Dashi broth, udon noodles, chicken, egg, mushrooms and shrimp tempura are all placed in a covered earthenware nabe pot and boiled vigorously over high heat for several minutes. This dish is called nabeyaki udon, it is served piping hot in the nabe pot that it was cooked in. Kakutani’s nabeyaki udon cannot be topped!

Nabeyaki Udon
Nabeyaki is served literally boiling hot and the heavy earthenware nabe holds heat. So, you will want to be very careful not to burn your tongue. I sprinkle on shichimi (seven spice chili powder) and just let it sit for a bit. This allows it to cool and the shichimi flavor to be absorbed. Next use the small ‘torizara’ bowl to serve small portions that will cool down quicker.

Nabeyaki Udon: Served

Shichimi is in the bamboo container on the left. You just pull out the peg and sprinkle it on.

Nabeyaki Udon: Shichimi Added

Nabeyaki Udon: Shiitake, Egg and Udon

Nabeyaki Udon: Egg and Udon

Nabeyaki Udon: Shrimp Tempura and Udon

Kakutani Interior

Kakutani Restaurant
One of the first restaurants, maybe the very first, that I discovered after moving to Kyoto for graduate school some years ago was Kakutani. Kakutani is a shinise restaurant that has been in business since the late 18oo’s and is on the south side of what is now Kyoto University. Kakutani’s soba is excellent, their dashi broth is great, but in the winter, when it is cold, there is nothing that I like better for lunch than nabeyaki udon and Kakutani’s simply cannot be topped.

Kakutani is a very friendly, family run restaurant. In the winter I only order their nabeyaki udon. I walk in the door and they smile and say, ‘nabeyaki?’ I’m like, ah, yeah, how’d ya guess? This time, I hadn’t been there for like three years because I moved, and I didn’t think that they would remember me. But, without fail they did. They even remembered what I would be ordering! Now that’s service!

Kakutani Showcase

Shinise style plastic food.

Kakutani Exterior

Kakutani is located in the Shogoin neighborhood. This is where Kyoto’s most well known wagashi and omiyage, Yatsuhashi comes from. In the neighborhood you can visit a number of Yatsuhashi shinise stores and try the countless variations of this simple confection that are offered.

For sightseeing, nearby is Heian Shrine, and on Yoshida ‘Mountain’ there is Kurodani Temple, Shinnyodo Temple and Yoshida Shrine.

English and Access
Kakutani 京都 かく谷老舗
English service: No English menu but you can see most dishes in the show case, just point to order. The owner/staff are all very friendly.
Website: www.kakutani-rouho.com (Japanese language only)
Hours: – (only open for lunch)
Location and Access: Kakutani is located just northwest of the Higashi-oji and Marutamachi intersection.
Address
: Kyoto-shi, Sakyo-ku, Shogoin, Sanno-cho 39 (京都市左京区聖護院山王町39)
Telephone: 075-771-2934

Map

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Asuka is a restaurant that I have been going to since even before I lived in Kyoto. It has never disappointed me. Asuka serves ‘teishoku‘ set menu meals and offers ‘ippin‘ a la carte dishes. The atmosphere is friendly, the prices are reasonable, the home cooking style food is delicious and it is located near the museums and Heian Shrine in Okazaki Park. Asuka is very popular with locals and foreign visitors.

Downhome and Tasty in Stuffy Old Kyoto
Asuka, run by several yakety-yak older ladies, is down home and low key in a way that very few restaurants are in Kyoto. Asuka reminds me more of an Osaka restaurant than one in Kyoto.

As the restaurant is just a 30 second walk from the Higashiyama Subway Station on the Tozai Line, which is the jump-off point for the museums in Okazaki Park and Heian Shrine, Asuka always seems to have several foreign customers. Asuka is about the most foreigner friendly place I know in the city. A wholesome and tasty teishoku meal can be had for under 1,000 yen, which makes Asuka a good deal.

I stopped in the other day on an early winter day for a late afternoon lunch. I ordered a set meal that included simmered fish head chunks, however most dishes at Asuka a lot more conventional and ‘foreigner friendly’.

Buri-ara Nitsuke Teishoku

Buri-ara Nitsuke: Yellowtail Head Chunks Simmered in Shoyu

Buri-ara Nitsuke: Yellowtail Head Chunks Simmered in Shoyu – detail

Teishoku
Teishoku, literally ‘set meal’ in Japanese, is very common and economical, especially for lunch. Teishoku usually includes fish, a rice or noodle dish with 3 or 4 other small side dishes and miso soup. Asuka offers several Kyoto-style noodle dishes and always several seasonal teishoku meals, usually featuring fish.

I had the seasonal buri-ara nitsuke teishoku, that is chunks of yellowtail head simmered in sweetened soy sauce and ginger. The other dishes included rice, miso soup, tofu, simmered vegetables and pickles. Plucking out the bits of meat from a fish head is not for everyone and Asuka offers plenty of other dishes that are far easier to eat.

Ippin
Ippin, literally ‘one dish’ is popular fare at drinking establishments such as izakaya. Asuka offers a huge menu of seasonal, ippin dishes that go well with beer or sake or add some bulk to a teishoku. (If you are a sake aficionado, Asuka’s sake selection is nothing to write home about. You might want to stick with beer.)

If you are going to Asuka for a leisurely dinner, you can order a number of ippin dishes and split them among your party. This a very popular way to eat out with friends in Japan.

Asuka Interior

Asuka offers a small counter with chairs and four tables on tatami mat. If the restaurant is smoky you can ask to be seated upstairs.

Asuka Storefront

English and Access

English menu: yes (understandable English)
English website: none
Service/Staff: Very friendly
Hours: 11am-11pm, closed Mondays
Location and Access: Asuka is just a few steps from the North exit of Higashiyama Station on the Subway Tozai Line.
Address
: Kyoto, Higashiyama-ku, Sanjo-dori, Jingumichi Nishi-iru Nishimachi 144 (京都市東山区三条通神宮道西入西町144)
Telephone: 075-751-9809

Map

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Near sightseeing Spot: Asuka is about a 5 minute walk from the museums in Okazaki Park and Heian Shrine. The start of the Philosopher’s Path at Nanzenji Temple at the foot of the Higashiyama Mountains is about 25 minutes away.