Suiren

Had an amazing kaiseki here with my husband. We were the only non-Japanese there and the chefs did their best to explain the dishes to us despite their limited English. Great quality of food showcasing various cooking techniques, it was a treat for our taste buds. The rice served at the end of the meal was the best we’ve had! Highly recommend if you’re looking for an excellent kaiseki experience in Kyoto.

This is maybe the best meal I have had in my entire life. My wife and I are in Kyoto on our honeymoon as I write this, and we had such an amazing experience I had to write a review right away. We sat at a counter where we got to watch the chefs work together to create and decorate these masterpiece dishes, and the dishes were served to us by the chefs as soon as they were finished being prepared. Our first course was a coupe of potato soup with beef cheek that was to die for, followed by multiple dishes that included sashimi that looked like art and was immaculately tender and flavorful. Other dishes included dashi based soups, Kobe beef, uni, unagi, cooked fishes, a rice course, and freshly made mochi topped with a delicate cream sauce and a cherry. We were the only non-Japanese people in the restaurant (which to me, is always a good sign), and the chefs didn’t speak a lot of English (again, another good sign), but they were very generous and tried very hard to translate everything for us. When all was said and done, the chefs made sure to translate enough so that we knew of everything we ate. I also cannot speak highly enough of how reasonably priced the Kaiseki meal was. The meal for both of us together costed ¥35,000 or ~$225. For comparison, the night before, we ate at a Michelin star French restaurant and spent roughly ¥ 54,000 or ~$350. At the end of the day, the French restaurant was great, but I would without hesitation choose Suiren over the French restaurant any day. If I make it back to Japan, I will be scheduling my trip around the availability of Suiren, so that I can have this incredible experience again. Thank you to the chefs for making this meal a truly memorable experience!!

We’ve travelled extensively in Japan and around the world and have been fortunate to have dined at well over 50 (not counting repeat visits) Kaiseki restaurants at various price ranges over the years. Unfortunately, Suiren was firmly our least favourite of them all. We dined at 3 different Kaiseki restaurants during our 4 day stay in Kyoto this time and Suiren was our ‘mid-range’ option at approx ¥33,000 for two people. For what it’s worth, we thought the food itself was good for the price. But for us, the art of Kaiseki is not just about the food, but the experience as a whole. Despite making a reservation for counter seats, we were placed in a private room (which is fine), next to a room with a large family with a young kid who was yelling, singing loudly and watching videos on a phone/tablet. We could hear it all from our room and we found it extremely distracting. The pace of the course was also very slow. Quite often there was a 20-30 min gap between each course. Our reservation was at 6pm and we had planned to visit the Nijo Castle for the Sakura festival at 9pm but we could not make it even though we had asked the staff to fasten the pace. We’ve had Kaiseki dinners that lasted well over 3 hours before but those were much larger courses than what we had at Suiren. I’m seeing reviews below that say the dinner duration was 2 hours, so perhaps they were particularly busy on the day we dined. Staff we dealt with were warm and kind (a staff spilled some sake on my partner’s plate, but he apologised) but after we paid, we were left alone near the entrance looking for our shoes for a few mins before we had to go back upstairs to find someone to get our shoes back, and then no one greeted us out until we were already well out of the building. While I’m glad many people seem to have had a positive experience at Suiren, it turned our last night in Kyoto sour and we will not be returning.

You can get some terrific meals in Kyoto for not very much money if you do some research (or have the good fortune to stumble into such a place, as I did with a Keihan restaurant near Teramachi). You can also get some terrific meals in Kyoto for very much money, and the hope is that they feel worth it, which this one certainly did. You're paying for terrific ingredients, delicate knife skills, innovative combination of flavours, creative plating, etc. etc., with each dish pretty as a picture but far better tasting. The staff were kind and friendly and their English was much, much better than my Japanese. I'll be leaving Kyoto intending to return to here (and to Fiorisca, and to Kyotogohan Amami-no Keihan Komoto).

Where do I even start? The food, the friendly staff, the drinks. EVERYTHING about this place was exceptional. I had such a great time talking to the locals and the chef. We had a great time discussing rum and Cuban cigars. I will be back when I visit Kyoto again. Greetings from your Cuban friend!

amazing experience to have kaiseki omakase in kyoto. love all their selection of omakase. fresh and top quality materials. style and techniques are fine. the beef are excellent as well as selection of sushi and sashimi are unique. one thing is too much cream and it would be perfect if in every dish to minimize the carbo, because it filling so fast. the hokkaido rice is well cooked and presented 🤗🙏 nice gift to bring home is the gohan.

Amazing experience with excellent-quality food, friendly chefs, and cozy atmosphere. I’m traveling from Korea, and this has been the best restaurant in Kyoto. Had a lovely night thanks to the chefs! Definitely recommend this place to anyone.

An experience we will not forget. Such beautiful dishes composed by chef Shimo-san and his staff. The miniature obento wrapped in a red miniature furoshiki was not only a feast for the eye and pallette, but also gave us insight into the chef's playful sense of humor. We felt like we were guests in his home. They stood outside in the light rain to see us off when we left, waving cheerfully and wishing us well. We can't wait to come back. We look forward to visiting his new place in Las Vegas when it opens (October): Sanga Kaiseki Cuisine

This was a very special reservation made for me from across the globe. I felt very honored to be here. The staff is so friendly and the food was incredible and fresh. The food is served as courses and it was absolutely amazing from start to finish! Thank you for the wonderful meal! I loved seeing the chefs all work together as a team! Delicious food!