Trying kappo dining for the first time
Heading to Kappo Yamashita
On this two-night Kyoto trip, I spent the first evening on the shinkansen, so I couldn’t go out to eat. That made tonight my one and only proper dinner. Since this was also my first time visiting Kyoto in my 30s, I thought, why not treat myself a little? So I decided to try kappo for the first time.
I was headed to Kappo Yamashita, just a short walk from Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station on the subway.
Heart pounding, I ducked under the noren curtain and went in.
Shown to a private room upstairs, I finally started to relax
When you think of kappo, you probably picture counter seating, right? Yamashita has counter seats too, but this time I was shown to a private room on the second floor. It even had its own bathroom—I honestly felt like I could have stayed the night there, haha.
The counter experience, with the chef right in front of you, does sound appealing, but for my first kappo meal it would have made me nervous, so I was glad to have a private room.
One delicious, delightful dish after another
I went with the course menu tonight. Rather than fumbling my way through what to order, I wanted to just sit back and enjoy the restaurant’s recommendations in the order they were meant to be served.
First came the appetizer course: dressed nanohana and ark shell, salted sweet shrimp, broad beans, and I think smoked hamo, among other things.
Next was an assortment of sashimi. They said one of the fish was managatsuo, and when I heard that I wondered what kind of fish it was—turns out it was something I’d never even heard of.
The soup was so comforting.
Then came a grilled fish dish. The vinegared side served with it was delicious too…
Then kabura-mushi. Very Kyoto. And very good.
I also got a generous serving of tempura…
Then there was something dressed with karashi miso. Maybe it was teppai?
And for the meal course, unbelievably, chimaki! That completely caught me off guard, haha.
As for the final fruit course, I’d already started eating it before I realized it, so I forgot to take a photo. Everything was delicious, the drinks went down easily, and it made for a thoroughly satisfying dinner. Thank you for the meal!
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