Hieizan (Mount Hiei Shojin-Ryori) ★ 4.3
Mount Hiei rises northeast of Kyoto with the Enryakuji monastery on top. Shojin-ryori lunches in the monastery kitchens, a Heian-era Tendai tradition.
Kobe (Wagyu Day) is a food day trips in Kyoto.
Kobe is 60 minutes south on the shinkansen from Kyoto. Lunch at a Sannomiya teppanyaki counter for A5 Kobe beef; pair with a Nada-area sake brewery tasting.
Mount Hiei rises northeast of Kyoto with the Enryakuji monastery on top. Shojin-ryori lunches in the monastery kitchens, a Heian-era Tendai tradition.
Kibune is the river-stream dining village an hour north of Kyoto. May to September, restaurants build tatami platforms over the cold mountain stream.
An hour from Kyoto on the JR Nara Line. Watch Nakatanidou's high-speed mochi pounding outside Kintetsu Nara, eat the kusa-mochi straight from the mallet.
30 minutes from Kyoto on the JR Kyoto Line, Osaka's kuidaore eating-day. Walk Kuromon Market at lunch, Dotonbori for takoyaki and okonomiyaki at sunset.
Kyoto's sake brewing district, 20 minutes south by Keihan. 30 working sake breweries; tasting bars at Gekkeikan and Kizakura, Fushimi-Inari at the north end.