Pike conger eel, the summer fish of Kyoto. Bone-cut into chrysanthemum petals, quick-poached and served with plum vinegar at the city's kaiseki rooms.
Hamo arrives in Kyoto from June to August across the Awaji Strait. The fish has hundreds of tiny bones, so Kyoto chefs developed honegiri, a slicing technique that cuts each fillet at millimetre intervals without severing the skin. The bones soften when quick-poached; the flesh flowers open like a chrysanthemum. The dish became the summer marker of Gion Matsuri, served at every ryotei in July alongside ume-su plum vinegar. Hyotei and Kikunoi serve the canonical version.
3 editor picks for Hamo in Kyoto, ranked by editorial score. All Kyoto signature dishes · Hamo across every city.
Kikunoi Honten ★ 4.9
higashiyama · Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0825, Japan
The defining three-Michelin-star kaiseki room in Kyoto. Third-generation Yoshihiro Murata runs Kikunoi Honten, a 1912 ryotei below Kodaiji. Priced at ¥¥¥¥.
Hyotei ★ 4.9
northern-higashiyama · Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8437, Japan
An Edo-era teahouse at the gate of Nanzen-ji in Kyoto, restyled as a ryotei in 1837. Located in Northern Higashiyama. Led by chef Yoshihiro Takahashi.
Gion Sasaki ★ 4.8
gion · Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0811, Japan
Hiroshi Sasaki runs a teacher-and-apprentice kitchen on Komatsu-cho. Counter seats deliver a 12-course kaiseki with a freer hand than the old ryotei.