Kichisen

Such a phenomenal dinning experience at the chefs table. The staff are professional, the food delightful, the plating true art. They guided us last foreigners gently through the menu and how to eat, combine and enjoy these signature Japanese dishes.

We went there for lunch started at 12 supposed, but we called them to be late for 10 min. We were seated in a private room which is very nice. As a 2- or 3- star Michelin restaurant, we were a bit disappointed as they were rushing us to finish the lunch which at first we thought could be becoz we were late for 10 min, but we finished lunch not even 13:30 still an hour before their lunch hour close… drink list is quite ok, but food was quite soso compared to other similar experience I hv. Maybe it’s becoz we had lunch instead of dinner causing the difference. A place I will not revisit nor recommend…

Had an absolutely amazing meal here! We were really boggled by the negative reviews as everything was absolutely perfect - from the staff meeting us outside the restaurant, to a small private dining room where it was just us another couple, to the presentation of all the dishes, and to the way everything tasted - which was absolutely fantastic. We’ve done many one, two, and three star Michelins all over the world and this was definitely a solid two star place. Would definitely recommend and will be back again next time we are in Kyoto.

What a phenomenal fine dining experience. I highly recommend Kichisen if you're after intricate Japanese storytelling told through beautifully presented seasonal produce. The sous chef, head chef and general staff were very attentive and did their best to converse with us, explaining each dish and holding general banter. The kid's menu was equally impressive, a cleverly simplified version of the adult menu. The flavours were so well balanced and complimentary. We were enthralled and absolutely contented with the meal. We adore fine dining for the artistry of the chef and so we are baffled by some of the negative reviews.

Initially I was worried about going to this restaurant given some of the terrible reviews, but once the first dish arrived, all my worries were swept away. Food is tasty, well made and beautifully presented. Two things that stood out particularly was the sorbet with sparkling water, which was a brilliant combination as the sparkling water really brought out the flavour of the sorbet and the futamono which was taken to the next level with the addition of yuzu. The bad reviews I’ve read stemmed from 6 to 7 years ago. If they had issues back then, those issues are resolved and in the rear view mirror

I heard Michelin supposedly only considers the food, not service and ambience, for their stars but I'm going to have to agree with a bunch of others on here that the food here is decent/good but not exceptional at all and not Michelin-worthy taste. Some of the presentations look very good. Ambience is great, we were in what used to be a tea room and we had to crawl through a tiny door to get into the room which was interesting. Service was excellent. The melon with the whisky poured on was great. But everything else just tasted good not great. But the biggest problem is there was a piece of raw chicken in one dish. I ate mine, wife did not eat hers. I have had chicken sashimi before and was unimpressed (has no taste, everything tastes like chicken except for raw chicken). 2 days later I started getting severe stomach problems which a week later when I returned home to the US tests confirmed was campylobacter, which usually starts symptoms 2 days after exposure and is common from raw chicken. Is raw chicken that risky? And they still serve it? The worst thing is it doesn't have have any taste. I can understand taking the risk if it was the most delicious thing on earth but no, it certainly did not add anything to the dish. Things are so cheap now in Japan but not here, this was still really expensive and just not that great.

If you could only experience one Kaiseki in Kyoto, this is the one! Seemingly simple dishes that bring out the very best of the season. Located by the Shimogamo Shrine, the private dining rooms are quiet and traditionally decorated. The carefully selected dining ware, attentive staff and a range of sake choices enhanced our dining experience even beyond the 3-star Michelin Kaiseki restaurant we visited. My wife and I are thoroughly impressed.

This is an amazing restaurant with excellent service, exquisitely prepared meals that are visually stunning, and each plate was absolutely delicious. Each plate prepared brings out the inherent taste of what is being served. I’m shocked at the bad reviews, but it seems that most of the bad reviews have no photos, so who knows? We made a request for reservations far out in advance, got our confirmations, and attended. We were met outside by a greeter, and taken into our own room. Each set of plates was delightful to see. The servers were attentive and explained each meal. There is a camera in the room so they know when you complete one set of plates and are ready for the next, so I assume this is why people might feel rushed? We had 6pm reservation and had a leisurely 2.5 hour dinner, leaving around 9:30 so we never felt rushed. One of our servers spoke a tiny bit of English, but between their little English and our bit Japanese and a translator app, it all worked out. Is it expensive? Yes. Is it an wonderful experience? Absolutely. Is it worth it? For us, definitely. For you? That’s something you’ll have to decide.

If you could only experience one Kaiseki in Kyoto, this is the one! Seemingly simple dishes that bring out the very best of the season. Located by the Shimogamo Shrine, the private dining rooms are quiet and traditionally decorated. The carefully selected dining ware, attentive staff and a range of sake choices enhanced our dining experience even beyond the 3-star Michelin Kaiseki restaurant we visited. My wife and I are thoroughly impressed.

For a great traditional kaiseki experience, I'd highly recommend Kichisen. The staff is super friendly, including to foreigners, which I heard wasn't necessarily the case with other top tier kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto. We dined at the counter, and the chef gave us a ton of attention, taking time to explain each dish to us. This really added to the whole dining experience. When you arrive at the restaurant, a restaurant staff member is there to greet you as you get out of your car. You're then welcomed in, and invited to take off your shoes. You're then led to your room, and that's when your dining adventure begins. The meal is expensive (we went for the 23,000 yen/person kaiseki menu), but worth it if you want a once-in-a-lifetime true kaiseki experience. Our menu consisted of: 1) Sweet rice wine sorbet served on a Japanese rose petal 2) Welcome sake 3) Yamogi (seasonal Japanese vegetables) and sesame tofu dumpling with fresh uni. This dish was delicious. The uni was incredibly creamy, and dumpling was savory and refreshing. 4) Green peas and micro tomatoes. I've never seen tomatoes the size of a single green pea before. It was really sweet. 5) Hammo sea eel and Japanese plum with yuzu flower in dashi broth 6) Sashimi course: Sea bream, shrimp, squid, toro belly, and pickled clam with tobigo. Served with a shot of sour seaweed and ginger 7) Toro cheek with daikon radish 8) Red bean mochi rice with black bean 9) Tofu with river vegetables 10) Seasonal vegetables with sea bream eggs, and fish cake 11) Baby potato with Shitake mushroom in beef soup and yuzu 12) Grilled waygu beef and pineapple on hot stone 13) Japanese pickles with baby anchovy rice 14) Dessert #1: Orange panna cotta with jelly bubbles and flower petals, served with coffee-scented fog 15) Dessert #2: Red bean mochi 16) Dessert #3: Fresh strawberries, gooseberries, and cherries 17) Matcha tea 18) Roasted smokey barley tea

Visually stunning, creative, and for the most part, delicious dishes. We opted for their most expensive course menu at around $300 USD per person, though prices start at around $150. Our dining room was extremely spacious, I was in a party of three, but the room could have seated 8 comfortably. Wait staff is polite and extremely quiet- actually, the whole restaurant was dead silent. Onto the important part...the food: All the appetizers were amazing, abalone, dobi mushi, shiitake soup, and the most amazing hon maguro o-toro. All the plates were tied to the seasons, in our case right in between fall and winter. The main courses were just ok in my book. "Hassan" is their mixed platter, served in a house dish. Consisted of tofu, egg cooked to look like a persimmon, salmon sushi, tarako, duck meatball, and marinated kyoto beef. This came right after the sashimi courses so I was hoping to get something warm, but everything was cold. The duck meatball was the best, but the rest wasn't impressive. Crab meat on the other hand was fantastic, sweet and just a hint of saltiness. Their crab miso in white vinegar was the perfect pairing. Tai Nabe was just ok, we already had 2 sashimi courses with Tai so I was hoping for a different fish for the nabe. Unfortunately the Kyoto beef that night was not up to par. It was cooked perfectly medium rare and had some good marbling but our pieces were full of gristle. We sent that dish back, but did not receive anything in its place. Overall the course progression is well thought out with a good balance between light and rich dishes. Pacing is good, though I suspect that has to do with the fact that there is a camera in our room and they timed the dishes based on how fast we were eating. Unlike most restaurants, the wait staff will instruct you on how to eat each dish, and from which order to eat them. I actually prefer that way so I can experience each dish as intended, some may find it annoying though. There are several dessert dishes that follow, the most memorable and delicious was the melon. You are literally served 3/4 of a melon...per person! We couldn't help but laugh at the gigantic portion, but wow was it delicious. So ripe that you can eat to the rind, and an intense melon flavor that you sort of doubt it's real. It's topped with dessert wine which adds an extra layer of flavor and a different kind of sweetness. It works really well. Overall, I had a wonderful time dining here, the quality of food and innovative dishes were well worth the $300 price tag.

I came here about a year ago for a Kaiseki dinner. Though pricey I saw the 3-Michelin star rating and said I can't wait to try this. The staff, the environment, and food were all great but I have to say some of the dishes were a little off to my group because there were very experimental. I had read that some Michelin star restaurants chefs get tired of having to create really experimental foods to keep their rating and give them up because they want to have the option to make delicious traditional food. As a diner, before you invest your money into an expensive meal, you want to know if you are an experimental dinner. Not a "I like different types of food" but a "I like to try things that may taste weird or confusing to my palate and I am OK with that." Again, this is not a negative aspect to the restaurant by any means, just a FYI about knowing what is "right" for you when you are here. There are times where I have wanted to experimental and eaten things like blood ice cream, balut, cow's tongue, ect. When I was at Kichisen, I realized after taking the bullet train from Tokyo, getting settled at my hotel, then taking a long bike tour through the city, I was not in an experimental kind of mood when I got to dinner.

Kichisen was my very first 3 Michelin star experience, and wow, what an experience it was. This review is a little late because I actually went to Kichisen for Oshogatsu (The New Year). First things first: getting a reservation to this place requires that you either: 1) Ask your hotel to book it for you through their concierge, 2) Know Japanese and book it yourself, or 3) Have someone who knows Japanese make the reservation for you. Because my family and I were staying at an AirBnb, I asked a friend of mine who speaks Japanese fluently to email them and make a reservation for us for the new year. They were very prompt and getting our reservation was fairly simple! I recommend you book a few months in advance, and for special occasions like the New Year, at least 4 months in advance to guarantee a spot. Oshogatsu is a huge deal in Japan and most of the time, fancy kaiseki restaurants and hotels are already booked the year before. My family and I originally wanted to have the 14,000 Yen course, but we were informed that the price was going to be 17,000 Yen for that specific day because it was a special holiday and the meal would be different. We readily agreed and booked the date. When we arrived, there was someone waiting outside the restaurant (which has a small gate in front of it but it's fairly nondescript and easy to pass) who had a notepad and was expecting us. We then were asked to remove our shoes and ushered into a private room. And then, lo and behold, the meal began. Despite the language barrier, Kichisen's staff did everything they could to try to describe the food to us and to inform us what was the proper way to eat it. Each dish was immaculate, and one of my favorite things about the overall experience was being able to see how the dishes enhanced the food they held. There were some gorgeous pieces of pottery used throughout our meal, including a particularly cool Ram-shaped pot that was placed next to a monkey-shaped pot. This was used to symbolize going from the Year of the Sheep to the Year of the Monkey! I won't go into every dish we were served (we ate a LOT!) but among my favorites: - Red bean chestnut rice with himalayan salt - Rice porridge with fish and seaweed - Blue fin tuna sashimi on ice The meal ended with a tea ceremony and they gave us our Kichisen cloth napkins to take with us! I walked away from this meal with a memory that I will never forget and hopefully will have the opportunity to come again. 100% worth the price.

Super, ultra, hyper-traditional is the best way I can find to describe Kichisen- it earns and proudly displays its 3 Michelin stars with a lot of grueling, detailed work that goes into every hand-crafted dish. Not every bite agreed with my (admittedly) Western tastes- lots of karasumi (compressed, dried fish eggs), pickled fish, etc. But, if you can get over that, you're in for one of the best meals ever. Service is attentive and English skills were pretty good- I sat at the chef's counter and got handed everything over the transom, which was a little weird but not atypical. Everyone was extremely polite, took the time to answer questions, etc. Food was, as I mentioned, EXTREMELY traditional. Sashimi, vegetable and fish soup, etc. A real high point was a huge, delicious Kobe beef steak cooked on a hot stone with a pineapple slice- absolutely incredible flavors. For more photos and details, I invite you here: ow.ly/jCrv300NwLM If you're in Kyoto and you want to get a feel for what life was like here 300 years ago, give this place a whirl. But, bring your wallet.

Kichisen is a 3 Michelin star restaurant in Kyoto. It was also the worst fine dining experience I had in Japan. The entire meal costed around $260 and the food was inferior to every other Michelin-level kaiseki restaurants I've had (e.g., SanGenCha in Kyoto, Ryugin in Tokyo, Kahala in Osaka). After eating at Kichisen, I lost my faith in the Japanese Michelin inspectors. Granted, the food was still good (and with fantastic presentation I must add), but the taste was subpar to other restaurants in the same price range. Here is my detailed review of each dish: Plum sake (5/5) -- Course started off with a small shot of plum sake. This was very refreshing and boosted my appetite. Appetizer box (4/5) - The appetizers (mushrooms, uni, chestnut, apple) were served in a beautifully decorated picnic box. The food tasted average, but the presentation was outstanding. I usually don't care about presentation but this dish was like an art. Cold soup (4/5) - Wine jello with figs. Again, a very refreshing dish. Hot soup (3/5) - Mushroom with grated ginger and fish. Very average soup compared to the one I've had at Miyoshi and Kahala. Sashimi course #1 (5/5) - Ika (squid) and Hamachi sashimi. The squid was extremely creamy to the point that it tasted almost like a paste. I was told that to make it this creamy, they had to put the squid to sleep for an entire day before killing it. Sashimi course #2 (5/5) - Sweet shrimp with toro. Probably the best sweet shrimp I've had, after eating the shrimp, we were asked to suck out its brain juice (which was even more delicious than the shrimp itself). Kyoto style pressed sushi (3/5) - This was good, but nothing mindblowing. Crab three ways (cold) (4/5) - This dish had 2 pieces of crab legs, a bowl of special crab sauce, and some body meat. The crab sauce was made out of crab brain and crab roe. To eat it, you mix the sauce and dip the leg meat in the sauce. I thought it was pretty decent, but I was hoping for some warm dish at this point, this dish still felt like an appetizer to me. Grilled matsutake mushrooms and fruits (2/5) - This was supposed to be one of the main courses, but I found it lacking in every aspect. First, the ingredients were grilled in front of me with nothing added to it (no seasonings, no sauces, nothing). Second, the matsutake mushroom did not taste good grilled, it was hard to chew and a bit dry. Fish soup (2/5) - I'm not sure what this dish was called, but it was a thick fish soup with wasabi on top. It did not taste good. Rice with mushrooms (5/5) - I actually liked the rice dish a lot. It was extremely aromatic and the rice was soft and fluffy. Apple with sorbet (3/5) - very average. One of the biggest problems with this meal was that I felt like it lacked a "main course". The grilled course didn't seem like a proper conclusion to the meal. Also, it was quite expensive for the quality of food I got.

Waiting outside for us and tell us it's raining outside, very considerate. Every dish with beautiful and different tableware, nice and simple positioning. The welcome drink is not good, the soup ok, sashimi overall ok, the sweet dessert is too sweet, the rest is good.

Best meal I had in my life.... Seriously.... We thought for once we would go to Michelin starred restaurant, and this one with 3 Michelin star. Ritz Carlton Kyoto recommend this one, and arrange it for us. You have to tell them few days in advance which menu you want. The menu only consist of price, $170, $200, $240, $270 and $300 per person. We picked the $170. I thought that was extremely pricey.... After the experience, we thought it was a bargain.... I can't believe I would say that. Put it in perspective, ticket going into Disneyland is now $100, not including meals!!!! Arriving to restaurant with taxi, they have someone greet us and opened the door for us.... Guide us into a private room that you have to "crawl" into it. The meal took 2 hrs.... Include the pics down below.... They gave us an explanation in detail what we're going thru in a letter and DVD to take home, since they don't speak very good English. They tried though, so you do know what's going on. Presentation is impeccable, taste was out of this world, and portion is perfect. You won't go home hungry.... Started with sake, ended with matcha. In between were all the fantastic meal with different premium ingredients. At the end of the visit, our waiter take us to the front, and got on his knee and bowed to us like we're royalty.... Of course the taxi already waiting outside for us.... It really is a treat.... Highly recommended.... Make it perfect by staying at Ritz Carlton Kyoto....

I give 1 star for the food & decor. But the rest, 0 star. They were really really rude. I didn't feel like they respected their customers at all. I visited there in the middle of my international trip. Because I wasn't familiar with the city, and, to respect them, (I really worried that I would be late for my 6:00 pm reservation), I ended up arriving there at 5:25 pm. We changed our shoes and waited at the entrance. Then, the only English speaking guy came out and asked us to leave and come back at 5:50. I told them it's winter, really cold outside, also, it's pretty much in residential area, and there was no where else we could go. We would have to just standing outside the door in cold weather for 35 min . So I asked if we could just wait at the hallway close to the entrance. But they insisted to kick us out. Then both me and my mom had to change our shoes back on. My mom is old, and she was slower than me. So I just stood next to her to wait for her. But the guy even asked me to leave first!!!! He didn't even give me like 1 min to wait for my mom to put her shoes on! How rude these ppl were! I would never expect such terrible attitude from any restaurant. We still had to go back because we had already made the trip there and spent $50 on the cab. However, I would never recommend this place to anyone. I really want to tell them that-- you don't make yourself superior by showing contempt on other ppl. Especially ppl who paid for both food and service.

Terrible food. Terrible service. Not sure what motivates Michelin to give this three stars but it was if anything just an expensive comedy. Having dined at many one two and three star restaurants both at home in the US and previously in Japan during our trip, this is way off the mark.

We ended up booking Kichisen as our last lunch in Kyoto, and the concierge at our hotel was able to get us set up with a full-length kaiseki dinner menu even though it was lunch hour. The entrance is pretty unassuming, as most of the buildings on the side of the road appear more residential, but once inside, it has the familiar feel of a Japanese restaurant - winding tatami hallways that eventually end up with you in one of the private rooms. You don't sit on the ground directly, but you do sit in chairs that are lower than average. Because my last name is Japanese, I don't think the restaurant was prepared for a mainly English-speaking party - so for the most part, we were on our own with regards to figuring out the details of the food. That said, they did bring out a folder with an English-language history of the kaiseki meal and how it progresses - very helpful (and informative, given we had previously eaten kaiseki in Kyoto). And overall, the service - from serving the food quickly to keeping our tea and water always filled. As with the other kaiseki meals, we started off the meal with alcohol - first, a sweeter plum wine, followed by the more traditional sake. The first couple of courses emphasized presentation of seasonal fruits and vegetables - in particular the mushrooms served inside an apple core (which added a muted sweetness), and, more impressively, chilled pumpkin soup served inside...a small chilled pumpkin - extremely delicious and very well-executed. The following soup was fried hamo and mushroom in very clear dashi broth that was both light but still really flavorful. The next course was absolutely decadent - squid sashimi, very creamy, served with tofu and a medium-boiled egg, making for an absolutely delicious plate, with the squid being of the best caliber. However, the sashimi course next outdid it - thick slices of the highest-grade o-toro I've ever seen, including high-end sushi restaurants. Combined with shrimp that really tasted more like sweet shrimp, and this was one of the best sashimi plates I've probably ever had. We moved on to a multi-part course, where crunchy roe was wrapped inside of black seaweed - a nice change of pace. We were then given a smokeless charcoal grill to lightly grill the mushrooms and gingko nuts we were given - an interesting concept, for sure, but probably the least interesting item on the menu. More interesting (and flavorful) was the hamo that was steamed on the grill next with some light vegetables in dashi broth - very light and clean flavors. But I really liked the gohan that finished off the main course. With some bits of chicken and mushroom, it was really flavorful to start with - and there was a whole bowl of it, enough for two servings each - but the shredded egg that was on top was the first time I'd ever seen egg presented in that manner in any dish, and it was light enough to not really add heaviness, but at the same time, it added that nice, slightly sweet eggy flavor that is done really well in Japan. The palate cleanser was an assortment of fruit, and dessert was very typically Japanese - a slice of red bean mochi, with the red bean flavor and coloring baked into the mochi completely. We then finished off with very strong matcha - a traditional ending to the meal. In all, this was a fantastic meal and perhaps the best one we had on our trip to Japan. There were no wrong notes hit, and the food, particularly the rice and the fish, were top-notch in terms of execution and innovation. I'm not sure I'd recommend to all foreigners (or at least make sure they are aware of language barriers ahead of time so they are properly prepared), but if you're comfortable winging it a bit, it is a meal that you will enjoy immensely.

Probably best dining experience I had. By far the best tasting, innovative (otoro with Japanese orange was such a perfect pairing and the eel soup with Japanese lime) and best serviced of all Michelin 3 star restaurants I been to in New York, Paris and London.