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Kyoto, Japan’s Imperial (and government) capital until 1868, moves at a far slower pace than Tokyo. The city’s many shrines, a deeper connection to nature, and less overt reliance on technology, allow for more relaxing meandering. Learn about 10 of my favorite places to eat Kyoto food, based on a memorable 2016 trip, listed in alphabetical order.
6. Ramen Sennokaze Shijō Kawaramachi
Ramen Sennokaze Shijō Kawaramachi is a bustling downtown ramen bar with blue flags out front, eight seats at a wood counter topped with a black lucky cat, and female staffers in bowler hats and plaid shirts behind the bar. Kyo no Shio Ramen with Gyoza combines two of their best dishes into one powerhouse combo. A creamy, salty, pork-based soup that isn’t too rich, hosts griddled char siu, scallions, a mountain of bean sprouts, and if you’re smart, a gooey marinated egg. A plate of pan-fried dumplings filled with minced pork and veggies comes with three dipping sauces: salt and sesame oil, vinegar and soy sauce, and sweet chile sauce.
MUST ORDER: Kyo no Shio Ramen with Gyoza
Saga Tofu Ine is a tofu focused restaurant across from Tenryu-Ji Temple in touristy, but interesting Arashiyama. A stall up front sells fresh-skimmed yuba soup and yuba doughnuts which are fairly dry and judiciously sweet. Around the side of the building, a window sells soft cream made with nutty soymilk, matcha, or best of all, a swirl.
MUST ORDER: Soft Cream (Soymilk + Matcha Swirl)
Kyoto is mad for matcha, and Saryo Tsujiri Gion Honten is one of the best place to enjoy treats made with the versatile green tea powder. A downtown shop sells all sorts of matcha and every instrument you’d ever need to prepare and serve it. That’s also where you’ll find matcha soft serve ice cream that’s available drizzled with condensed milk green tea sauce in a thin waffle cone. Their upstairs cafe is where matcha creations really get interesting. A burgundy flag with logo of whisk in matcha bowl greets you at a bamboo framed door. The seating area features wood tables, watercolor paintings of geishas, geometric screens, and traditional string music. You can get a cup of matcha all over the city, but their Special Green Tea Parfait is pretty special, layering green tea cake, green tea jelly, bouncy mochi, red bean jam, green tea ice cream, vanilla ice cream, green tea whipped cream, chestnuts, jelly, and green tea syrup in a towering glass.
MUST ORDER: Matcha Soft Ice Cream, Special Green Tea Parfait
9. Tempura Matsu
Chef Toshio Matsuno took over Tempura Matsu from his father after training in New York City, with Alain Ducasse in Tokyo, and for Grant Achatz and Charlie Trotter in Chicago. His mother ran front of house during my visit, and his sister was also working the floor. Tempura Matsu offers just two seasonal options: Omakase (10,000 yen) or Syun (15,000 yen), a multi-course extravaganza that included just four pieces of tempura, which was just fine. My wife and I started in a booth made semi-private with wood slats, and eventually progressed to the chef’s counter, which provides a view of mountains past kitchen windows, which must be good for morale. I was mightily impressed with a parade of seafood and vegetable preparations. Sizzling binchotan charcoal arrived on bed of salt, topped with orange, house-cured mullet roe (karasumi). Supple slices are seared and plated on ginkgo rice on a fall leaf, served with persimmon in tofu sauce with a decorative flower. In honor of full moon, they topped delicately fried potato with sweet Hokkaido uni, chestnut chips, a strip of tempura fried sea eel skin, and two pomegranate arils. Maitake mushrooms, a famous local ingredient, was in season and served in a ceramic pot with broth of maitake and oyster. Pour a couple ounces at a time into tiny bowl with yuzu zest lining the rim. Pluck oyster and mushrooms from the pot, place on an oyster shell, and squeeze with sudachi. Saury, silver skinned mackerel pike with rosy red flesh, was cured with minced kombu. Pale pink tilefish sashimi joined its fried skin and wasabi. Fatty lotus sea bass, smoky from the grill, was drizzled with sudachi and dressed with either sea salt or soy sauce. Toshio presented live Japanese lobster, which he served raw with yuba, resulting in luxurious shabu shabu in a tomato and eggplant broth. At the counter, Japanese sea eel, scored many times over, was flash-cooked in dashi until the white flesh curled, and joined seagrass, micro-strands of seaweed dressed with yuzu, soy, vinegar, and wasabi. Clear sea eel soup led to tempura sablefish and onion, shrimp and lotus root served with sudachi and dipping sauce: soy sauce, katsuoboshi, and daikon radish. House-made udon appeared in a huge hollow ice cube with soy sauce, stir mountain yam, quail egg and wasabi. Finish with either ice cream or, my choice, a “traditional Japanese dessert” that turned out to be boiled and grilled mochi balls tossed in soy sauce and sugar, dusted with barley powder, and served with berry tea.
MUST ORDER: Syun
Yakiniku Hiro Pontocho is prized for grilled meat near the Kamo River. TV screens out front show photos of well marbled beef. Inside, wood booths with mustard colored backs line the wall, a counter faces a bamboo backed kitchen, and designs resemble the receding tiral spiral from Robert Smithson’s famed “Spiral Jetty.” Pipes on tables look like pipe organs, but suck up all the smoke. Can Korean barbecue spots in L.A. please install these? I ordered Japanese Wagyu beef tongue, cheek meat with green onion sauce and Sliced High Quality Wagyu Skirt Steak. Order rice and you’ll get beef flakes to spoon on top. You also get limes to squeeze, plus shaved scallions and sesame oil. To round out the meal, I’d suggest Assorted Namul with marinated greens, mushrooms, and roots.
MUST ORDER: Japanese Wagyu Beef Tongue, Japanese Wagyu Cheek, Sliced High Quality Wagyu Skirt Steak
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