FOOD DEPARTMENT
Food & drink
Kaiseki, street food, matcha, sake, and where locals actually eat.
11 guides live in this department — more added weekly
All food & drink guides
Nishiki Market: A Practical Eating Guide
How to actually approach Nishiki Market — Kyoto's Kitchen — without wasting your appetite or breaking its etiquette.
Kaiseki Explained: Kyoto's Multi-Course Tradition
What kaiseki actually is, how a course sequence works, and what to know before booking your first one in Kyoto.
Matcha in Kyoto: Where It Comes From and Where to Try It
Why Kyoto (and Uji specifically) matters so much to matcha, and how to actually find good matcha in the city.
Sake Breweries in Fushimi: A Tasting Guide
Why Fushimi became one of Japan's great sake-brewing districts, and how to actually visit and taste your way through it.
Depachika: Kyoto's Department Store Food Halls
Why the basement food floor of a Kyoto department store is a genuinely good place to eat, not just a convenient one.
Kyō-yasai: Kyoto's Heirloom Vegetables
The traditional vegetable varieties that shape much of Kyoto's cuisine, and where to actually taste them.
Obanzai: Kyoto's Home-Style Cooking Tradition
The everyday, frugal home cooking tradition behind Kyoto's food culture — and where to try it as a visitor.
Kissaten: Kyoto's Retro Coffee Culture
Kyoto's old-style coffee shops — siphon brewing, thick toast, and a cafe culture that predates the modern coffee shop by decades.
Izakaya: How to Order at a Japanese Gastropub
How ordering actually works at an izakaya, and the small conventions — like otoshi — that catch first-timers off guard.
Shōjin Ryōri: Kyoto's Buddhist Temple Cuisine
The vegetarian cooking tradition that shaped Kyoto's food culture centuries before kaiseki existed.
Vegetarian and Vegan Dining in Kyoto
A practical guide to eating vegetarian or vegan in a city where dashi is everywhere — including where it hides.
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