Nov 042009

Orrizonte, Kyoto

Kyoto Restaurant Reviews, Places to drink in Kyoto, Places to see in Kyoto, Restaurant Reviews, Reviews Add comments

Orrizonte is a bar on the 17th floor of Kyoto Hotel Okura near Kyoto Shiyakushomae Subway in the centre of town. It is notable for a few reasons, the first of which being that it stands at a nosebleed-inducing height. Most Kyoto buildings were restricted to 10 floors in an attempt to maintain a little of the character of the city in which it used to be forbidden for any building to overlook the Emperor’s Palace.

Nowadays that rule is strictly upheld in the name of history. Except for when it isn’t. Which is usually in the name of big business. Today’s shock headline: money holds more clout than history. Kyoto’s local government is still resisting the worst excesses of late capitalism because it knows Kyoto’s cachet relies on it keeping some of its quaintness. If it becomes a concrete jungle like a mini-Osaka it ceases to have a unique selling point. Kyoto city authorities dish out “get out of height restriction free” cards to the highest bidder as a special reward, like a political panda for the leisure and hospitality industry.

Aside from its height, Orrizonte also has a privileged outlook in that it is situated on the east side and thus overlooks the Higashiyama/Gion side of town. It’s the same view you can enjoy from Ace Cafe but as its almost twice as high up and a little closer you can see a vast swathe of Kyoto’s highlights laid out before you like a scale model, from Keage’s Nanzen-ji to Higashiyama’s Chion-in. If you’re new in town, want to get your bearings and have a nice glass of wine to unwind after a long day of exploration Orrizonte comes highly recommended.

The wine is also worth a mention. The fine selection of reds starts at around 1000 yen a glass and the champagne 1600 yen. You may have heard that good reds are hard to come by in Japan. The price is usually double what you’re used to back home so only the poorer specimens make it across the border. As such the average person in Japan finds it to be a cloying and unpleasant drink. Far from letting the wine stand to bring out its full range of flavours reds in Japanese homes tend to be placed straight in the fridge and are often drunk from chilled glasses. Orrizonte’s wine, on the other hand, is the real deal. Crisp, clear and complex. It’s worth every penny if you want to introduce a sake fan to what red wine should taste like when it doesn’t come from a conbini cooler.