seafood is often grilled and served as sashimi or in sushi. Seafood and vegetables deep fried in a light batter is called tempura. Apart from rice as the common ingredient noodles namely Soba and udon are popular among the Japanese. They also consume beef in sukiyaki and nikujaga. In Japanese cuisine, sushi in particular has become quite famous throughout the world. Few famous foods found in Kyoto restaurants’ rich food culture are boiled tofu (yudofu), tofu skim (yuba), Japanese haute cuisine (kaiseki), Japanese buddhist vegetarian cuisine (shojin ryori), Kyoto sweets ( Kyo-wagashi), conger eel (hamo), Japanese pickles (Tsukemono), matcha, Yatsuhashi etc. Japanese are known for their tea traditions in which the tea is prepared and served with a strict protocol. Read on to find out the 10 must try Kyoto restaurants to satisfy your taste buds.

Hyotei is a Michelin-star restaurant. Hyotei was founded 300 years ago and is one of the oldest restaurant in Kyoto. It is also known for its great ambience. Hyotei is famous for preparing a Japanese cuisine called kaiseki in which a series of very small, intricate dishes are involved. The restaurant is located in an incredibly beautiful traditional Japanese building. When it comes to kaiseki Hyotei is one of Kyoto restaurant’s most respected. For diners looking for a traditional kaiseki served in atruly purified environment, this Kyoto restaurant is a good choice.

The meals in the restaurant are inclined to be heavy on fish and vegetables. The restaurant also has a non-smoking area. Do not forget to order the traditionally prepared green tea. Few of the top dishes in their menu are mizutaki, sashimi, shellfish dishes, edible horse meat, offal hotpot, live squid (fresh from yobuko), salted motsunabe etc. They also have a bar menu for beer, tasty wine and other rich alcohol drinks.

This restaurant is just a 10 min walk from Keage Station, Tozai subway line. It is open from 11 am to 7:30 pm. The main building is closed on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month.

Also Michelin-starred, tThis Kyoto restaurant was founded in 1946. The current chef at Chihana is Katsuyoshi Nagata. Chihana in Japanese means one thousand flowers. It’s a small restaurant with a seating of only about 10 people. The restaurant style is called Itamae Kappo which simply means chef’s cuisine. The food in this restaurant is classified as traditional kaiseki. Even with the restrictions, Chihana is fairly creative. This Kyoto restaurant is a must visit as it offers the finest Kyoto traditional seasonal cuisine. Diners can witness how the chef prepares the dishes in front of them. Diners can choose to sit in the counter to see the chef’s preparation or reserve the small room which can host up to 4 diners for privacy.

This Kyoto restaurant has an interesting menu consisting of traditional Japanese cuisine. They also have the basic Chihana course meal. The dishes in the course meal are Amuse-bouche sole escabesh with grapefruits and daylily, Boiled Sole and sole jelly with lily roots, boiled chicken and lotus roots, soba with shell fish, tempura with dry shrimp and vegetables, clear soup with fishcake, sashimi of sole and tuna fish with salted seaweed, baked fish, Chinese radish and fried tofu, pickled vegetables and sticky rice with pickled cucumber. You will also be served a beverage at the end of your course meal. Every single dish of the Chihana course meal are like a skillfully tuned instrument in a symphony of texture and flavor. Hop into this restaurant for a memorable experience.

This restaurant is open from noon to 2pm and 5pm to 10pm. It is closed on Tuesdays of a month and end of a year. The lunch costs around 10000 to 38000 yen per person and the dinner costs around 15000 to 40000 yen per person. This restaurant is a short walk from Gion Shijo Station on the Keihan line.

Eating in Kyoto: 10 Must-Try Restaurants

The joy of travelling to Japan is discovering and eating local foods. Dining at Giro Giro Hitoshina should be on the top of your list of must visit Kyoto restaurant. Giro Giro Hitoshina is a converted warehouse which creates a fun and funky ambience. This restaurant is very famous as it has made its way into guide books and the New York times. The restaurant has its branch in Paris and Honolulu. It also has an open kitchen where you can directly witness the chef preparing your 8 course meal. The open kitchen’s counter seats can accommodate up to 10 people. Additional seats are also available. This is an unorthodox Japanese restaurant which serves modern Kyoto Kaiseiki meal.

Each course in the 8 course meal is a small serving. The chef takes a lot of time in preparing and meticulously arranging every food item on the plate and the end result is a masterfully outlined work of art. The modern kaiseiki menu in this restaurant serves, smoked salmon and avocado, topped with spring herbs and a perfumed orange, tagliatelle with creamy shirako milt and kujo-negi scallions with bottarga and shichimi spice, a juicy fillet of smoke grilled duck breast served with a croquette made with confit of duck, rucola salad and a rush of dark anchovy/olive/caper sauce.

This restaurant serves only dinner. The dinner usually costs between 100-150 dollars per person. You will need to book well in advance for the counter streets. The menu changes seasonally. Giro Giro Hitoshina is a truly hidden gem in Kyoto. The restaurant is open daily from 5 pm to 11 pm and closed on the last Monday of the month.

Eating in Kyoto: 10 Must-Try Restaurants

If you’re craving for Okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake cooked on a griddle at your table then this Kyoto restaurant is the right place to go to. Okonomiyaki is prepared in Om soba style with a special soft fluffy touch which is created by mixing of soft noodles with a thick half boiled egg. Juicy and soft pork is also added in plenty in this dish. The outside of the okonomiyaki is crisp and the inside is fluffy. Tourists visiting Kyoto must try okonomiyaki at least once in their lifetime. The restaurant can accommodate up to 20 diners.

This restaurant has a unique menu. The menu consists of Kyosai green fried noodle, okonomiyaki pork, kyoten yaki pork, brazier, fried noodles, green onion salt beef tongue, grilled bean paste, negiyaki konchikusho and many more. The negiyaki is prepared using plenty of sweet and flavourful Kujo green onions. This restaurant also serves yaki soba or fried noodles. Yaki soba literally means fried buckwheat and it’s a noodle stir fry dish. The noodles are made from wheat flour and flavoured with oyster sauce. Nishiki Warai also uses the famous Teppanyaki. The teppanyaki is a Japanese cuisine that refers to food cooked using a metal plate (teppan). Steak, shrimp, okonomiyaki, yakisoba and monjayaki are prepared in teppanyaki.

The restaurant has 90 seats and can accommodate up to 20 people. It is situated 2 minutes from Hankyu Karasuma and subway Shijo exit 16. The restaurant is open from 11 am to 12 am, 11pm being the time for the last order. They also have a vegan menu and a designated smoking area.

Ippudo is also called as Hakata Ippudo in Japanese. This restaurant was first opened in 1985. In 2014 it opened its first European outlet. Hakata Ippudo is a Japanese ramen restaurant chain with locations around the world in countries like Beijing, Shanghai, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Bangkok, Australia, France, United Kingdom etc. This Kyoto restaurant is famous for its tonkotsu ramen. It is also described as the most famous tonkotsu ramen shop in Japan.

Hakata Ippudo is the favourite ramen joint among the Japanese. The soup and noodles are exalted and the dumplings served with it are crispy and delicious. The taste of the noodle and soup is proof to why the chain has enjoyed such success in a short period of time. The noodle is cooked perfectly to give it the right degree of texture and the soup is thick, rich and satisfying. The gyoza goes well with the ramen. The ramen is always served piping hot. Though the menu is simple and short first timers will find it hard to make a choice here. Diners can start with the classic Haka style Shiromaru motoaji, a dish in which the noodle is bathed in a pork based tonkotsu broth with mushrooms and green onions. Then there is the Akamaru Shinaji, this takes the original broth to a newer level of twist, with a combination of special miso paste and garlic oil. It served in a red bowl with char siu barbeque pork. This restaurant is surely going to make you craving for ramen and one visit will never be enough.

Ippudo Ramen is a four minute walk from exit 18 at Karasuma station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line. The ramen price starts from 790 yen. The restaurant is open from 11 am to 3 am on all days and till 2 am on Sundays. You can also request for a vegetarian option in this restaurant, though it is not in the menu.

Another popular must try restaurant while visiting Kyoto is the Omen. A fantastic place for lunch which is reasonably priced and a super short walk away from the zen temple. Omen is famous for serving udon noodles. They serve the udon noodles in a unique and healthy way. Diners can fully experience full noodle fantasy at Omen. You have the choice of ordering it hot or cold, depending on the season.

At first diners will be given a mortar and a pestle with lightly roasted white seasame seeds and you can grind it to whatever consistency you like. Then they will be given the broth that arrives in a huge earthenware bowl, partnered by a mound of hot or cold noodles and a plate of arranged vegetables like cabbage and spinach, shredded ginger and scallion and an added unexpected addition called the kimpira gobo. All these will be mixed by the diners the way they please.

During the season it is highly recommended to try the saba sushi at Omen. The saba sushi rice is highly garnished with ginger and the saba is soaked in a flawlessly balanced vinegar blend that praises the oily taste of the mackerel (saba).

The restaurants exceptional menu includes butterbur bud miso with seasonal vegetables, kelp flavoured sea bream sashimi with Japanese plum sauce, deep fried Jerusalem artichoke with baby shrimps, simmered bamboo shoot with seaweed (wakame), Omens’s udon noodles with sides of sesame, ginger, seaweed to flavour the broth and many more tasty dishes.

The restaurant is a 10 minute walk from Ginkakuji-michi bus stop. The restaurant is open from 11 am to 9 pm and closed one day a month irregularly, usually Thursday. The price is moderate and they have a designated smoking area.

Eating in Kyoto: 10 Must-Try Restaurants

Diners craving for tempura must head to this beautiful old wooden building around a Japanese garden serving Kyoto’s best tempura. It is a famous restaurant among the Japanese as it prepares the tempura dish so perfectly. The restaurant is used to foreigners, great service and a beautiful ambience. This restaurant also has a counter where you can directly witness the chef prepare your tempura labor over their cauldrons of hot oil. They have private tatami mat rooms to serve dinner. The rooms have views of the little garden around which the restaurant is built.

They have a set menu consisting of 8-9 assorted plates for each course. The kaiseki course meal consists of a starter, sashimi, soup, appetizer, freshly fried tempura dishes, grilled fish, rice dish and dessert.

The restaurant is a 5min walk from Karasuma Oike Station, Karasuma and Tozai subway line. The restaurant is opening from 11 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 8:30 pm. They also have a designated smoking area.

Eating in Kyoto: 10 Must-Try Restaurants

Falafel Garden is a great vegetarian restaurant in Kyoto. This restaurant specializes in the popular falafel. But they also have plenty more in their menu to keep things interesting. This Kyoto restaurant has a very friendly owner and a hippy vibe to it. The restaurant is a relaxing place for a healthy lunch while exploring things around the north end of Kyoto. The restaurant’s owner speaks fluent English and there is a picture menu on display.

Falafel garden is a short walk from Demachiyanagi Station which is served by both the Keihan and the Eizan lines. The restaurant is open from 11 am to 10 pm. It has an expensive yes tastiest menu. There is a designated smoking area in this restaurant.

If you’re looking for a moderately priced restaurant in Kyoto then head to Sushisei. It’s located right downtown and the staff are relatively comfortable with foreigners. Diners craving for sushi can go to this restaurant. This restaurant also has a counter where you can see the chef’s do their thing. You can even grab a table if you’re with few friends looking for privacy.

A 3 minute walk from Shijo Station, subway karasumi line or a 3 minute walk from Karasuma Station, Hankyu line will lead you to this restaurant. Sushisei is open from 11:30 am to 3 pm and 5 pm to 10 pm. This restaurant has a designated smoking area.

Eating in Kyoto: 10 Must-Try Restaurants

Kagizen Yoshifusa is a traditional sweet shop in the heart of Kyoto. This restaurant is a must try for traditional sweets and Japanese special thick matcha tea. Kagizen is Kyoto’s oldest and most admired tea and sweet shops. There are beautiful artistic creations on display in the front room and a serene tea room in the back. Without a second thought you can head to this place for a thick cup of perfectly whisked matcha tea accompanied by sweets.

This café is open from 9:30 am to 6 pm and it is closed on Mondays. A 5 minute walk from Gion Shijo Station, Keihan line will lead you to this café. The menu is very affordable. The café has a designated smoking area.

Eating in Kyoto: 10 Must-Try Restaurants


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