7 of the most authentic dishes in Kawaramachi, Kyoto

Kawaramachi is located almost in the centre of Kyoto and is a popular downtown area full of sightseeing spots and shopping attractions. This time, we would like to introduce you to recommended dishes such as tempura, which uses a lot of Kyoto vegetables, and sushi, which is rich in fat, and you can enjoy them in an atmosphere full of the atmosphere of the old town of Shitamachi.

Wagashi, which uses ingredients from all four seasons of Japan, is registered as a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage site. Especially in Kyoto, there are many restaurants where you can eat traditional dishes that have been rooted in the area since ancient times. We welcome you to enjoy Kyoto cuisine in Kawaramachi, which is full of Japanese flavours.

"Mutsu no Iya is a long-established cutlet restaurant that boasts a history of over 120 years. Each dish of Mutsu no Iya's cutlet cuisine, which uses Kyoto vegetables and seasonal seafood, is delicious, and the restaurant is popular with celebrities who sneak in to visit.

The famous dish of this restaurant is the "Fugu (blowfish) Set Meal" where you can taste fresh and natural tiger puffer fish. A variety of dishes such as puffer fish sashimi and hot pot, where you can enjoy the puffer fish to your heart's content, will add colour to the table. The final dish, the egg porridge, is the ultimate in sweetness from the puffer fish.

"Gion Kyoto Cuisine Hanasaki" is a lunchtime restaurant where you can enjoy Kyoto cuisine at a good price. We especially recommend the mini kaiseki, where you can enjoy seasonal side dishes and famous Kyoto dishes such as seasonal sashimi, tempura, and Kyoto asagi sushi all at once.

The flavours of the dishes are excellent, and the seasonal and culinary tableware and the beautiful artwork-like plating are a treat for the eyes. Would you like to spend a luxurious lunch time in a private room with a calm atmosphere?

Saikyo-miso is a classic dish that you must eat in Kyoto. Saikyo-zuke is one of the traditional local dishes in which sliced fish is marinated in Saikyo miso with mirin and sake. Kyoto Ichinotsu Honten (Kyoto Ichinotsu Honten) in Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, is a famous Saikyo-marinated restaurant that has been operating in Kyoto for over 90 years.

The restaurant's most popular set menu, "Omotenashi Cuisine," features Kyoto dishes that use seasonal ingredients, such as saikyo-marinated, grilled Tibetan miso-marinated cod, and sesame tofu turtle soup. To enhance the flavour of the dishes, we also recommend sampling a comparison of 11 types of sake.

GION MATOI-ZUSHI in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City, is a famous restaurant where you can enjoy excellent sushi even late at night. The restaurant is open until 2:30pm, which is rare among sushi restaurants, so don't worry about missing your meal.

The restaurant offers a wide variety of ingredients such as salmon eggs, herring eggs, and mackerel sushi in a single serving, including "teshigami sushi," as well as a variety of individual dishes such as sashimi of needlefish and shirataki of puffer fish. The prices are relatively affordable, so you can enjoy sushi without worrying about losing a lot of money.

For one of Kyoto cuisine's most iconic dishes, tofu in soup, we recommend visiting Shimizu Shunsho Okabe's restaurant. There are two types of classic set meals, "Tofu Fuji" and "Tofu Sakura". The main course is tofu soup with soybean flavour, and there are many side dishes such as tofu with sesame seeds and tofu tamago, so you can enjoy the tofu to your heart's content.

If you have the chance, we also recommend trying the melt-in-your-mouth Kagoshima Kuroge Wagyu Sukiyaki and the crispy vegetable tempura.