On the Menu

The experience not to miss in Kyoto is kaiseki ryori, the elegant full-course meal that was originally intended to be served with the tea ceremony and later served with sake at Edo-era merchant parties. All the senses are engaged: the scent and flavor of the freshest ingredients at the peak of season; the visual delight of a continuous procession of porcelain dishes and lacquered bowls, gracefully adorned with an appropriately shaped slice of fish or vegetable; the textures of foods unknown and exotic; the sound of water in a stone basin outside in the garden. Kaiseki ryori is often costly yet always unforgettable.

For an initiation or a reasonably priced sample, the kaiseki bento (box lunch) served by many ryotei (high-class Japanese restaurants) is a good place to start. Box lunches are so popular in Kyoto that restaurants compete to make their bento unique, exquisite, and delicious.

Compared with the style of cooking elsewhere in Japan, Kyoto-ryori (Kyoto cuisine) is lighter and more delicate, stressing the natural flavor of ingredients over enhancement with heavy sauces and broths. O-banzai (Kyoto home cooking) is served at many restaurants at reasonable cost. The freshness and quality of the ingredients is paramount, and chefs carefully handpick only the best. Sosaku ryori (creative cuisine) is becoming popular as chefs find inspiration in other cultures while retaining light and subtle flavors.

Kyoto is also the home of shojin ryori, the Zen vegetarian-style cooking best sampled on the grounds of one of the city's Zen temples, such as Tenryu-ji in Arashiyama. Local delicacies like fu (glutinous wheat cakes) and yuba (soy-milk skimmings) have found their way into the mainstream of Kyoto ryori, but were originally devised to provide protein in the traditional Buddhist diet.