Kyoto Travel Guide
What to Eat in Kyoto
What to eat in Kyoto and where — the refined kaiseki tradition, temple tofu and yuba, Nishiki Market grazing, matcha from Uji, sake from Fushimi, everyday ramen and obanzai — with the etiquette and budget tips that help.
Kyoto's cuisine was shaped by an imperial court, Buddhist temples, a landlocked location and some of the softest water in Japan. Far from the sea for most of its history, the city developed a cuisine built on vegetables, tofu, dried fish and seaweed, and on dashi stock of extraordinary delicacy; refined by centuries of aristocratic taste and the tea ceremony, it became kyo-ryori, the most elegant cooking in Japan. Eating well is one of the great pleasures of a Kyoto trip, whatever your budget.
Kaiseki: the summit. Kaiseki is a multi-course meal of small, exquisitely presented dishes that follow the seasons, served in a fixed sequence: an appetizer, sashimi, a simmered dish, a grilled dish, rice, pickles and soup, and a dessert, each on carefully chosen tableware. It grew out of the meals served at tea ceremonies, and Kyoto is its capital. A kaiseki dinner at a top ryotei, with a private tatami room and a garden view, is expensive and must be booked in advance, often through your hotel concierge; lunch versions at the same restaurants are much cheaper and an excellent way to experience the tradition. Many ryokan serve kaiseki dinners as part of the stay, and Kyoyamato, on the grounds of the Park Hyatt in Higashiyama, is a celebrated example.
Tofu and yuba. Kyoto's water and its Buddhist temples made it Japan's tofu capital. Yudofu, cubes of silky tofu simmered in a kelp broth and dipped in soy and condiments, is the classic winter meal around Nanzen-ji and in Arashiyama, often served in temple gardens. Shojin ryori, the vegetarian cuisine of Zen monasteries, is served at several temples, notably in the sub-temples of Tenryu-ji and Daitoku-ji. Yuba, the delicate skin that forms on heated soy milk, appears in soups, sashimi-style plates and rolls, and is a local specialty worth seeking out.
Nishiki Market: Kyoto's Kitchen. The covered market, a narrow 400-meter lane in the downtown core, is the best place to graze through the city's flavors in an hour: dashi-maki rolled omelet, soy milk doughnuts, grilled seafood skewers, pickled vegetables in every color, wagashi sweets and matcha in every form. The one rule to remember: eat at the stall where you bought the food, never while walking. Come around opening time, mid-morning, before the crowds, and consider a guided food tour if you want the stories behind the stalls.
Obanzai and everyday Kyoto. Obanzai is Kyoto home cooking: seasonal vegetables, simmered dishes, tofu and fish, served in small bowls at counter restaurants. It is affordable, healthy and a window into how Kyoto people actually eat. Kyoto also has a fierce ramen culture, from rich chicken broths to the dark soy ramen sold near Kyoto Station, as well as excellent udon, soba and the local kitsune udon with sweet fried tofu, a nod to the foxes of Fushimi Inari, where inari sushi — rice in a pouch of fried tofu — is the snack of choice.
Matcha and wagashi. Kyoto is Japan's tea capital, and Uji, a short train ride south, has grown fine green tea for centuries. Matcha appears everywhere, from parfaits and soft-serve to noodles, but try it at least once in its pure form, in a tea ceremony with a seasonal wagashi sweet. Kyoto's wagashi makers craft sweets that change with the seasons, shaped like cherry blossoms, maple leaves or snow; yatsuhashi, cinnamon-flavored rice-flour sweets, are the classic souvenir.
Sake. The Fushimi district in southern Kyoto, near Fushimi Inari, is one of Japan's great sake-brewing towns, blessed with soft spring water. Several breweries have museums and tasting rooms along a willow-lined canal, and the district's restaurants serve the local brews. Kyoto's bars and izakaya across the city carry Fushimi sake.
Cooking classes and food tours. If you want to go deeper, Kyoto has a lively scene of cooking schools and guided food walks. Classes typically teach home-style dishes such as dashi, rolled omelet, miso soup and seasonal vegetables, sometimes starting with a shopping walk through Nishiki Market, and finish with the meal you cooked. Guided food tours of Nishiki, Gion or the izakaya streets of downtown add the stories and names you would never find alone, and help with ordering in places that have no English menu. Both are excellent on a rainy day, and both make a fine first-evening activity that gives you the confidence to explore the city's counters and markets on your own for the rest of the trip.
Where to eat in the evening. Pontocho, the narrow lantern-lit alley along the Kamo River, is lined with restaurants from casual to exclusive; from May to September many set up raised dining platforms over the river. Gion has the city's most refined restaurants, Kiyamachi and the side streets of downtown are full of izakaya and counter bars, and the department-store food halls near Shijo and Kyoto Station are a superb, affordable alternative for a picnic dinner.
Etiquette and practicalities. Many small restaurants seat only a handful of guests and take reservations; some do not accept walk-ins at all, and a few do not accept foreign guests without a Japanese-speaking reservation, which is where hotel concierges help. Cancel properly if your plans change; no-shows are a serious problem for Kyoto's tiny restaurants. Carry cash for small places, do not tip, say "itadakimasu" before eating and "gochisosama deshita" when you leave, and do not eat while walking in the streets. Lunch sets offer the best value everywhere, and for budget travelers, ramen, udon, conveyor-belt sushi and convenience-store meals keep costs low without sacrificing flavor.