Kitcho is one of the 7 (yes, seven) 3 Michelin Stars awarded restaurant in Kyoto and to really perceive the experience we had I let you read what’s written in the restaurant brochure you receive at the end of your dinner or lunch:

With ingenuity, all nature becomes cuisine

Founder Teiichi Yuki was on a continual quest for exquisite taste, celebrating the unique offering of each season. He believed in Japanese cuisine as a world-class product and dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the search for fine flavor based on the concept of a “once-in-a-lifetime experience”. Teiichi put priority on hospitality and spared no effort to create an atmosphere that satisfies the five senses

No other phrase could better describe what was for me Kitcho. Not just the best Kaiseki I tried in my life, but a really memorable gastronomic experience: extraordinary quality of the ingredients, precious tableware, unimaginable concept of level of service with a care for the guest that makes you feel at ease in any single moment in an atmosphere full of politness combined to preparation and wisdom, the ambience is finally the ice on cake (all the guests have a dedicated room with windows overlooking fascinating zen gardens). In other word a dream.

             

You decide in advance the budget of your dinner/lunch among 3 option (minum is over 350 Euros per person, taxes excluded…also this makes the experience memorable and “once-in-a-lifetime”).

Our menu was a traditional kaiseki composition prepared by Chef Kunio Tokuoka

The Appetizer: Grilled octopus and water shield with vinegar sauce

The Soup: Clear soup of pike conger

The First Sashimi: Flathead

The Second Sashimi: Lightly grilled Japanese lobster and fatty meat of tune

The Grilled Food: Charcoal-grilled whole sweetfish with salt

The Side Dish: Cold Japanese fine wheat noodles with grated yam and yolk sauce

The Some Kinds of Appetizer: Deep-fried pike conger marinated with vinegar sauce; Chilled savory custard with lily bulb; Seasoned stems of taro; Shrimp with moromi miso; Simmered sweet potato; Jelly of green soy beans; Stewed beef tongue

The Steamed Food: Grilled eggplant, pumpkin, okra and, sweet pepper

The Rice: Cooked rice with corn and grilled beef (The rice is Kinumusume made in Osaka prefecture)

The Pickled Vegetables: Eggplant pickled in rice-bran paste; Cucumber pickled in soy sauce; Simmered kelp

The Dessert: Melon, mango, grape, peach and watermelon

The Sweet: Seasonal sweets (Your selection from the three sweets: Shaved ice with green tea sauce; Green tea ice cream; Red bean jelly…I opted for the green tea…sublime)

The kind present from the Chef