There are so many different types of cuisine restraint in Kyoto. And of course, you may find that the restaurant is not good or not for your taste at all. Well, in that case, you may just take as one of a bad experience.
However, I love food. And if I’ve found a good one, I will always go back there, and now let me introduce one of my favourite restaurant in Kyoto as I visit every single time when I go to Kyoto.
And that is Oryori Mituyasu (御料理 光安).
Well, I have already visited there 3 times and I will visit there again!!
First time I visited there in autumn, 2012.
For this time, I was there for my master’s degree courses research, then I found this restaurant via the Internet search.
This restaurant has only two tables for both lunch and dinner. You can only book for up to 4 people for each room (there are only two rooms) so that they can only have 8 people for each lunch and dinner. Therefore, you can imagine how much you can get provided privacy and cozy atmosphere.
For the second time, I took my husband there, and he loved there so much! He’d love to go back to Kyoto only for that restaurant.
At that time, he ordered sake then Chef’s wife (she is a waitress) asked him to choose antique sake cup (ochoko), then when he changed different sake, she again, offered him to choose new sake cup.
He was so impressed by that.
This review is about the last visit with my best friend in Japan, and the third time for me.
It was in early September so that it was just late summer or very early autumn in Japan. In Japanse traditional cuisine, especially Kyoto cuisine, it’s essential to express seasonal presentation. Hence, we have lovely early autumn dishes.
Well, when you visit this restaurant, I must say you should take a taxi. It’s quite tricky to find as the location is the middle of the residential area. Then Mitsuyashu is just one of old fashion Kyoto style house, calls “Machiya”. When you visit there, the chef’s wite as a waitress, she will show you which room is going to be yours. There are only 2 rooms, and a kitchen is between these two dining rooms.
So, it was well designed not to interfere with each group.
At the Mitsuyashu, they are only using antique dishes and bows, and some of them are more than 100 years old. And all these antique dishes have collaborated with food.
You tasted the food, then taste there beautiful antique dishes, that’s the way of traditionally enjoying Kyoto cuisine.
Firstly, we had walnut tofu and “tonburi” on top with Thick soup. The lacquered bowl was so beautiful, and walnut tofu has a nutty walnut taste and smooth, then just disappeared inside your mouth.
Then the next course was red snapper sashimi with Konbu flavour with vinegret jelly and skin. You have to wap the sashimi and shallots within the skin. That vinegret jelly wasn’t so strong to destroy the natural taste of red snapper, just right amount of vinegar with emphasising all balanced each ingredient.
Then the third course was light fried of autumn vegetables, such as pumpkin, Japanse mushroom “hiratake”, beans, yum, and fig. They had just right amount of salty taste which very impressive well-balanced, again the saltiness emphasised the natural flavour of these vegetables.
Then the fourth dish was a soft-shelled turtle(suppon) hot pot. Some hard jelly texture has full of collagen. I thought that I wouldn’t like it if it might have smelled a little, but it was delicious and no fishy smell. It was quite refreshing.
And the fifth course, this was a white eel grilled from Lake Biwa. It was just light with a little bit of salt. The thickness was just right, and it was delicious with sudachi lemon.
Then the next dish was a quite classic Kyoto style bowl of boiled soba ball (“Soba-gaki”) with white miso. Well, I guessed I hadn’t eaten buckwheat noodles for about 20 years, but it was a nostalgic taste. The white miso was also creamy and rich, but it matched the “soba-gaki” very well.
And then, yes!! Rice!! I actually had been waiting for this!!
When I first came to this restaurant, the rice dish was red snapper rice. My company, she didn’t really eat much for some reason so that I ate it all. It was unbelievably yummy!!
Then the second time, as I said, I took my husband who always tries to finish his dish as his table manner. Thus he didn’t leave any extra for me at all.
So this time again, delicious rice! !!
This time, we had some sort of Japanese potato (mukago), ginkgo, eel and chestnut as representing autumn colours with these vegetables.
I was quite full at that time, but this rice dish was so yummy, and we ate it all. I just found that “mukago” was tasted like beans then quite delicious matching in all other ingredients.
Finally, we had a dessert which was Kyoto type sweet potato, it wasn’t so sweet (that what I prefer) and it was sof,t and I left so much at home.
Mitsuyasu-san’s food was so sophisticated and well-represented seasonal features. It’s not really gorgeous presentation, but I love his simplicity which also emphasises all of the ingredients.
Then I believe that kind of simple representation is the crucial point to see the chef’s real talent so that I love his food so much.
I also love both chef and his wife (waitress) were so lovely, never been arrogant at all, both of them were just being so friendly and chat with us.
Sometimes, in Japan, you can find quite famous chefs are arrogant and bossy even towards the customer. I guessed, they were just like my age, but they didn’t act bossy at all.
And both remembered my husband and me, so it was so lovely to chat about that time. I also remember when I visited here for the first time, I heard the kids’ voice trying to talk to their mum and dad behind the kitchen.
That reminded me of my childhood when I grew up in the kitchen when my mother owned the restaurant and my dad was a chef.
Anyhow, I highly recommend this restaurant if you go to Kyoto. I am 100% sure, you will have great Kyoto cuisine experience.
Oh, dear…
I’d love to go back there very much….
Oryori Mitsuyasu ：http://kyoto-mitsuyasu.com
