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[2023] If you drink in Kyoto! 14 Recommended Izakayas
Kyoto is full of unique restaurants, from machiya (traditional townhouses) where you can feel the historical atmosphere to hideouts tucked away in the back alleys. In this issue, we pick up our editor's recommended gourmet spots for lunch and dinner, including izakaya (Japanese-style pubs), sake bars, and bars that are conveniently located within a 10-minute walk from Kyoto Station! We introduce popular restaurants for stopping by before or after a train ride, for year-end and New Year's gatherings, and for selecting restaurants for the coming season. Why don't you enjoy delicious drinks with our exquisite menu while soaking up the comfortable atmosphere? (TEXT/Yurie Sugisaki, EDIT/Moe Sawamura)
A restaurant serving pickled vegetables that is attracting a lot of attention for opening the door to a new food scene. The vegetables from their own farm in Kyoto are pickled with wine, oil, miso paste, and other flexible ideas, and are highly valued as accompaniments to alcoholic drinks. The unique drinks, such as seasonal pickled vinegar sours and herb-soaked gin, are also not to be missed.
Three kinds of daily pickled vegetables are served from 2,000 yen and up, with the pickling method and combination of vegetables carefully selected to bring out the best flavor of the vegetables.
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Private room / No
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The signature item on the menu is the xiaolongbao! The skin is made to order and stretched to the thinnest possible thickness for a surprisingly light texture, and the filling, such as chicken broth simmered for seven hours, is also carefully selected. The steaming process, which takes place on the customer's table, is also a highlight. Enjoy the freshly prepared delicacies with a medicinal drink, Qingdao beer, or other exotic alcoholic beverages in hand.
Small basket truffle (4 pieces): 1,210 yen. Steamed on the table for 4 minutes. Add a dash of black vinegar if you like to taste.
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Private rooms available / Semi-private rooms available
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Twelve types of craft beer are on standby in the open-air atmosphere of the renovated 100-year-old machiya townhouse. Enjoy stylish dishes made with Kyoto ingredients as snacks. After dinner, you can enjoy coffee brewed by the barista and manager, and the homemade canele and other sweets are also popular. If you want to spend a stylish time, this is the place to go.
Hamo no Fish & Chips - Hamo no Tartar Sauce with Shibazuke (Japanese pickled garden eel) - 1600 yen, a limited time menu item. The moderate acidity of the Shibazuke pickles and the fried hamo go perfectly together!
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Private room / 1 room: Table seating (6-10 persons) x 1
Private parties/allowed
There is always a line in front of the restaurant waiting to get in. This is because this restaurant offers high quality meat at a reasonable price. Professionals who know Wagyu beef inside and out are the connoisseurs, and they keep costs down by buying only one head of beef. The all-you-can-drink course starts at 4,000 yen, and lunch, which can be ordered until 5:00 p.m., is also popular, as is the boatload of six different cuts of beef to compare.
In addition to the 3 types of yakiniku lunch that are determined by the arrival status of the day, beef tendon curry and stone-grilled hamburger lunch will appear, so you can enjoy the fun of choosing. Prices range from 850 yen to 1500 yen
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Private room / No
Private parties/not permitted
The bar offers a different menu for each province each month, so that you can enjoy a round-the-clock tour of Italian food in a year. Many repeat customers come back to discover new dishes each time they visit. There is a wide variety of alcoholic beverages, with more than 50 different types of wine available by the bottle alone. Pizza, meat, and fish dishes baked in a large stone oven are superb, with all their deliciousness locked in. Come and enjoy a wide variety of Italian cuisine.
Il Sole, which means the sun in Italian, is 1980 yen. Crispy & moist coexist in this thin Roman-style pizza.
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Private room / No
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An izakaya where you can casually enjoy delicious tofu and fried bean curd will open in February 2024. The menu includes a variety of tofu dishes such as chilled tofu, which allows you to directly feel the flavor of tofu, and menchikatsu (fried tofu cutlet) with aged meat and tofu. The name of the restaurant means "good weather for everything, good encounters, and good fortune. Rediscover the charm of tofu in a space filled with happiness.
The most popular specialty, the fried bean curd (630 yen), is not heavy and has a crispy texture. Enjoy it with homemade yuzu miso (soybean paste), and finish with dashi soy sauce to change the taste. Kitsune highball 530 yen
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Private room / No
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Neon signs create an exotic mood at this Korean restaurant. Recommended dishes are pancakes and japchae, home-style dishes of the owner's mother arranged to Japanese tastes. Each floor of the three-story restaurant has a different interior design, so repeat customers are sure to find their favorite space.
The signature dish, the King of Chijimi, is 800 yen. It is filled with pumpkin, chives, onions, cabbage, and pork. In addition, Korean rice cake "tteok" is added to make the dish chewy and satisfying!
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Private room / 1 complete private room: 1 table seat (up to 10 persons)
Private parties/allowed
[The legendary yakitori stall Seseri, which gained popularity near Yoshida Shrine, has opened a new location. By taking a seat at the counter, you can watch the juicy skewered seseri and liver being grilled up close, creating a live atmosphere. The owner's mother taught herself to make water kimchi, which is also very popular. Reservations are recommended.
Yakitori: 300 yen each. Tare (sauce) is recommended for seseri and tsukune. Don't miss the liver, which is grilled with salt and drizzled with sesame oil.
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Private room / No
Private parties/not permitted
This restaurant was started by two childhood friends, Mr. Fujimoto, the manager and bartender, and Mr. Ueda, a former hotel chef and vegetable sommelier. The restaurant offers French and Italian cuisine that combines Kyoto ingredients such as white miso paste and seasonal vegetables. The restaurant offers a wide selection of alcoholic beverages, including wine and whiskey, so ask for a pairing recommendation.
A luxurious dish of today's rare cutlet made from fresh fish, which can be eaten as sashimi, and deep fried crispy for 1,200 yen. The burnt butter sauce is mouthwatering.
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Private room / No
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An okonomiyaki restaurant that has been loved by Kyotoites for about half a century. The popular sticky rice cake has a sweet and spicy sauce that whets the appetite and goes well with alcoholic beverages. The teppan-yaki menu is also excellent, including horumon udon (hormone udon), which is a perfect match of the flavor of hoso (fish bones) and spicy sauce, and tonpeiyaki, which is simple and brings out the best flavor of the ingredients. Try the soul food of Kyoto.
BETAYAKI BUTSUITAMA: 650 yen. Cabbage on thin dough, pork and kujo-negi (green onion) layered on top, then topped with a raw egg. With soba (buckwheat): +200 yen.
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Here you will find a variety of unique and creative kushikatsu, such as Dashimaki and Neapolitan. The owner, who trained at a long-established kushikatsu restaurant in Osaka, carefully coats the kushikatsu and deep fries them in high-quality oil, making them crispy and light to the touch.
The last dish of the 6,600 yen Miyako Course is the restaurant's famous sea tigers. The powerful size and plump meat are astonishing!
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Private room / No
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This bar is named after the Spanish word for "let's talk. Paella and ajillo are made with Kyoto ingredients such as vegetables grown in Kyoto and fish shipped directly from Maizuru Port, and you can enjoy Spanish cuisine that makes the most of the flavors of the ingredients themselves in a warm and inviting space. The staff are certified sommeliers, so you can ask them about Spanish wines that go well with the cuisine.
The aroma of garlic will whet your appetite! Shrimp and kujo leek ajillo (1,188 yen) is a dish that you must repeat!
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Private room / 1 semi-private room: 1 table seat (3-4 persons)
Private parties/allowed
A few minutes' walk from Kyoto Station is a cute building reminiscent of a back alley in Italy. The restaurant offers homemade fresh pasta, stone oven pizza, and other traditional southern Italian dishes. The pizza baked in the stone oven is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The Basque cheesecake and other sweets are also authentic, so don't miss them.
Margherita ExtraFresh ¥2,420. Iconic tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, tomato sauce, basil and granapadano on top.
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Private rooms / 1 semi-private room: 1 table seat (4-6 persons), 2 full private rooms: 1 table seat (7-10 persons), 1 table seat (17 or more persons); other numbers on request
Private parties/allowed
Since its opening in May 2024, this new restaurant is popular for its nostalgic atmosphere. Sit at the counter and watch the seasonal vegetables and fish being smoked on the sunken hearth in front of you. The menu other than iroriyaki is also of high quality, including an assortment of fresh fish sashimi purchased directly from the market. Enjoy a nostalgic moment with a glass of sake or shochu.
Assorted sashimi 1,380 yen per person (photo shows 2 servings) *Order from 2 servings
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