Splurge in Kyoto

Kikunoi Honten

• ★ 4.9
• 3 MICHELIN stars
• ¥¥¥¥
• Higashiyama

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
• 3 MICHELIN stars
• ¥¥¥¥
• Northern Higashiyama

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.

Kitcho Arashiyama Honten

• ★ 4.9
• 3 MICHELIN stars
• ¥¥¥¥
• Arashiyama

Three-Michelin-star kaiseki on the Hozugawa river bend in Arashiyama, Kyoto, run by chef Kunio Tokuoka in a sukiya-style garden tatami room.

Mizai

• ★ 4.9
• 3 MICHELIN stars
• ¥¥¥¥
• Higashiyama

Hitoshi Ishihara opened Mizai in a corner of Maruyama Park, Kyoto, after years at Kitcho Arashiyama. One nightly seating, all guests served in sync.

Gion Sasaki

• ★ 4.8
• 3 MICHELIN stars
• ¥¥¥¥
• Gion

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.

LURRA

• ★ 4.7
• Modern Japanese
• ¥¥¥¥
• Karasuma and Kawaramachi

Order Chef's omakase with open-fire grilled vegetables and seafood

A 10-seat modern Japanese counter from chef Jacob Kear (ex-Noma) and Stuart Brioza. Open-fire technique meets Kyoto produce in a 12-course menu.

Kichisen

• ★ 4.7
• 2 MICHELIN stars
• ¥¥¥¥
• Demachiyanagi and Shimogamo

Chef Yoshimi Tanigawa's kaiseki room beside Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto. Two Michelin stars in the current guide, formerly three. Monthly seasonal menus.

Kikunoi Roan

• ★ 4.7
• 2 MICHELIN stars
• ¥¥¥¥
• Pontocho

Murata's casual-counter spinoff on Kiyamachi, opened for Kikunoi's 60th anniversary. Two stars, easier reservations than Honten, river views in season.

Gion Nishikawa

• ★ 4.7
• 2 MICHELIN stars
• ¥¥¥¥
• Gion

Masayoshi Nishikawa earned a star a year after opening at 33 in Kyoto. A quiet sukiya counter on a Yasaka Shrine alley with two stars for over a decade.

Sushi Wakon

• ★ 4.7
• Sushi
• ¥¥¥¥
• Higashiyama

Edomae sushi inside the Four Seasons Kyoto, in Higashiyama. Eight counter seats and a ten-course omakase from the team that opened the original Sushi Wakon.

Monk

• ★ 4.6
• Italian
• ¥¥¥¥
• Northern Higashiyama

Order Chef's omakase course including the night's signature pizza

A wood-fired pizzeria and tasting counter on the Philosopher's Path, run by chef Yoshihiro Imai with a daily-changing 12-course Italian-Japanese menu.

Tempura Tenyu

• ★ 4.6
• 1 MICHELIN star
• Tempura
• ¥¥¥¥
• Karasuma and Kawaramachi

A nine-seat tempura counter in central Kyoto run by Tawaraya, the ryokan operating since the early 1700s. Located in Karasuma Kawaramachi. Priced at ¥¥¥¥.

Sushi Iwa

• ★ 4.5
• Japanese Sushi
• ¥¥¥¥
• Gion

Order Chef's omakase, 20 pieces over 90 minutes

An eight-seat Edomae sushi counter just off Hanamikoji in Gion, Kyoto, run by chef Iwa with Tsukiji-trained habits. 20-piece omakase, no menu.

Muromachi Wakuden

• ★ 4.5
• 1 MICHELIN star
• ¥¥¥¥
• Karasuma and Kawaramachi

The Muromachi outpost of the Wakuden group, set in a Karasuma machiya with open charcoal braziers in the dining room. One star and a classical hand.

Tempura Endo Yasaka

• ★ 4.5
• Tempura
• ¥¥¥¥
• Gion

Tempura in a converted teahouse near Yasaka Pagoda, Kyoto, an ochaya from the early 1900s. Sweetcorn tempura opens each course in early summer.

Kyo Tominokoji Yoshikawa

• ★ 4.5
• 1 MICHELIN star
• Tempura
• ¥¥¥¥
• Karasuma and Kawaramachi

A 1952 ryokan and tempura counter in Kyoto set around a sublime Japanese garden, downtown. One Michelin star, garden lunches across all four seasons.

Hassun

• ★ 4.4
• 1 MICHELIN star
• ¥¥¥¥
• Gion

Named for the central kaiseki course, Hassun runs a quiet ryotei in Gion, Kyoto, a block south of Hanamikoji. One Michelin star, intimate counter only.

Kyoyamato

• ★ 4.3
• ¥¥¥¥
• Gion

A Meiji-era kaiseki house on the Kodaiji grounds, established in Kyoto by the third-generation Yamato proprietor in 1949 and rooted in an 1877 Osaka original.