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Where I’d Send a Friend in Kyoto
9
items The places I actually love in Kyoto, the ones I’d text a friend before their trip. Where to eat, stay, and slow down, minus the tour-group crowds.
Map
Sections
3
Stay
Eat
Chill
Stay
A 100-year-old ryotei turned 23-room hotel in Gion, near Yasaka Shrine. Rooms wrap around a courtyard garden, there’s a sake hour in the lounge, and the kaiseki at Gion Loka is excellent. The staff make everything effortless.
Luxury hotel SOWAKA
Right on the Kamogawa, with rooms looking across to the Higashiyama hills. The most polished big-hotel option in the city if you want full service and a riverside setting, and central to everything.
The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto
Tadao Ando’s nine-suite hotel on a quiet lane in Gion, right on the Shirakawa river. Ryokan calm with a serious art collection and a Jean-Georges restaurant downstairs. Small, intentional, and worth the splurge for a slow trip.
THE SHINMONZEN
Eat
Tempura in a 140-year-old teahouse just south of Gion, near Kennin-ji. Sit at the counter and watch each piece fried to order. Reserve well ahead, and if you go in summer, the sweetcorn tempura is the one to wait for.
Tempura Endo Yasaka (North)
Kyoto’s first beef restaurant, from 1869, tucked down a stone-paved alley by the Kamogawa. Come for the sukiyaki. In summer, book the kawadoko riverside terrace for dinner over the water.
Moritaya Kiyamachi
Tofu kaiseki in Arashiyama, up a path above the bamboo grove, overlooking the Oi river. A former aristocrat’s residence, quiet and beautiful, set menus only. Reserve ahead, and give yourself time to walk in along the river.
SHORAIAN
Chill
A grey-fronted cafe near the Imperial Palace, facing a crossing so you get the whole street going by from the window seat. Come for proper coffee and the thick-cut toast in the morning. Good on a rainy day.
SCHOOL BUS COFFEE STOP KYOTO
A whisky and cocktail bar in a restored downtown townhouse near Kawaramachi. Low light, a long counter, a deep whisky list, and drinks made properly. The kind of quiet, grown-up nightcap Kyoto does well. Reserve if you can.
bar K家 別館
A tiny, candlelit cocktail bar off Kiyamachi near the Kamogawa, run by a bartender-magician who builds drinks around mystery and a bit of theatre. Wooden clutter, dim light, real craft in the glass. No reservations, so come right at open or expect a ...
L'Escamoteur