Smart Coffee ★ 4.4
A 1932 kissaten in Kyoto's Teramachi arcade. Pillow-thick hotcakes, house-roasted coffee and a tamago sando at the city's reference Showa-era breakfast.
Order: Hotcakes with house-roasted blend and a tamago sando
Where to brunch in Kyoto. The morning rooms worth the queue, and the kitchens still doing it right at noon.
Brunch picks
Inoda Coffee Honten Morning ★ 4.5
Inoda's 1940 machiya kissaten in Karasuma, Kyoto, opens at 07:00. The Kyoto Morning set with egg, sausage, toast and Arabian Pearl blend at 1,100 yen.
Order: Kyoto Morning set with egg, sausage and Arabian Pearl blend
Walden Woods Kyoto ★ 4.2
Walden Woods' white-on-white brunch cafe in Shimogyo, Kyoto. Espresso tonics, lattes and a morning oat-milk programme; minimalist stepped-wood seating.
Order: Espresso tonic with daily-baked banana bread
Ippodo Kaboku Cha-shitsu ★ 4.6
Ippodo's adjoining cha-shitsu in Kyoto, behind the tea shop. Self-whisk a bowl of matcha at the counter with a seasonal namagashi pair, walk-in any day.
Order: Self-whisked matcha bowl with seasonal namagashi pair
Akatsuki Coffee Brunch ★ 4.4
Akatsuki Coffee's no-laptops brunch room in Sakyo, Kyoto, husband-and-wife run. Daily cakes, a single Weekenders pour-over and a quiet morning room.
Order: Pour-over with daily-changing homemade cake
Holly's Cafe Kyoto ★ 4.0
Holly's Cafe in Daimaru Kyoto's basement opens at 08:00. American breakfast plate, hand-drip coffee and weekend stacks for a Western start at 1,200 yen.
Order: Bacon-and-egg breakfast plate with pour-over
Kissa Soiree ★ 4.2
Soiree's 1948 Showa kissaten on Nishikiyamachi in Kyoto. Iconic blue-soda jellies, cheesecakes and the city's most-photographed kissaten neon since the 1960s.
Order: Blue-jelly soda set with cheesecake
Fukujuen Kyoto Honten Brunch ★ 4.2
Fukujuen Kyoto's six-floor tea house on Shijo serves morning matcha-and-soba sets in Kyoto. Tea-blending workshop downstairs, brunch upstairs.
Order: Matcha-and-soba breakfast set with hojicha creme brulee
Le Petitmec Croissant Morning ★ 4.3
Le Petitmec Oike opens at 08:00 in Kyoto with the anchor French boulangerie morning. Beurre croissants, pain au chocolat and take-away coffee at the door.
Order: Beurre croissant and pain au chocolat with a coffee
Blue Bottle Kyoto Brunch ★ 4.3
Blue Bottle's Kyoto cafe by Nanzen-ji serves morning pour-overs in a converted machiya. Single-origin brews and a wagashi-pairing programme at counter.
Order: Pour-over and wagashi-pairing breakfast
Iolite Coffee Roasters Morning ★ 4.5
Iolite in Nakagyo in Kyoto opens early; the morning is a hand-drip and toast set, cedar-beam machiya counter, single-origin pour-over from the in-house roast.
Order: House-blend espresso with seasonal milk pastry