Kikunoi Main Restaurant

World-famous kaiseki restaurant Kikunoi in Southern Higashiyama is THE mecca for gourmands looking for some of the best fine dining in the city.

Kikunoi Main Restaurant – image © Chris Rowthorn

Many people with more than a passing interest in Japanese fine dining will have heard of Kikunoi Main Restaurant, otherwise known as Kikunoi. Helmed by chef Yoshiro Murata, the third generation kaiseki chef of this restaurant, a meal here is nothing less than a sublime experience and a certain highlight of your visit to Kyoto.

While many Japanese restaurants do take pride in their ingredients and place a great deal of emphasis on the attention to detail, this is magnified at an institution like Kikunoi. Eating at Kikunoi is experiencing classic kaiseki at its finest. Dinner, lasting several hours, is a parade of small, exquisite dishes that represent nothing less than a distillation of the passing seasons.

If it’s spring, you can be sure it’s one of the best bamboo shoots you’ll taste; if you’re here in autumn, you may well have the finest matsutake mushrooms and wagyu beef of your life. Familiar and traditional classics like tilefish with sticky rice and ginger broth, or an assortment of sashimi, are taken to greater heights in the hands of Kikunoi’s skilled chefs. All other renditions may, unfortunately, taste paltry in comparison.

Naturally, all this comes at a price. The average lunch here hovers around the vicinity of JPY25,000, while dinner can go up to a whopping JPY65,000+ if you’re really splashing out. Reservations are essential and can only be made through Tableall or your hotel concierge. It may not be a casual destination for everyone, but it will be a kaiseki experience to remember.

For more Kyoto kaiseki choices, see our Best Kaiseki in Kyoto page.

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Name in English:
Kikunoi Main Restaurant

Name in Japanese:
菊乃井 本店

English address:
459 Shimokawara-cho, Shimokawara-dori-Yasakatoriimae-sagaru, Higashiyama-ku

Japanese address:
東山区下河原通八坂鳥居前下ル下河原町459

Opening hours:
noon-12:30pm, 5pm-7:30pm (entering)
Closed 1st and 3rd Tuesday

Price:

Non-smoking area: Yes

Nearest Transport:
8min walk from Higashiyama Yasui Bus Stop, Kyoto City Bus 206 from Kyoto Station

Reservations:
Recommended

Telephone: 561-0015

Website:
Official site (English)

Near To Here:
Kikunoi Main Restaurant is located in Kyoto’s Southern Higashiyama district. See our complete list of things to do in Southern Higashiyama, including places to eat, nightlife and places to stay.

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About InsideKyoto.com and Chris Rowthorn

• Chris Rowthorn is the co-founder of InsideKyoto.com and has an unparalleled travel knowledge of Kyoto spanning three decades. Chris has written or commissioned and edited every page on the Inside Kyoto website.
• A former author of Lonely Planet Kyoto and Lonely Planet Japan guidebooks, Chris is also the director of the Kyoto walking tour company Chris Rowthorn Tours, and Japan Travel Consulting, where you can get bespoke travel advice for your Japan trip.
• InsideKyoto.com has been cited by the New York Times and The Times of London, among many other publications and websites.