Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
OFFLINE MAP
(
龍門
; 752-8181; Kita gawa, Higashiōji Nishi iru, Sanjō-dōri, Higashiyama-ku; dinner set from ¥3000;
5pm-5am; 5min walk from Higashiyama Station, Tōzai subway line)
This place may look like a total
dive but the food is reliable and authentic, as the crowds of Kyoto's Chinese residents will
attest. There's no English menu but there is a picture menu and some of the waitresses can
speak English. Decor is strictly Chinese kitsch, with the exception of the deer head over
the cash register - still trying to figure that one out. Look for the food pictures out the
front.
MACHAPUCHARE¥
OFFLINE MAP
(
マチャプチャレ
; 525-1330; 290 Kamihorizume-chō, Sayamachi-dōri Shōmen sagaru, Higashiyama-ku;
obanzai lunch set ¥1050; 11.30am-2pm, closed Tue; ; 10min walk from Shichijō Station, Keihan line)
This organic vegetarian restaurant serves a sublime vegetarian
obanzai
(Kyoto home-style
cooking) set. The post-and-beam construction of the place and the friendly owner are ad-
ded attractions. The problem is that the restaurant keeps somewhat irregular hours and the
obanzai
is not always available. Get a Japanese speaker to call and check before trekking
here. It's opposite Shōmen-yu
sento
(public bath).
| JAPANESE, NEPALESE
SANTŌKA¥
OFFLINE MAP
(
山頭火
; 532-1335; Higashiyama-ku, Sanjō sagaru Higashi gawa; rāmen from ¥790; 11am-11.30pm;
1min walk from Sanjō Station, Keihan line)
The young chefs at this sleek restaurant dish out some
seriously good Hokkaidō-style
rāmen
(noodles in a meat broth with meat and vegetables).
You will be given a choice of three kinds of soup when you order:
shio
(salt),
shōyu
(soy
sauce) or miso - we highly recommend you go for the miso soup. For something totally
decadent, try the
tokusen toroniku rāmen,
which is made from pork cheeks, of which only
200g can be obtained from one animal. The pork will come on a separate plate from the
rāmen
- just shovel it all into your bowl. The restaurant is located on the east side and
ground floor of the new Kyōen restaurant and shopping complex. They keep serving until
they run out of soup.
| RĀMEN
ISSEN YŌSHOKU¥
OFFLINE MAP
(
壱銭洋食
; 533-0001; Higashiyama-ku, Gion, Shijō Nawate kado; okonomiyaki ¥630; 11am-3am Mon-
Sat, 10.30am-10pm Sun; 5min walk from Shijō Station, Keihan line)
Heaped with red ginger and green
scallions, the
okonomiyaki
at this Gion institution is a garish snack - which somehow
seems fitting considering the surrounding neighbourhood. It's open to the elements and
you can't miss the griddles out the front.
| OKONOMIYAKI
