Kyoto Guesthouse Oyado Kei

An amiable couple from Nagasaki run this restaurant. The husband, an admirer of Kyoto cuisine, left his family’s kappo restaurant to gain experience in Kyoto. As he studied ways to present food, he fell in love with the bounty of ingredients available and decided to go independent. His habit is to visit producing regions, securing fresh ingredients in season, such as picking wild edible plants and mushrooms in Miyama and angling for sweetfish in Shiga. Under the tutelage of a potter, he makes his own ceramics, on which the couple serve their culinary creations.

Flexible and creative while revering the classics, Kinobu adds new twists to the way Kyoto cuisine reflects yearly events and the changing of the seasons. At the heart of the chef’s approach is a restless curiosity. He corresponds regularly with overseas chefs to deepen his store of knowledge. His ‘wine menu’ of dishes that pair well with wine is an innovation that broadens the scope of kaiseki. Kinobu began as a caterer and transformed itself into a ryotei. Treading a contemporary path, Kinobu keeps its eye on the future.

The first feature to catch your eye in the tasteful tea-house style interior is the lacquer counter, which the chef polished and coated himself. ‘Kentan’ means ‘the deep pursuit of self-improvement’. The seasonal interior decoration, serving ware and cuisine combine harmoniously to celebrate the history and food culture of Kyoto. Modern cooking techniques are also adopted here, such as grilling over low flame. A place to appreciate Japanese cuisine in a broader context.

Countertop French dining in a merchant’s house with a brick oven. The classic cuisine here is interlaced with woodfire cooking learned in Spain. Shiitake mushroom and shrimp wrapped in pie pastry is a feature menu item. Sauce is thoroughly reduced over the fire, wreathed in smoke from the embers. ‘Ima’ means ‘now’, inviting you to live in the moment. Every dish is imbued with the magic of wood smoke; all focus trained on the moment when the flavour of the ingredients leaps out.

Meika Hoshino breathes her own creativity into Korean royal court cuisine, which she studied in Seoul. Prix fixe offerings follow ‘yakushoku-dogen’, the idea that diet has an essential role in maintaining good health. The double-tiered food box filled with multi-coloured items is an inspiration drawn from Korea’s courtly dining tables. Namul and kimchi are prepared with Kyoto vegetables; cuisine from the early Joseon dynasty comes from a time before chilli peppers were introduced. A dialogue between traditional cooking and modern sensibility brings Korean culinary culture to a wider audience.

The name ‘Wagokoro’ was chosen as the chef aims for cuisine that calms the soul. Rather than pursue beautiful presentation for its own sake, the chef seeks a natural appearance that delights the hearts of diners. This commitment shines in grilled items such as rolled omelette and sweetfish, as well as in bowls of stewed items. Handmade thick-fried tofu and fish cake are the perfect companions to their broth. Flavours as only a chef who has toiled earnestly in the fields of Kyoto cooking can produce.

The chef, a native of the Goto Islands, weaves the flavours of Nagasaki into his prix fixe menus. He beguiles his guests with the fish of his native region, served as sashimi and wanmono. ‘Hatoshi’ is minced shrimp between two slices of crispy fried toast; Goto udon is a beloved local old favourite. With cultivated kappo technique, the chef turns common dishes into pictures of elegance. ‘Hakuran’ is an amalgam of his parents’ names. Sharing the charms of Nagasaki with the diners of Kyoto is an act of gratitude to his hometown.