Kinana - Kinako Ice Cream

Kinana - Autumn Chestnut Parfait

Kinana ‘Dekitate’ Ice Cream and Kodawari
Kinana makes six flavors of ice cream; kinako (roast soybean flour), azuki (sweet red bean), kurogoma (black sesame), kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), maccha (powdered green tea) and yomogi (mugwort), all real traditional Japanese flavors! To get the real Kinana ice cream experience, I really recommend the just made ‘dekitate’ ice cream as it is heavenly, impossibly soft and creamy. Once ice cream is frozen it loses this fantastic texture. I think that the kinako flavor is the only fresh, ‘dekitate’ ice cream that is served. If you just ask the friendly staff what the ‘dekitate’ flavor is, they should have no trouble understanding. (Many customers eat the dekitate ice cream while standing at the counter on the first floor. Try this if the sit down area on the second floor is full.)

Kodawari is an essential concept in Japanese culture, especially in culinary culture and all kinds of product development. Kodarari means picky or particular. Owner, ice cream chef Omoto-san is very picky about what goes into his ice cream. He uses no additives, fillers or artificial ingredients. His kinako powder is a original blend of roasted ‘kuromame’ black beans from the Tamba region of Hyogo and Kyoto and ‘daizu’ soybeans from Hamanaka-cho in Hokkaido. He traveled to both regions to inspect producers before selecting the best.

Any business in Japan that isn’t into kodawari really isn’t worth patronizing. If you like Kyoto culinary culture, it is probably due to kodawari.

Kinana - Autumn Chestnut Parfait

Kinana Parfait
Kinana has three parfaits that are available throughout the year. There is Kinana Hapon (warabi mochi), Berry Berry Kinana (yogurt and frozen berries) and Kinana Italian (tiramisu). Then there is a seasonal parfait that changes every few months. All use several flavors of Kinana ice cream and Western-style baked confections like cookies and biscotti, all baked in-house at Yakitsukasa Kinana, Kinana’s second location. The fresh-made ice cream is not used in the parfaits because it is too soft for layering other ingredients upon. I tried both the Berry Berry Kinana and Kinana Italian and thought that they were fine but not exceptional. Two foodie and chef friends agreed with me on this. I can see how these parfaits would appeal to Japanese women that visit Kinana fairly often or want to try something non-Japanese.

The autumn seasonal parfait was quite another story. Now, Japanese are really into parfaits and I have had a lot of great Japanese-style parfaits in Kyoto but this one was the most memorable and original. It was over-the-top amazing!

Chestnut Autumn Parfait
The seasonal Kinana Chestnut Parfait features two kinds of ice cream, mochi, anko (azuki paste), soba boro (buckwheat cookie), two chocolate cookies (actually more like little cakes), a chocolate and kuromame biscotti with lots of chestnut mousse all topped with a candied chestnut.

The chestnut mousse topping was amazing, thick and rich, just overloaded with chestnut flavor. The nuance of the biscotti really got me, like all the other baked items it is made at Yakitsukasa Kinana. It is dry and crunchy like traditional biscotti, it has some chunks of rich chocolate but the kuromame black beans, though baked and encased in crunchy biscotti they are still soft and chewy! There is some kodawari at work here. This contrast in texture and attention to detail really impresses me. The chocolate cookies are really moist and dense, about a mouthful each. The soba boro are cracker-thin and very crunchy. I have never had sobo boko like that.

Kinana only makes 20 of the autumn parfaits everyday and usually runs out of the key ingredient, chestnut mousse by 2 pm, earlier on weekends. This parfait will only be available in October and November. I am looking forward to the winter seasonal parfait, and the autumns to come!

Gion Kinana Owner Ice Cream Chef Katsuji Omoto

About Kyo Kinana (京きなな)
For many years owner chef Katsuji Omoto had a French restaurant near Kitano Shrine, which is a somewhat outlying area of Kyoto. In 2002 he decided to move into the center of town and to close his restaurant and open something like a cafe with baked sweets. He rented a space in Gion but after he signed the lease and moved in he was told by the owner that he couldn’t use heat or flame in the space. He was quite shocked and felt deceived. Nevertheless, he took the high road and persevered. He cooly thought about what he could make without cooking and decided that it would have to be ice cream. At his French restaurant he had made his own baked desserts and ice cream, so this wasn’t entirely new territory for him.

His initial location was not ideal and it was tough going, however his ice cream was soon noticed by the media and he was featured on a television program and from there Kinana started to get very busy and develop as a new Kyoto brand.

In 2004 Omoto-san moved to his current location which has become a Gion fixture and is a very popular destination in the neighborhood for visitors to Kyoto. It is even popular with the neighborhood maiko and geiko (geisha), you can see their traditional fans displayed on the wall.

Based on Omoto-san’s original intention to do baked sweets in Gion, in 2006 he opened Yakitsukasa Kinana. (I haven’t been here yet but the baked goods served at Kinana are made here. And, they are great!) Yakitsukasa Kinana is located near Kiyomizu Temple in the scenic Higashiyama district.

Kinana is a very popular and seating is only available on the second floor. If you can’t get seated upstairs or you just want ice cream, you can have that at the standing at the ice cream counter on the first floor. Don’t go away without some dekitate kinako ice cream even if you cannot get seated!

Foodie Souvenirs
For take out Kinana offers milk jams, cookies, biscotti, candies and a few other yummies. I haven’t tried any of them but they look very interesting. I think the milk jams would make very novel ‘omiyage’ souvenirs for visitors to Kyoto.

Kinana Souvenir - Kinako Milk Jam

Kinana Souvenir - Kinana Cookie and Kinako Candy

Kinana Interior - Gion Maiko Fans

Kinana Staff Making Parfait

Gion Kobu Neighborhood (祇園甲部)
Kinana is located in one of Kyoto’s most scenic and historic neighborhoods: Gion Kobu.

Kinana Storefront

Kinana Neighborhood in Gion

SHARE! Kyoto Support Topic: Food and Drink in Kyoto
SHARE! Kyoto Support Post: Handmade Ice Cream in Kyoto

Socialize
Tweet! Tweet! Find out what’s going on in Kyoto right now, follow me on Twitter.
Facebook Find me on Facebook.

brand name: Kyo Kinana (京きなな)
Gion main store: Gion Kinana (祇園きなな)
Kiyomizu store: Yakitsukasa Kinana (焼司 喜七)

Gion Kinana in English (Main Store)
English Menu: no
English Website: none (Japanese language site: www.kyo-kinana.com)
Service: friendly
Hours: 11am – 7pm (6:30 pm last order)
Address: Kyoto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Gion-machi Minami-gawa 570-119 (京都市東山区祇園町南側570-119)
Telephone: 075-525-8300

Map

View OpenKyoto/KyotoFoodie Map in a larger map

Since I started KyotoFoodie I have received numerous inquiries from people asking where to go for teppanyaki in Kyoto. I rarely eat teppanyaki but do like it. I go to the Himorogi teppanyaki restaurant at Brighton Hotel sometimes for business dinners (when I am not selecting the restaurant). It is good but I can never justify the cost of the meal. I guess I cannot forgive bad cost performance. Hotel restaurants in Japan have uniformly bad cost performance and often the food is mediocre.

Wagyu Sashimi

Grilled Duck Breast and Foie Gras

Lobster and Vegetables

Teppanyaki and Kappo
Teppanyaki is usually beef, seafood and vegetables cooked on a hot steel grill in front of the customer. Teppanyaki is perhaps the second most well-known Japanese cuisine in the West. While it was developed in Japan, it was more popular with non-Japanese, until more recently. Kappo is very popular in Kyoto and features a counter seating arrangement in which the chef cooks and arranges the dishes on one side, and the customer enjoys them immediately on the other. Kappo is very intimate and offers the customer a chance to converse with the chef. A good chef quickly discerns the tastes and inclinations of the customer and prepares dishes accordingly. The combination teppanyaki with kappo is the sort of dining you expect to experience in Gion. Nice!

Owner Chef Tsukada Grating Wasabi for Wagyu Sashimi

Teppan Kappo Sou Owner Chef Tsukada (鉄板割烹 爽)
Chef Tsukada started working at a shinise teppanyaki restaurant in his native Kobe when he was 19 years old. He then came to Kyoto and worked at a teppanyaki restaurant at the Granvia Hotel for 10 years and opened his restaurant in Gion in April of 2007.

I asked Chef Tsukada why he decided to do a teppanyaki Japanese wagyu beef restaurant. Being from Kobe, known for some of the finest wagyu in Japan, of course played some part in his decision. However, he said that he really wanted to offer diners the best wagyu available without the prohibitive price of the famous brands like Kobe beef. To do this, he uses non-brand name wagyu. There are 14 grades of beef in Japan and the top grade is A5, the best Matsuzaka beef and Kobe beef are A5. Using A5 non-brand gives the same brand name taste, but costs about 30% less.

In addition to quality at a reasonable price, is individualized customer service in an intimate setting. Chef Tsukada said that he likes the simplicity of the kappo counter format and the direct contact with the customer. If the chef is alone in the kitchen, even if meals for 100 people are prepared, they all will taste identical. Chef Tsukada observes, listens to and gets to know each customer and adjusts the flavors and ingredients for them and recommends seasonal dishes.

He ends his course meals with some contemporary Japanese homecooking, curry rice. At Sou, curry is made with wagyu and an original roux and spice medley that he developed. I am not a big fan of Japanese curry, but many wagyu beef restaurants have their own signature curry dish, which I often like very much – hey, it’s gourmet! – and Chef Tsukada’s could not be topped.

Shark Skin Wasabi Grater

In Action – Photos from the Teppan Grill

Chef Tsukada at the Teppan

Chef Tsukada at the Teppan

Teppan: Mugwort Namafu, Atsuage Tofu and Wagyu

Teppan: Abalone

Teppan: Abalone

Teppan: Final Course, Curry Rice

Teppan: Final Course, Curry Rice

Meibutsu: Wagyu Katsu (Deep-fried Cutlet) Sandwhich

Sou Interior

Highly Recommended
• Teppan Kappo is located in extremely picturesque Gion Shinbashi, one of Kyoto’s geiko (geisha) entertainment districts.
• These districts are known for their very high prices and snobbery but Sou is open, friendly and quite reasonably priced.
• The quality of the wagyu beef is the highest grade available.
• Sou offers an excellent selection of wine, both Chef Tsukada and the manager are sommeliers.
• An English menu (with correct English) is available. The owner chef and manager worked at an international hotel for 10 years so can communicate a little in English.
• Get the meibutsu wagyu katsu sandwich for take out.
• Teppan Kappo Sou is even open until 2 am!

A dinner reservation is recommended. Ask your hotel concierge to make a reservation for you or use the email address below (simple English, please, the manager requests!)

SHARE! Kyoto Support Topic: Food and Drink in Kyoto

SHARE! Kyoto Support Topic: Sukiyaki and Yuba Reccommendations

Tweet! Tweet! Find out what’s going on in Kyoto right now, follow me on Twitter.

Teppan Kappo Sou in English
English Menu: yes
English Website: none
Japanese Website: www.teppankappou-sou.com

Service: Very good
Price:
dinner course: 8,400～ (10,500 or 16,000 yen course recommended)
ala carte also available
Reservations: Please make dinner and lunch reservations via email at least 3 days in advance.
Hours:
dinner: 5:30pm – 2:00am (1:30am last order)
Closed Sunday
Reservations: Please make lunch and dinner reservations via email address below at least 3 days in advance.
Email Reservations: teppankappou-sou (at) kki (dot) biglobe (dot) ne (dot) jp
Location and Access: Gion Shinbashi. Teppan Kappo Sou is located on the east side of Nawate-dori street, about 2 blocks north of Shijo Street.
Address: Kyoto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Nawate-dori Shinbashi-agaru, Nishino-cho 216-2 Onishi Bldg II 1F (京都市東山区縄手取り新橋上る西之町216-2 大西ビルII 1階)
Telephone: 075-551-4515

Map

View OpenKyoto/KyotoFoodie Map in a larger map

Japanese Western-style cakes and confections, called yogashi, in Japanese, I am not a fan of. They are nearly alaways fluffy, puffy, airy things, short on taste and soul. Western-style cakes and confections available in cafes or for take out in the department store food courts are nearly always a disappointment for me. Some authentic Italian and French restaurants do dessert well, but they are few and expensive. And, when you come all the way to Kyoto I am guessing that you want to try some things you can’t get back home.

When you go to Jouvencelle, you have to try the Gion Maccha Chocolate Fondue!

Gion Fondue

Jouvencelle Gion Cake Cafe
Wagashi, or Japanese confection, I am a big fan of. However, sometimes you’ve got to have some sweets from your homeland. Henri Charpentier is usually great! But, they don’t have a cafe in Kyoto.

Jouvencelle (京洋菓子司ジュヴァンセル) opened it’s doors on the day of the Gion Festival more than 20 years ago and has developed a lineup of cakes and confections that are generally Western in shape and cooking technique, however the tastes and flavoring ingredients are very Japanese, very Kyoto.

Jouvencelle’s Gion Fondue is not a hot fondue. Various kinds of cake, mochi, fresh fruit and so on are dipped into maccha chocolate – like a fondue. After you finish with the dipping the staff brings some hot milk and the leftover maccha chocolate in the dipping cup  is turned into a maccha chocolate au lait. Very nice!

Jouvencelle’s other cakes and confections are available for order and take out.

The second floor cafe has a pretty good view of Higashiyama (East Mountains) and the scenic environs below. The interior is bland as it is new, there is a small veranda that you can sit on which is nice when the weather is pleasant.

Jouvencelle has five other stores in Kyoto including one each in the food courts of Takashimaya and Isetan department stores, but none are sit down.

Dango in Maccha Chocolate 'Fondue' Dip

Strawberry in Maccha Chocolate 'Fondue' Dip

Pound Cake in Maccha Chocolate 'Fondue' Dip

Sakura Mochi in Maccha Chocolate 'Fondue' Dip

Maccha Chocolate au Lait - Just add hot milk!

Maccha Chocolate au Lait

Sakura Chocolate Fondue!

Spring Special Edition Sakura Chocolate Gion Fondue

Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to try this special edition Sakura Chocolate Gion Fondue as it was already out of season when I was there. There was still a poster in the elevator that I snapped this photo of. It looks like it includes candied bamboo shoot! Jouvencelle’s sakura chocolate is amazing and I mentioned in this KyotoFoodie Survey video way back when. I am definitely planning to try this one next spring!

'View' from the Jouvencelle Veranda - Japans Ubiquitous Powerlines, Even in Historic Gion!

Entrance to Jouvencelle

Protect Your Home from Calamity, Visit the Zen Temple Across the Street
After enjoying some Kyoto-style Western sweets be sure to visit the quaint and delightful little Zen temple called Tokei-ji across the street. It is not a famous temple but worth peeking in on. It is dedicated to a Japanese incarnation of Kannon (Avalokitasvara bodhisattva) who is worshipped to protect the home from calamities. Tokei-ji Temple offers  household fire prevention amulets. The are printed and stamped on paper and are attached to the wall of the kitchen. Fire has been the scourge of Japanese cities for centuries so these paper amulets are quite common in Japan. Tokei-ji’s amulet has the most artful calligraphy I have seen. These are cheap and travel well, you might like to get one on your trip to take home with you.

Tokei-ji Temple

Household Fire Prevention Amulet

SHARE! Kyoto Support Topic: Food and Drink in Kyoto

Tweet! Tweet! Find out what’s going on in Kyoto right now, follow me on Twitter.

Jouvencelle in English:
English menu: yes
English website: none (Japanese site)
Service/Staff: so-so
Price: 800 – 1200 yen
Location and Access: Jouvencelle is located just south of the south gate of Yasaka Shrine, near the Shijo and Higashioji streets intersection. It is a 10 to 15 minute walk from Gion Shijo Station on the Keihan Railway or Kawaramachi Station on the Hankyu Railway. Many bus lines pass through the Shijo and Higashioji intersection neighborhood.
Address: Kyoto-shi Higashiyama-ku, Yasakatoriimae Minami-iru, Kiyoi-cho 482 Kyoban Bldg 2F
(京都市東山区八坂鳥居前南入清井町482 京ばんビル2F)
Telephone: 075-551-1511
Near Sightseeing Spot:In addition to Tokei-ji temple across the street, Jouvencelle is located in the Gion/Higashiyama neighborhood so there are many, many historic temples and shrines including Yasaka-jinja shrine, Kodai-ji temple and Kiyomizu-dera temple.

Map:

View OpenKyoto/KyotoFoodie Map in a larger map

Recently I have noticed people lining up in department stores to buy rasuku (ラスク), that’s rusk, in English, I realized. This is the toasted biscuit that I cannot recall ever seeing or eating back in Minnesota. I have tried several rusk here over the past year and never been able to understand what people are waiting in line for. It just seems to be bread, crunchy dry, that is flavored either sweet or salty.

Hararyokaku Seven Spice Rusk Biscuit

How did Hararyokaku Seven Spice Rusk taste?
Gion Hararyokaku’s kuroshichimi (black seven spice) is far and away the best Japanese spice for me. It has to be tasted to be believed. I buy bread Shinshindo once in a while and I am usually underwhelmed.

As much as I like Hararyokaku’s kuroshichimi, this Kuroshichimi Rusk just didn’t do anything for me. The taste of the kuroshichimi just wasn’t there for me. I want to taste what I am eating, not just know it is in there somewhere. If I hadn’t known what it was shimichimi flavored, I think I probably would have figured that out, but I would not have realized that it was the greatest shichimi on earth, that is for sure. So, I think that this product is a failure. It could have been any kuroshichimi, any shichimi, I thought.

I sprinkled some Hararyokaku kuroshichimi on the rusk to try to improve it, but that just tasted like kuroshichimi.

My conclusion is that rusk is junk and just shouldn’t even be made. If kuroshichimi from Hararyokaku cannot make rusk taste good, I think that it is a hopeless cause. Turn the page on rusk.

Am I being too harsh? Are there some flavor combinations that just don’t work, some foods like rusk that really are just hopeless?

Hararyokaku Seven Spice Rusk Biscuit

Hararyokaku Seven Spice Rusk Biscuit

Hararyokaku Seven Spice - Detail

About Shinshindo

Shinshindo was founded in 1913 in Kyoto Japan. The founder was Hitoshi Tsuzuki who is known as the first Japanese baker to visit Paris, France to learn authentic French baking in 1924. He traveled around France and other European Nations for about 6 month and brought back the real European recipes and tastes to Kyoto. The European bread which Hitoshi started baking was enthusiastically welcomed by cultural and academic oriented people of Kyoto.  source: Shinshindo website

Shinshindo currently has 12 locations in Kyoto and a few English pages on their website.

About Gion Hararyokaku
Hararyokaku has been in business since 1704 and makes spices such as kuro shichimi (black seven spice) by hand. The recipes for their original products were developed with a Japanese that studied Chinese medicine in China. Hararyokaku’s kuro shichimi is probably my favorite spice on planet earth, it is that good! Hararyokaku is located in Gion and is a great place to get some tasty souvenirs to bring back home. (See this article for details and map.)

Hararyokaku Seven Spice Rusk Biscuit

SHARE! Kyoto Support Topic: Where to Purchase Condiments, Sauces and Spices in Kyoto

SHARE! Kyoto Support Topic: Bakeries in Kyoto

Tweet! Tweet! Find out what’s going on in Kyoto right now, follow me on Twitter.

’Do It Yourself’ Azuki and Monaka 京べに

Happy Birthday Dear Miwa
It was Miwa‘s birthday the other day and one of her co-workers gave her this interesting Kyoto wagashi called Kyo beni, literally Kyoto lipstick. I got to try some and here is what I thought:

At first sight I was like; Huh, Tsuruya Yoshinobu makes canned sweets now? What is the world coming to? The packaging is very un-shinise.

Kyobeni: Monaka Wafer and Ogura Anko – Package

Tokyo vs. Kyoto
While novel and modern, Kyobeni is not weird or nouveau. Being nouveau for the sake of being nouveau is what Tokyo is all about and that is completely un-Kyoto.

D.I.Y. is not a tradition in Kyoto. Ideally, everything is done by someone whose specialty, whose purpose to exist, is to do that task. And equally ideally, you have a specialty so that you can afford to always pay or hire a specialist for what you want to need. For example, a metal smith that only makes handcrafted finger catches for sliding fusuma screens. You don’t just drop by Home Depot to pick up a Made in China finger catch. You hire a specialist craftsman to make one just for that screen, just for that room in the house.

Well, those days have largely past and in the last decade 100, now 99 Yen Shops, discount outlets and ‘do it yourself’ inspired home centers have sprung up all over Japan. Even in the suburbs of old Kyoto there are a few now. (Even this Kyoto foodie gets his favorite Japanese junk food at the 99 Yen Shop.)

Kyobeni: Monaka Wafer and Ogura Anko

Kyobeni: Do It Yourself – Spreading Anko

The Vexing Problem of Soggy Monaka and “I want to be crisp”
Louis Kahn, the philosopher poet-warrior architect said that if you ask a brick what it wants to be it will say, “I want to be an arch.” And then you can tell that brick that arches are very expensive and the same thing can be accomplished with a concrete lintel or steel beam, and the brink will say, “I still want to be an arch”. The Kyoto approach to cuisine is like this. If you ask monaka what it wants to be, it will say, “I want to be crisp”.

Monaka is a light and airy, extremely crisp cracker or cookie-like wafer that is usually used to make something like an Oreo Cookie; two wafers of monaka with an sweet azuki bean (anko) filling. I am lukewarm on both anko and monaka but I really enjoyed this. Though freshness is of the essence in Japanese cuisine, by the time that you sink your teeth into a pre-made monaka confection, the monaka has lost its crispness due to absorbing water from the anko paste.

Tsuruya Yoshinobu saves the day with a D.I.Y. version! The monaka and anko are packaged separately in airtight packages and you apply the anko paste at the time of consumption.

Kyobeni: Making the ‘Cookie’

What Makes it Kyobeni ‘Kyoto’
Kyo-beni The monaka cookie is in the shape of a maiko’s (geisha, geiko) lipstick compact.
Ogura-an This anko is chunky with many of the azuki beans retaining their shape. Mt Ogura is in the Western Hills of Kyoto, in the Sagano district. As the different species of trees on Mt Ogura change colors in the autumn, spots of differing color are created. To the ancient imagination, this was said to resemble the spots on a deer fawns coat. This anko is not uniform in texture and has variations, and is said to be like Mr Ogura. Hence, Ogura-an. (Kind of a stretch for what I consider my wild imagination.)

Kyobeni Characters on Wafer

京 (kyo, as in Kyoto), べに (beni, red, as in lipstick)

About Tsuruya Yoshinobu
Tsuruya Yoshinobu is a popular wagashi shinise from Nishijin that has successfully expanded and now has stores in many of the department store food courts throughout the country. Tsuruya Yoshinobu’s main store (honten) is on the north-west corner of Imadegawa and Horikawa streets in the Nishijin neighborhood.

One things though about these old shinise shops in Kyoto; they never change. (Or, so they say.)

Kyoto Souvenir Shopping List
Kyobeni ought to make a very good foodie souvenir to take back an authentic and crispy taste of Kyoto.

SHARE! Kyoto Food and Drink Forum

Tweet! Tweet! Find out what’s going on in Kyoto right now, follow me on Twitter.

Izuju: The Best Kyoto Style Sushi in Kyoto 祇園いづ重 京都寿司
I went to Izuju this morning and met the owner, Kitamura-san and heard all about their authentic Kyoto style sushi. It was quite an experience! Izuju has been in business for almost 100 years and is located on the corner of Shijo Street and Higashi O-ji, right across from the bright orange gate of Yasaka Shrine.

Izuju only makes Kyoto style sushi. The ‘edomae’ Tokyo style nigiri sushi, the kind we are most used to seeing abroad, is not available.

Famed Gion Izuju Owner Chef Kitamura-san

Some of Izuju’s greatest Kyoto sushi hits:

• sabazushi (pickled mackerel on sushi rice)
• sasamaki (sea bream, kinome and sushi rice wrapped in a sasa bamboo leaf)
• hakozushi (literally box sushi, in summer grill hamo pike eel and in winter sawara Spanish mackerel pressed onto to sushi rice in a wooden form)
• mushizushi (literally steamed sushi, this is a winter favorite, usually a lot of dashi in the rice then steamed)
• inarizushi (sushi rice with simmered vegetables in deep fried tofu skins*)

Of course there are other sushi dishes but these are the main dishes.

Inarizushi (inari sushi) is a Kyoto culinary fixture that has never moved me, Izuju’s astounded me though. Miwa says that Izuju’s inarizushi is the best in the world.

Izuju Kitchen Tour

After chatting over tea about sushi and Izuju with Kitamura-san, he invited me in back to see the kitchen. The restaurant is quite small, so I hadn’t realized that there was a kitchen in back. Several dark rooms with soot stained machiya rafters lead to a earthen hearth. I couldn’t believe my eyes, right here in the heart of Gion they are still cooking with wood! Using a handfull of used chopsticks, Kitamura-san fired it up and started simmering the days deepfried tofu inari pockets for inarizushi.

In the adjacent room staff were removing bones from aji horse mackerel for a seasonal sushi.

Gion Izuju Kitchen Tour

Firing up the hearth. On the left is where they cook rice and on the right is where they simmer inari pockets.

Gion Izuju Kitchen Tour

Now this hearth may look old, but it isn’t. They had it rebuilt 5 years ago and it needs repairs fairly often. There is only one person left in Kyoto making and maintaining these hearths, Kitamura-san said.

Gion Izuju Kitchen Tour

Simmering inari pockets.

Gion Izuju Kitchen Tour

Paper talismans from Atago Shrine to protect the home and business from fire is a very common sight even in modern Kyoto. As Izuju still uses a wood fire for cooking, they have a while lot of them stuck to the wall behind the hearth!

In the main kitchen they were cleaning fish and making inarizushi.

Gion Izuju Kitchen Tour: De-boning Aji

They are using metal tweezers to pull the bones out of these horse mackerel fillets.

Gion Izuju Kitchen Tour: Inari Sushi and Rice Stuffing Mixture

Gion Izuju Kitchen Tour: Inari Sushi

Making Sushi: Sabazushi

Back out in front, at the entrence is where they make the sabazushi. Often times sabazushi is formed in a wooden box form, but Izuju makes theirs into a roll. The process is rather simple:

• Layout vinegared mackerel fillet
• Form rice to shape
• Place rice atop mackerel fillet
• Roll inside cloth for form
• Roll inside kombu

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

How to Make Kyoto Sushi – Sabazushi

Shinise Restaurant Interior

The interior of Izuju is quite an experience. Everything has a meaning and a reason for being there. Most of the decorations are from the restaurants past and were significant to its development.

Gion Izuju Restaurant Interior

Gion Izuju Restaurant Interior: Storefront Sign

This boat and rice paddle used to be Izuju’s shingle! Quite a sign. Izuju developed a trademarked name for their sushi presentation which was served in large wooden ‘boats’ like the shape of the sign.

Gion Izuju Restaurant Interior

Up to modern times, Izuju and similar operations did catering and takeout. These plates are what were used to serve their sushi at nice ‘restaurants’ in Gion. The paper one the wall is musical score from traditional Japanese Noh theater. The name for their trademarked sushi presentation comes from a Noh play, this is the score for that play.

Gion Izuju Restaurant Interior

Interior Details

The narrow vertical peices are Kitayama Sugi (Japanese cedar from the north mountians of Kyoto), the heavily abraded and eroded planks are from the inside of a well! I have never seen this before.

Interior Details

The plank here is from a wooden boat on Lake Biwa. Peices of wooden boats from Lake Biwa are a very common sight in Kyoto. Kitamura-san said that these peices were collected during the war. Even during a time of such hardship the previous owner still didn’t pass up a chance to score some interesting wood!

Kyoto Sushi Facts

I talked to the owner for an hour or so this morning and here are a few things that I learned. (I learned a lot!)

- Traditionally sushi restaurants were closed in the summer months, from right after the Gion Festival (July 17) to September.

- Before World War II most restaurants didn’t prepare food on site. The owner would get a reservation and budget from the customer and then order each dish from speciality shops. For example, Izuju was one of the top choices for sushi in Kyoto.

- Edo mae (Tokyo style) nigiri sushi came to Kyoto thanks to the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake with sushi shops that relocated to Kyoto.

- Izuju was previously located at the intersection of Sanjo and Kawabata streets. During World War II they came to work one day and found an order posted on their storefront say to leave within one week because the block was going to be demolished by the military government. (A number of neighborhoods in Kyoto were leveled during the war to make makeshift runways, firebreaks and etc. These actions were militarily useless and only increased the suffering of the Japanese people.)

Izuju packed up a wagon and moved to their current location. They never even unpacked as they thought that they would have to move again. Fortunately the war ended soon after, and of course they now have probably the very best location in all of Kyoto. They left the wagon in their storehouse for several decades, as it was when they left their Sanjo location.

- Izuju has used the same rice, fish and kombu dealers for their entire history. No competitive bidding for business here!

- Izuju has not changed their recipes or sushi line-up since they started. (They did have to add one item to the menu based on a law made my General MacArthur during the occupation.)

- They still cook over a wood fired hearth. There is no sushi restaurant in Kyoto that still does and there are only several tofu shops that still do. They use used chopsticks as kindling and the fire department gets called by mistake several times a year by people thinking there is a fire in the heart of Gion!

Highly Recommended

Izuju is a restaurant whose sushi I have had many times take out at friends’ houses, as omiyage, etc, although I have never eaten in the restaurant, even though I walk or bike past it once or twice a week. I was deeply impressed by this casual, friendly, down to earth yet extremely sophisticated and ‘bases loaded homerun’ tasty restaurant.

Izuju is old Kyoto, in the heart of Gion, right across the street from historic Yasaka Shrine. It could be so easy for them to be full of themselves, stuck-up and haughty. Yet Kitamura-san, the owner was so humble and so kind and so sincere in his love of sushi and his restaurant. While I was taking photos in the other room, customers started coming in and I sensed that they were truly grateful to be able to buy his sushi and that he was truly honored to serve them. I can only believe that the soul of this restaurant accounts for the taste. The taste, while sophisticated, historic and deeply Kyoto, I would describe as elevated homecookin.

I was impressed with this restaurant beyond my ability to articulate. It is just so down to earth yet so elevated. I cannot think of a similar restaurant in Kyoto. (I am sure that there are some.)

For a sushi restaurant and a Kyoto shinise, Izuju is not expensive. If you are on a budget, you can enjoy a modest sampling of sushi, the likes of which you cannot find anywhere else in the world, including Japan, for like $10 or so. If you like sushi and are on a budget but can afford to spend like $50 per person on one nice meal on your visit to Kyoto, I would say that Izuju is THE place to go.

Map

View OpenKyoto/KyotoFoodie Map in a larger map

Tenshu, located in Kyoto’s Gion district serves a famous tempura dinner course and an equally famous donburi at lunch. Tenshu is a very famous restaurant, countless celebrities and national politicians dine at Tenshu. On a weekend you can expect to wait 30 to 60 minutes to be seated for lunch!

On the recommendations of several Japanese friends, I visited Tenshu for lunch.

Tenshu is located in Gion, the most well known and vibrant hanamachi (geisha district) of Kyoto. Tenshu is located just west of Yasaka Shrine on Shijo Street (四条通り, Shijio-dori), just a few blocks east of the Kamo River.

I went on a weekday and arrived around 11:30 and was able to get seated immediately.

Tenshu is a small restaurant and seats about a dozen guests (not unusual in Japan), mostly at a single counter and there is a single table.

Actually, I was a little disappointed. Tenshu is a bit run down and grungy. However, the staff is friendly and the service is prompt.

I was seated at the counter, which, like a sushi bar has a glass barrier. On the other side there are two cauldrons of boiling oil where the chef deep-fries the tempura. Now, I think that the theatrical aspect of the Japanese culinary experience is wonderful, but in this case, there wasn’t much to see. Ya just drop the tempura into the oil and pluck it out when it’s done, right?

After I sat down I noticed that the counter, my tray and so on, was all covered in small droplets of oil! I became acutely aware of the smell of oil permeating the place. The people next to me seemed to be regulars and appeared completely unfazed so I decided to just put being bathed in oil droplets out of my mind.

The lunch menu consists of four tempura donburi (天丼, tendon) dishes. There is saltwater eel (穴子, anago), shrimp (海老, ebi), mixed (anago and ebi) and the famous kakiage (かきあげ). I had the kakiage tendon which is gigantic. The kakiage tendon contains 6 kinds of diced vegetables including Japanese sweet potato, kabocha squash and several varieties of greens.

Tenshu is very particular about all the ingredients that go into it’s famed tempura. The water for the tempura batter comes from Mount Atago, north-west of Kyoto. The eggs are special (exactly in what way is unspecified). The old for deep-frying is sesame oil!

The kakiage doesn’t even come close to fitting in the donburi bowl. After deep-frying, the 2.5cm thick piece of tempura is dipped in slightly sweetened tare, but only half. The dipped half is placed on top of the rice, on the un-dipped half you sprinkle maccha-salt (powdered green tea mixed with, salt) — this goes great with tempura! Maccha-salt is served only by fine tempura restaurants.
The tendon dishes are served with tsukemono (Japanese pickles) and miso soup.

Tenshu Kakiage Tempura Donburi
The house tsukemono on the left and in the red bowl (top center) is the maccha-salt mixture to be sprinkled on.

Tenshu Kakiage

Tenshu, Gion
Notice the board on the upper left, the images are of celebrities and Tenshu appearances on TV.

critique: Well, Tenshu comes highly recommended by Japanese however I was underwhelmed. The kakiage tendon is a monotonous, one-dimensional dish. It’s huge and oily. I couldn’t finish mine. I would like to go back and try the anago and mixed tendon. Dinner is 13 courses of tempura, and though the menu looked great, I am sure that I could not enjoy sitting through all 13 courses, while being steeped in cooking oil.

If you are just looking for a great tasting meal, you might want to give Tenshu a second thought. If you want to try something in Gion that is very, very popular with Japanese, and that is not ridiculously expensive, give Tenshu a try.

English: no English menu, no English website, the staff is quite friendly.