Nestled in amongst Kyoto’s tiny and impenetrable establishments there is a Michelin starred restaurant that is an absolute must for anyone who wants to find out just how sublime a Japanese meal can be. That restaurant is called Sakuragawa. It has a tiny counter with 12 seats at it and three staff members.
Perhaps more than other cities, recommendations are essential when dining out in Kyoto. When faced with an infinity of anonymous, pictureless wooden frontages most travelers have no idea where to start and therefore resort to Pizza Hut. Tiny, nondescript restaurants on Kyoto’s are so numerous and so forbidding that for most foreign guests the good places are hidden in plain sight.
This is particularly true of Sakuragawa which you could easily walk past without having any idea of its pedigree. It would be a vulgar display of power for the establishment to advertise its Michelin star, so from outside there are no clues as to what may lay within besides the wooden frontage and the restaurant’s name in indecipherably stylised kanji.
In reality though any trepidation is unwarranted because once you’re seated at the counter no Japanese should be necessary. The head chef is a rather famous and kakkoii (“good looking”) chap named Maeda Yujiro. He will be your culinary safari guide leading you on the trail of taste-bud tickling treats, shooting you down some of the rarest gastronomic big game and depositing you safely back at camp with the lion’s head trophy of a bulging belly to hang on your metaphorical wall.
One of the most elegant touches of Sakuragawa and other great Japanese restaurants is the ingredients, dishware and atmosphere are supposed to change to reflect and amplify the season. If there’s something you specifically want to try you could call ahead to check its availability. If not you place yourself in the capable hands of the chef and he makes your life richer by tinkling your taste buds like a virtuoso pianist.
In cherry blossom season chef Maeda-san uses sakura petals in his dishes. In fresh October cherry blossom isn’t available in great quantities but the chef makes liberal and spectacular use of chrysanthemum petals. Our course included chrysanthemum and mushroom dishes with a memorable sour bite behind the smooth, creamy mushrooms.
There was mullet sashimi with wasabi of such quality it added to the flavour but barely had any heat to it at all. The smoky, umami flavour was provided by the seared barracuda and sea bream skin crisps. The latter in particular had a deep, smoky flavour that repeatedly shot me into Proustian involuntary flashbacks to my childhood without me being able to place my finger on what exactly it was reminiscent of. If anyone can tell me what English childhood snack these crispy skins are reminiscent of I would be eternally grateful.
There were daring eggplant dishes, opulent abalone dishes and mysterious horse-head fish dishes. Most of the dishes contained ingredients I had never heard of in Japanese OR English. It was a mystifying and bewildering array of flavors and textures I never knew existed. It was a meal that stretches you. It is more of an experience than just a meal, emotional and memorable.
One of the most surprising dishes of the evening was the dessert which the chef introduced as harumaki anko (sweet red bean paste spring rolls) with kuri aisu (Japanese chestnut ice-cream). You may think you’re full way before this beguiling mix of savoury and sweet arrives, but it’s moreish enough to overcome any misgivings you may have.
Perhaps the best way to describe Sakuragawa is with a simile. Good food, like good art is supposed to challenge us. It shouldn’t be expected to stoop to please us. We should be prepared to better ourselves and to take up the challenge of understanding why Eisenstein, Hegel or Bach are worth the effort. That’s the kind of restaurant you should expect from Sakuragawa.
Payment Since a service charge is included in the bill, you don’t need to leave a gratuity. At authentic, high-end restaurants, payment is accepted at each table. At more casual places you’re expected to take the bill to a register near the entrance. Sakuragawa (Kiyamachi-dori Oike-agaru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto; 075-255-4477; open 11:30 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 5 to 9 P.M., closed Sunday). Dinner: around ￥２００００ each.
Popularity: 7%
