Kyoto has such a long history that its traditional cuisine is famous, but a lot of the places go for an upscale concept, so they’re not cheap. Serious gourmets won’t hesitate to spend what it takes for the ultimate cultural experience, but an ordinary guy like me can’t help thinking about value for money. So I booked about a month ahead at the place that’s said to be the most popular with regular people in Kyoto these days.
Kappo Yamashita
It’s right next to Kyoto City Hall. There’s usually a good restaurant for office dinners and client entertaining next to a government building like a city hall, right? Rather than the neat, refined Kyoto-style cooking aimed at tourists and the wealthy, what you get here is izakaya-style Japanese food that ordinary people are familiar with.
Tea and oshibori
We sat at the counter, which meant we could chat with the chefs and had a really fun meal. It’s a wonderful Japanese tradition. The very thing Joël Robuchon copied for L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon… Apparently there are private rooms upstairs too, but you have to pay a room charge.
A glass of beer~
I had a glass of Suntory Premium Malt’s. It suddenly got hot, so I worked up quite a sweat getting there. You could see a fair number of people walking around in short sleeves – Kyoto and Osaka were already racing toward summer. But when I got home it was back to winter mode, which was heartbreaking… And the spring coat I bought last month only got a month of wear. Sigh.
Starter
I thought it might be amasagi, so I asked, and they said it’s a fish called moroko. The sesame tofu and broccoli were nicely done too, so I was looking forward to what was coming next.
Fresh sashimi
The freshness was incredible. It tasted like fish caught that very morning. With stuff like this coming out, my companion asked whether this was a seafood specialist. The seafood is great, but it’s a place that does all kinds of dishes.
Autographs and maiko stickers
Autographs from celebrities who’ve been here, and below them stickers with the names of maiko. Apparently they stick them up as a way of promoting themselves.
Duck
Light and clean, as you’d expect from Kyoto cooking. It was pretty good dipped in the mustard.. Kyoto food is lightly seasoned, but this place isn’t quite that light. It’s a level anyone can enjoy easily.
Miso-grilled Spanish mackerel
Sawara (Spanish mackerel) lightly brushed with Kyoto miso and grilled. The fat just drips out like Chilean sea bass, but the miso keeps it from getting too rich.
Simmered octopus and bamboo shoots
Spring bamboo shoots are good wherever you eat them. And the octopus was boiled just right. But it seemed meant more as a drinking snack than something to go with rice… Probably because the concept here is an izakaya.
Tempura
The person looking after our table was a tempura master and fried it beautifully. Better skills than most specialist tempura shops. I honestly can’t remember if it had been three or four months since I’d had tempura this good.
Seaweed
From here on it’s the rice course, and in Japan seaweed often comes as a side dish with a set meal.
Tsukemono and grilled miso
Kyoto is famous for its tsukemono pickles, so there’s no way they’d be bad. The grilled miso wasn’t too salty either and went well with the rice.
Miso soup
Instead of the usual clear miso soup, you get a rich one made with a stock of fish bones. Like at a sushi place.
Ginger sherbet
The omakase course comes with dessert too. The ginger flavor went surprisingly well with Japanese food. A well-balanced meal right to the end.
All that, including a drink, came to about 4,600 yen. For this level of cooking in Kyoto, that’s a pretty decent price. I went with non-foodie company, so it was a bit of a shame we couldn’t order a few more à la carte dishes after the course, but they said they’d eaten so well they were stuffed, so there was nothing I could do… Next time I get the chance, I’d like to come back with Korea’s top food-hunting crew