An Insider's Guide to Authentic Kyoto for Foodies
Gastronomy is a way to experience regional style and, by extension, national style. The way a group or a nation approaches food and drink can reveal a lot about their history and approach to life, culture, and therefore, style. It is one of the most satisfying and enjoyable ways to experience a craft which is actually a confluence of a variety of crafts – cooking, knife making, vessel making, et al. You get to feel a fusion and complex layers of other people’s lived experience.
Because I was getting numerous requests for advice on where to eat in Kyoto, I decided to write a Kyoto culinary travel guide about food, drink, and things related to gastronomy: from fine dining to favourite classics, ingredients, and utensils.
There are many guidebooks and online resources on Kyoto. Does anyone need another one? The short answer is, it depends. Because Kyoto has so much to offer, it can become an enormous undertaking to sift through all the information, particularly if you have a more general starting point or you don’t know where to start, especially if this is your first time visiting Kyoto. The 'tyranny of choice' is very real.
Many guides are written to appeal to a broad audience for all the obvious reasons. In contrast, this one was, to use a fashionable word, curated with a specific audience in mind: foodies.
It is based on what I had compiled for a pair of friends who are foodies and one of them had previously been a professional cook. They were visiting Japan for the first time, with Kyoto being their main destination. Compiling something for people who understand the subject – even if they have had only a limited exposure to the Japanese kitchen – can be both easy and daunting. Easy because it's always more fun to do something for someone that you know will appreciate it, daunting because they cannot be hoodwinked with random tripe – no pun intended. Therefore, I had to deliver substance, not fluff. In order to bring more focus to the selection of establishments, my working assumption was that this will be their only visit to Kyoto so that I need to make this one count. By that, I mean that whichever option(s) they choose, they will have a memorable and, hopefully, meaningful experience.
Since this was their first trip to Japan, I also wanted to provide some context – history, ingredients, methods, etc. – rather than just giving a short description of what’s on offer. I think that knowing a bit about the background enhances the dining experience, allowing one to discern certain details that one might miss otherwise.
In other words, the guide was curated with intent and purpose. It sounds obvious, but sometimes, it’s worth mentioning the obvious. (For those with gluten intolerance, I have tried to indicate where wheat is used.)
An Insider's Guide to Authentic Kyoto for Foodies
A Curated List of Where to Eat and Drink in Kyoto
This guide is not for everyone because it may challenge your notion of Japanese food or at times expose you to ingredients that are completely alien to you. The main focus is Kyoto cuisine, not Japanese food in general or the best pizzeria in the city.
However, if you are like my foodie friends, this guide is a great shortcut, a valuable timesaver, particularly for a city like Kyoto with its tremendous depth and breadth. Much of the content is difficult to find in English.
The establishments in this guide were selected for a couple of reasons.
I have been to most of them myself. They are personal recommendations.
There are a few places where I have not been, but they were recommended by other foodie friends whose opinions I trust, which I disclose.
Many of the featured establishments have been around for generations, some for hundreds of years. The reason is that whilst Kyoto is a modern city, it is also an ancient city where much of Japanese culture sprouted and developed, including many aspects of the Japanese kitchen. Visiting these establishments, experiencing their hospitality, and sampling their wares is literally taking a tour through a significant part of Japanese culinary history, often in the original setting. It’s a unique opportunity for anyone taking an interest in Kyoto and Japanese culture more generally. Through these establishments, you can feel the Kyoto style and by extension a core aspect of Japanese style.
I have included practical information including address on Google Maps, hours, and price range.
Check out the reader reviews on Goodreads, NetGalley, and Nonstop Reader.
Jo, one half of the couple for whom I compiled the original content, said:
Unique insider view - do not visit Kyoto without it! Chikashi has a unique viewpoint, being Japanese but having lived many years in Europe, he truly understands the challenges for a first-time visitor to Japan and provides much practical, cultural information as well as the excellent recommendations in Kyoto. We visited many of the places recommended and found the links really useful for routing on the fly and for communicating with taxi drivers. I loved Chik's beautiful writing style, which brought the city to life while we were planning our trip and inspired us to visit places off the typical tourist trail, which we would not otherwise have found.
The Guide is available on Amazon to download for US$4.99.
N.B., you can read it on any device; you do NOT need a Kindle tablet.
The above link is for Amazon US. Here are the links to other Amazon sites:
P.S., for those of you wondering why it's not available in PDF format, it's because PDF documents are not "reflowable", meaning that the layout is fixed regardless of the device type you're using, making it more difficult to read when you're using smaller devices. I want you to be able to take the Guide with you on your portable device and easily access it when you visit Kyoto. Plus, printing it isn't ideal because you won't be able to click on all the useful links that I have included. Many thanks for your understanding.
2023-12-12, updated 2024-02-23