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Kansai area guide: Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe
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Kansai area guide
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Okonomiyaki in Osaka, kaiseki in Kyoto, Kobe beef in Kobe - you'll find it all here in our Kansai restaurant guide, with listings for more than 400 Kansai-area restaurants, bars and takoyaki stands. Browse by neighborhood, search by cuisine, and take it all on the road with our handy mobile versions.
The bento.com Kansai guide is also available in Japanese, on the web and on your mobile. By location
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From endless tofu variations and gorgeous vegetables to elegant kaiseki service and shojin-ryori (vegetarian temple cuisine), Kyoto has a unique culinary tradition.
Where to try out Kyoto's famous specialty cuisines - tofu, kaiseki and vegetarian shojin-ryori.
From takoyaki and okonomiyaki to Kobe beef, here's where you can find some more local Kansai dishes.
Where to find local dishes like cha-gayu - rice flavored with green tea and seasonal vegetables - and Nara-style pickles.
An old brewery in the Nada sake-brewing district of Kobe
A recreation of Taisho-era Japan in a three-story food theme park
Giant mechanical crabs, forty-foot octopi and other commercial enticements from the streets of Osaka
How to get there
Pastries and sake, miso paste and fishcakes, from one of Kyoto's most luxurious department store food floors
Delicate Japanese sweets, savory crackers, and regional sushi variations at this popular department store food basement
Fresh crabs, grilled fish and oden ingredients from Osaka's legendary railway-station department-store food market
Pickles, yuba (tofu skin) and other Kyoto food specialties at this food-floor basement inside Kyoto station
An introduction to central Kyoto's sprawling food market and the people who shop there
From rice crackers and spices to soy-milk doughnuts - where to go for delicacies in Kyoto's market
Dining DiaryYufuna: Kyoto Karasuma
From the entrance, this unpretentious little basement shop looks like an ordinary after-work hangout, with a solid wooden counter lined with sake and shochu bottles and a blackboard announcing the daily specials. Yufuna is surprisingly spacious inside though, with several other dining spaces beyond the front counter - all cozy and attractively decorated. Wherever you happen to sit, you'll get great Kyoto home-style cooking - small, tasty dishes made from the finest seasonal ingredients - plus a small but impressive selection of local sake to wash it down.
The pride of the kitchen is food and drink from the Tango region in the very north of Kyoto Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan. The menu features a constant stream of fresh seafood and vegetables brought in from that area, varying according to the time of year. The sashimi platter of the day (Y1200-1500) is a sensible way to sample the best of it. There's also a good assortment of grilled dried fish - sardines, flounder, mackerel and squid - and these go especially well with sake. A Kyoto variation on the dried-fish theme is called "sakuraboshi," where the fish are first seasoned with mirin and sesame, then dried overnight and grilled, resulting in a much sweeter-tasting fish. [Show more] Yusoshi: Kyoto
The coconut parfait with dango, azuki beans, matcha and coconut ice cream is huge, and hugely popular. Desserts start from Y550; Japanese and Chinese teas from Y500. The large interior has a backlit moonscape covering one wall. As afternoon progresses into early evening, a bottle of wine at Y2730-3680 is a good investment. The staff will help navigate the Japanese-only menu. [Restaurant data and map] Nenohi: Osaka Umeda
Managed by a Nagoya-area sake brewery with a 300-year-history, Nenohi offers premium seasonal and limited-edition sakes along with excellent grilled chicken and regional dishes. The dining room is quite spacious and attractively laid out. Budget around Y6000 for food and drink.
[Restaurant data]
Benoit: Osaka Umeda
A mid-priced bistro-style menu served in a flashy skyscraper dining room, from French celeb-chef Alain Ducasse. Unlike the Michelin-starred, pan-Mediterranean Benoit Tokyo, the Osaka branch is more classically French. Typical entrees include roast baby rabbit with carrots and green onions; and braised halibut with champagne sauce and creamed spinach. Prix-fixe dinners are Y5700-8000 or a la carte; lunch is Y2600-5200.
[Restaurant data]
Inaseya: Kyoto
Chicken sukiyaki is the specialty of the house here, and they use only the very best free-range birds - slightly chewy and very flavorful - in all their dishes. Sit in the zashiki room overlooking the beautiful traditional garden and choose from one of the three sukiyaki-centered full-course menus, priced at Y4200, Y5250 and Y7350.
If you're more daring (and speak Japanese), you can chat with the staff at the counter and ask for recommendations from their excellent sake list, and explore the wide range of delicacies - including raw chicken livers! (They were better than we expected.) No English spoken. [Restaurant data]
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