3 Best Restaurants in Western Kyoto, Kyoto

Kazariya

$ | Kita-ku

Kazariya has been serving tea and aburi mochi—charcoal-grilled and skewered rice-flour cakes dipped in sweet miso sauce—for centuries. You can enjoy the treats under the eaves of 17th-century houses as you watch visitors proceeding to and from the Imamiya Shrine. Kazariya is just outside the shrine's eastern gate, northwest of Daitoku-ji.

Louran

Exquisite Chinese fare is presented French-style at a wooded resort in Kyoto's northwestern quadrant. The chefs focus on the cuisines of four regions—Szechuan, Guangdong, Shanghai, and Beijing—and the meals are served graciously in dining areas decorated with black carved Chinese furnishings. The eclectic offerings include spicy Szechuan-style buckwheat noodles, dim sum shrimp and pork dumplings, minced duck wrapped in lettuce leaves, and Beijing duck. The grounds, a former kimono magnate's estate, are well landscaped for strolling.

Tozentei

$$$$ | Kita-ku

Nestled among the backstreets of northwest Kyoto, Tozentei emphasizes to-the-letter traditional Japanese cooking. The meals here, made with only local produce, are old-school enough to please a shogun. A wooden wall with a low gate fronts this intimate hideaway that fits only 12. Lunch is less pricey than dinner.

Kyoto

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