Aux Bacchanales

After taking a stroll around a Robert Doisneau or Cassigneul exhibition at Isetan may leave you with an illusory sense of sophistication. With a crunchy baguette under one arm, a Sartre book under the other you feel like sitting outside a cafe on the West Bank discussing the resistance and the finer points of beret sporting. At times like this, Kyoto residents have Aux Bacchanales.

Aux Bacchanales is easiest reached by taking the subway to Shijo and exiting via the North Exit and popping into the nearby Coccon Building. Inside on the first floor you’ll find a cafe so elaborately decked out with French props that it’s in danger of becoming a theme restaurant.

Inside in floor tiles, beer taps and all very jolly and Amelie-esque. Even more impressive is the outside onto which has been built a narrow veranda filled with tables and window boxes just above floor level to give the impression of sitting outside a Parisian cafe in the street, even though in reality one is sitting inside a shopping mall with the smokers.

The slightly surly manager is either not in the best of moods or is a method actor bringing a bit of the Parisian charm to the depato of Shijo. The other staff all make up for it with a more Japanese approach to the customer service and treat you like Jesus Herbert Christ or Kimura Takuya himself.

The highlight of the menu is the Bacchanales Tokusei hamburger, although in a typical Japanese bastardisation of the English language is not a hamburger at all, although it isn’t to the detriment of the dish. In fact it’s an open baguette layered with lettuce, freshly sliced tomato, succulent chunks of grilled chicken and four large pieces of fois gras, with a mince meat dip and a huge side of french-fries.

This dish is a little expensive at ¥1140, but so large it can easily be shared between two (if you’re acclimatised to Japanese sized portions). The dish is limited to only 10 servings a day, but the Of Rice and Zen team rocked up to the door in the afternoon and had no problems in procuring one to try. It’s a little more solid than pate, vaguely sweet in flavour and almost buttery on the surface. If you’ve never tried fois gras before this is a very palatable way to get yourself hooked on the ol’… exploding duck liver.

In short, if you’ve had enough of the Eastern aesthetic but you don’t want to go home yet, perhaps you could try soaking up a bit of a European vibe at Aux Bacchanales. Interestingly, regular French lessons are held at this cafe, which is somewhat ironic given that its name is Japanese for “to become stupid” (o-baka [ni] naru).

Aux Bacchanales
075-371-0033
Karasuma-dori
Shijo-sagaru
Suiginyacho 620
Cocon Karasuma 1F.
[on W side of Karasuma-dori, just south of Shijo]
Open 10am-11pm daily
Aux Bacchanales tokusei hanba-ga-: ¥1140
Cafe au lait: ¥600
Hot chocolate: ¥650

Did you like this post? If so, please consider getting us a coffee.

Popularity: 2% [?]