Muromachi Wakuden

All of the ingredients used in the kitchen of this Kyoto kaiseki restaurant (a type of dining with its roots in the courtly culture of the old capital) are on full display before you as you sit down at the counter. Part of the experience is watching the full process of transformation as Chef Shinya Matsumoto turns these components into excellent traditional dishes. The seasons play an important part in the menu here, with wagyu beef shabu shabu, grilled abalone, conger eel wrapped in matsutake mushrooms, and snow crab all coming and going in that order from spring to winter. The old townhouse-style building boasts a courtyard garden, and a wide open dining space with an expansive hexagonal counter carved of chestnut wood. Not only that, the restaurant also has its own dedicated farm which produces all of the rice used here — of the same variety used in Shinto ceremonies worshipping the Japanese sun goddess at Ise Shrine. When you try the delicious Michelin-starred cuisine at Muromachi Wakuden, you’ll surely agree that a meal here is equally divine.