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2024.8.24
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Obanzai Special

[2024] The best place to enjoy obanzai in Kyoto! 7 recommended restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

One of the best places to visit in Kyoto is the so-called "Kyoto obanzai" restaurants, where you can enjoy the taste of home and traditional cuisine. Each restaurant has its own specialties and innovations, such as using seasonal vegetables and carefully prepared soup stock.
In this issue, we feature six obanzai restaurants in Kyoto recommended by our local editors! You are sure to find the perfect restaurant for you.
(TEXT: Eiko Itakura, Yurie Sano, Yumi Matsumura, EDIT: Kanako Horike)

1.Morning Japanese set meal at Shunsai Imari where you can enjoy a Japanese dish / Karasuma Oike

Shunsai Imari (Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture), located in the Karasuma-Oike area, offers Japanese set meals only in the morning. The menu features a variety of Japanese dishes paired with freshly cooked rice in an earthenware pot. In addition to Kyoto-style side dishes such as saikyo-yaki fish, dashimaki rolls, and daily obanzai using seasonal ingredients, you can also enjoy plenty of vegetables such as Japanese salad and nukazuke pickles.
In the evening, you can enjoy the luxury of local sake and shochu with obanzai lined up at the counter.

Shunsai Imari's morning limited Japanese set meal

A Kyoto breakfast for 1,900 yen, a perfect start to the day. Breakfast is by reservation only.

Imari

Imari

  • New Year's Eve Mari
  • 108 Nishi Rokkaku-cho, Rokkaku-dori Shinmachi Nishiiri Ru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
  • Six-minute walk from Exit 6 of Karasuma-Oike Subway Station
  • Tel.075-231-1354
  • 7:30-10:00 (LO), 17:30-23:00 (LO/22:00)
    *Breakfast is by reservation only.
  • Closed on Tuesdays, other irregular holidays

2.Breakfast at Kyo-nana Ajino-mura Nishiki, a popular restaurant serving vegetables and other Kyoto-style obanzai (Kyoto-style dishes) / Shijo Fuyacho

Located north of Shijo-Magayacho, Kyo-Na Ajino Murasaki Nishiki Branch (Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture) offers vegetable-based Kyoto-style obanzai in a relaxing atmosphere that combines Japanese and Western styles. In addition to the signature yuba, the restaurant also offers a daily changing selection of obanzai, including the Asa Masa Gozen and the soft cheese yuba bowl. You can also order yuba-don toppings to enjoy at home.

Kyoto Vegetable Aji no Mura Cuisine

The Asa-Masa Gozen set (1,500 yen) is a luxurious set of 12 colorful obanzai dishes. It is a great way to enjoy a variety of dishes little by little!

Inside the Aji-no-Mura restaurant

Aji-no-Mura Nishiki Branch

  • Japan's first visit to a shrine
  • 513 Masuya-cho, Nishikikoji-sagaru, Fuyacho-Dori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
  • 1 minute walk from Exit 11 of Hankyu "Kyoto Kawaramachi Station".
  • Tel. 075-252-0831
  • 8:00-15:00 (LO/14:30)
    Morning and afternoon meals are served from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m.
  • 7 days a week

3.Have a drink with fresh Kyoto vegetables and obanzai at the relaxing machiya space [Ushi-no-Hone Anaza] / Karasuma Oike

[At Ushinohone Anaza (Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto), the second branch of the Ushinohone group, which has been well-loved since its establishment in Karasuma Oike in 1993, diners can enjoy obanzai dishes centered on Kyoto vegetables and charcoal-grilled dishes cooked over bincho charcoal. The interior of the restaurant, which is a reconstruction of a historic machiya (townhouse) built in the Taisho era (1912-1926) and over 100 years old, is full of Japanese style with impressive thick beams. On the first floor, with its high ceiling and open space, there are kotatsu (table placed over a sunken table) and counter seats, and on the second floor, there is a space like an attic where you can relax in a tatami room.

Cooking at Bovine Anaiza

Three kinds of obanzai (side dishes) for 1,550 yen. Enjoy with local sake.

Inside the store of Bovine Aneza

Bull's-eye View - Uncle Sam's seat

  • 15-1 Nakano-cho, Tominokoji Nishiiru, Sanjo-dori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
  • 7 minutes walk from Exit 1 of "Karasuma-Oike" subway station.
  • Tel. 075-213-2822
  • 17:00 - 24:00 (LO/23:30)
  • Irregular holidays

4.KAMIGAMO KIRIN" is popular for its buffet lunch using plenty of vegetables from Kamigamo/Kamigamo

Kamigamo Kirin (Kita-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture) is a buffet-style restaurant where you can enjoy a variety of obanzai dishes centering on vegetables from Kamigamo and incorporating many ingredients from Ohara and Miyama. The owner, who is a certified vegetable sommelier, offers a variety of dishes from seasonal vegetables depending on the day. The restaurant also offers a wide variety of dishes served on cute bean plates and other dishes, allowing customers to enjoy the time they spend preparing their dishes as they wish. Inside the restaurant, customers sit around a large table and engage in lively conversation with each other. In addition to the buffet lunch, the take-out Kamigamo bento and daily rice ball bento are also popular.

Kamigamo Kirin no Obanzai

Buffet lunch 3,000 yen. Enjoy about 15 kinds of obanzai (side dishes) using fresh vegetables such as the famous meat miso fresh green bell pepper, today's dish, onigiri (rice ball), and even dessert!

Kamigamo giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Kamigamo giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

  • Haemerocallis fulva var. kwanso (variety of daylily)
  • 6-1 Kamigamo-misonoguchi-cho, Kita-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
  • 1 minute walk from Kamigamo Jinja-mae bus stop.
  • Tel. 075-711-1133
  • Monday-Friday 11:00-12:15 and 12:30-13:45 in two sessions
    Saturday, Sunday and holidays: 3 sessions: 11:00-12:15, 12:30-13:45, 14:00-15:15
  • Closed on Tuesdays

5.[Ai Kaiho (Obanzai Izakaya) offers a fat lunch of 4 daily specials with free refills / Toji, Tokyo

[The most popular menu at Obanzai Izakaya Aikaiho (Minami-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture) is surrounded by the owner's homemade obanzai (side dishes) such as ponkara and grilled fish. Not only are there four daily specials, including bitter gourd with salted kelp, vinegared kiriboshi-daikon, hijiki and green soybean salad, and bamboo shoots with okaka seaweed, but all obanzai and rice dishes are free refills, making the restaurant well known for its value, and it is packed with hungry people around midnight. In the evening, the restaurant is open for izakaya (Japanese style pubs), where you can enjoy not only obanzai, but also a wide variety of blackboard menus and locally brewed sake.

Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang (variety of climbing fig)

Ponkara set 1,000 yen. Refreshing fried chicken with grated ponzu. Cereal rice appears several times a week, with obanzai, miso soup, and pickles.

Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang (variety of climbing fig)

Obanzai Izakaya Aikaiho

  • Obanzai-zakaya Akaho
  • 416-3 Hachijo-cho, Minami-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
  • 13 minute walk from Toji Station on the Kintetsu line.
  • Tel. 075-204-8718
  • 11:30~14:00
    18:00-22:00
  • Closed on Saturday nights, Sundays and holidays

6.Retro street corner restaurant [Ikkan Uru-Uru] serves easy obanzai that goes well with Japanese sake / Shijo

When you open the door of the Kyoto machiya, a unique world unfolds with vintage clocks, record jackets, and photographer's photos. This popular restaurant offers a wide selection of Japanese sake, and serves obanzai, a dish made with Kyoto ingredients and Western vegetables that goes well with sake. The first floor seats guests at the counter and tables with sunken kotatsu-style tables, while the second floor seats guests on tatami matted flooring for a relaxing atmosphere.

IKKEN URU-URU: Quickly simmered yam with ume plum paste

Quickly simmered yam soaked in bonito broth with ume plum flavor - 580 yen. The pleasantly slimy and crispy texture is irresistible!

One tasting, one lucrative introspection

(a) drop of alcohol

  • marrying like a married couple
  • 601-1, Toro-cho, Higashinotoin Higashi-iru, Matsubara-dori, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
  • 5 min. walk from Subway "Gojo Station" Exit 1
    6 minutes walk from Hankyu "Shijo Station" Exit 5
  • Tel. 075-352-0680
  • 17:00-23:00 (Food LO/22:00, Drink LO/22:30)
  • Irregular holidays

7.Japanese restaurant in Karasuma where you can relax with the taste of home [seasonal dishes and obanzai (obanzai) Suzu] / Karasuma

The proprietress opened Seasonal Cuisine and Obanzai Suzu (Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture) about 20 years ago as a restaurant where customers could enjoy obanzai. Her son, Kyosho, who grew up watching his mother's back and naturally became a chef, now joins her in the kitchen and together they run the restaurant. Lined up at the counter are large bowls of freshly prepared colorful obanzai. Many of the dishes are made with seasonal Kyoto ingredients such as Kamo eggplants, Manganji peppercorns, and Kujo leeks, and change daily, making for a rich selection of about 60 dishes in all.

spelling Cooking

Stir-fried Kujo leeks and chicken with black seven spice 800 yen. Fresh Kujo leeks from Oharano, the owner's hometown, and chicken from Kyoto are used. The homemade sweet sauce made with soy sauce and brown sugar is accented with Hararyokaku's black shichimi.

Binding Introspection

Seasonal dishes and obanzai

  • Seasonal Lily of the Seasons and Obanzai Sprinkled with
  • 728, Inabando-cho, Matsubara-agaru, Karasuma-dori, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
  • 5 min. walk from Exit 5 of subway "Shijo Station".
    5 min. walk from Subway "Gojo Station" Exit 1
  • Tel. 075-341-0808
  • 17:00-22:00 (Food LO/21:00, Drink LO/21:30)
  • Closed on Sundays
*Please note that the information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
*Since this site uses automatic translation, the translation may differ from the original Japanese content.

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