[2025] Shops open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in Kyoto
Among the many restaurants in Kyoto, here are 14 recommendations that locals should know about, from must-have menus for regular customers at restaurants with long lines to those that can be used for entertaining.
The concept of Gojyumatsu is to enjoy vegetables delivered from the company's own farm, Gojyusei Farm, or from cooperating farmers, together with wine. One of the most popular dishes is the salad nabe (hot pot) for 2,000 yen, which allows customers to enjoy vegetables to their heart's content. This innovative style is well received by customers, who can enjoy as many of the five seasonal vegetables as they like, including zucchini and eggplant in summer, and daikon radish and kujo leeks in winter. The dish is simple, but the tasty ingredients will keep you coming back for more, and the pork shoulder from Tamba Kogen Pork fulfills the desire to eat a lot of meat and vegetables.
This is the first of 14 Yakiniku Hiro restaurants, including Kyo Yakiniku Hiro in a spacious Japanese-style building and Yakiniku Hiro Shoten in Kyoto Station and Shijo-Karasuma for everyday use. The first store is just a stone's throw from the original Meat Shop Hiro, which opened in 1997 as the first directly operated butcher store, and has been constantly evolving since then. All wagyu beef served here is purchased at the Kyoto Meat Wholesale Market, commonly known as "Hiro Beef. The beauty of the special sliced loin that appears on the "Tonight Only Platter" is a testament to the unbeatable quality of Hiro Beef. When it is cooked beautifully on the roaster, you can enjoy it twice, first as it is, and later by dipping it in a special egg sauce.
The second-generation owner has carried on the taste and catchphrase "Marushin that Never Sleeps" since its establishment, and the restaurant is so popular with the locals that there is never a day that goes by when there is no line, day or night. The restaurant is famous for its gyoza (Chinese dumplings) and tentsun rice, but it also offers a lineup of about 80 different dishes. One of the most popular dishes, especially among regular customers, is pork tempura. The restaurant purchases pork chunks and cuts them into pieces, using the tender part of the thigh. The pork is seasoned with soy sauce and other seasonings before frying, and the sweetness of the egg in the crispy batter creates a pleasant taste that spreads in your mouth. This dish goes well with both beer and white rice, and is sure to fill you up.
Since its establishment in 2017, Menya Yuko has been known as a popular restaurant with a long line of customers. Locals and tourists alike come to the restaurant for its ramen, which is full of specialties such as juicy rare chashu pork prepared over two full days and homemade noodles with a chewy texture made by adding whole wheat flour. Three types of ramen are on standby: Shinchiku, layered with the flavor of bonito and kelp; Kurochiku, a robust, thick ramen; and the most popular, Awatake, a shellfish-based ramen that is rare in Kyoto. The most popular is Awatake, a rare shellfish-based ramen in Kyoto. The special ramen is based on soy sauce and is packed with the flavor of oysters, clams, and shijimi clams.
Since its opening in 2006, Barraca has been a leader in the Spanish cuisine industry in Kyoto. It has long been loved as a restaurant where one can enjoy traditional paella from the Valencia region of Spain. The owner, Mr. Kinoshita, who is a great lover of paella, says, "I hope that people can enjoy paella just like the Spanish people do, anytime they want to enjoy a quick meal. From this fall, the restaurant will start serving paella on plates like authentic Spanish cafes. Enjoy it alone with a glass of wine.
[Located next to the Kyoto Botanical Garden, IN THE GREEN is a pizzeria, trattoria, and cafe surrounded by greenery. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, IN THE GREEN has become a favorite restaurant in the Kitayama area. In the open kitchen of the spacious restaurant, a wood-fired oven with impressive tiles stands ready to bake pizza, the signature dish, every day. The secret to the delicious taste is the third fermentation of the dough. The light texture makes it easy to eat, so each person can eat one slice," says the chef, who never stops researching delicious food. Some days the restaurant is open for private parties, so it is recommended to check the website for business information before visiting.
Located along a charming street near Hanamikoji. The restaurant, housed in a former tea house, has a modern atmosphere with an eye-catching matcha-colored counter. Enjoy dishes that make the most of authentic ingredients, such as rare crabs and abalone, a luxury food item, which the restaurant sources from the fishing port of Manito in Kyotango. The originality of the owner's ideas, based on the deep and rich broth made from Rausu kelp, is also appealing. The steamed sea bream with crab miso sauce is made with western seasonings such as olive oil and cream to give the crab miso a mellow flavor. Enjoy this unique dish that combines the tastes of winter only available this time of year.
The Ushinohone group offers a variety of culinary delights such as obanzai and Italian cuisine, and for about 40 years since its establishment in 1985, its famous Ushinohone stew has been a favorite of customers. The deep flavor of onions sauteed until candy-colored, beef bone broth, red wine, and several kinds of vegetables is a traditional taste that takes two days to produce. I want to eat it again! It is no wonder that many people have been captivated by this dish. At Kusafudo Ushi-no-Hone, which prides itself on its vegetables, you can enjoy the tender wagyu beef used to simmer the stew with a baguette and five to seven kinds of grilled vegetables.
It has been about 70 years since the owner's grandmother established the restaurant in Jujo, Minami-ku. The restaurant's unique style of yakiniku, in which red meat and hormone are rubbed with a miso-based sauce and then mixed and grilled, has attracted fans for many years. The Shijo branch uses a custom-made extra-pressure iron plate that makes the meat juicier. Just smelling the aroma of the juices and fat from the hoso, kalbi, and halami meat, which is then coated with lightly flavored hormone such as pipe and akasenmai, while being grilled, will surely make you want to drink more beer. Take a bite of the freshly grilled meat, and you will be in agony at the deliciousness of the meat soaked in the sweet and rich sauce. It is truly a dish that makes you want to eat it irresistibly.
A restaurant specializing in gyoza (Chinese dumplings) owned by the famous French restaurant MOTOI. [The dumplings were originally made by Chef Maeda of MOTOI for his only daughter, who was too busy with work to spend much time with him. Papa Gyoza" is a signature dish that includes his daughter's favorite shrimp in the filling, and is impressive for its plumpness and chewiness. Ginger is used to enhance the overall flavor of the dumpling without garlic, and a hint of pak choi is used as an accent. We recommend tasting it lightly with olive oil and salt as sauce. The French dumplings, such as Provence dumplings with tomatoes and mixed herbs and richly flavored black truffle dumplings, are also a must-try.
Sancho is a famous restaurant that has captivated many Kyotoites with its wide variety of grilled dishes as well as its fresh salads, as the restaurant name suggests. The attractive menu lineup makes it hard to decide what to order, but the most popular dishes are the teriyaki steak and salad. The most popular dish is the teriyaki steak and salad, which is made from a rare part of the fish, the kainomi, and is particularly popular among women because of its moderate fat content. The fresh, crispy salad is topped with a generous amount of the famous homemade dressing, so that you can eat as many vegetables as you like. In addition to takeout of dishes and salads, you can also purchase dressings, jams, and other items.
Tokura is a hamburger steak restaurant with so many fans that when one thinks of hamburgers in Kyoto, this restaurant comes to mind. When you put your chopsticks into the fluffy, soft, freshly cooked hamburger steak, you can't help but squeal with delight at the juices overflowing from the meat. The secret to the delicious flavor is the combination of meat and onions in a unique blend and the exquisite cooking process, which is fine-tuned according to the temperature of the day. A total of 12 kinds of sauces are on standby to enhance the flavor of the meat. We recommend the original sauce, cheese, tomato sauce, and other standard sauces, as well as such oddities as negimiso (leek miso) and mentaiko mayonnaise.
Founded in 1977, when Italian signs were not as abundant as they are today. Second tomato carbonara, tuna, egg, and cod roe, mushrooms and scallions... the menu has about 40 standard dishes that will make you feel nostalgic. In addition to this, there are also special menus available only at the restaurants, and the fact that each restaurant has long-time fans is a characteristic of Second House, which has taken root in the city. No matter how busy the restaurant gets, it does not have a central kitchen. The Higashinotoin branch, a machiya with large windows, is scheduled to be renovated in 2024, and we look forward to the day when we can order our favorite dishes in the new space.
It has been more than 30 years since the cafe opened in Kyoto in 1990. The New York cheesecake, based on his mother's recipe, is now a Kyoto specialty. The lineup has grown to about 40 varieties, including the standard cakes such as chocolate marble and Earl Grey, and the winter special with strawberries, and 10 to 15 varieties are displayed in the case each day. They are creamy and enchantingly rich, but never heavy. The originality of the bakery is supported by the kitchen staff who fine-tune the manufacturing process in accordance with the seasons and Charles' love for making everyone happy.
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