01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
When choosing a course at Kiyojirou, the signature abalone in white miso is an obvious place to start. It appears in both the lunchtime mini kaiseki and dinner courses. Diners have also recalled the abalone soup with white miso as a highlight of their meal.
The listed Mini Kaiseki Course for lunch includes six dishes featuring abalone in white miso and Kyoto vegetables, followed by rice, pickles, soup and a dessert. It is an option for anyone looking to enjoy a Kyoto-style set meal at lunchtime. One diner described a meal that included tuna sashimi with yuba, a squash soup with shinjo dumpling, and salt-grilled salmon. They found the shinjo mild in flavour and the salmon unlike the kind they usually eat. Menus vary with the season and course, but this account offers a sense of how the meal unfolds, one dish at a time.
The listed Kotobuki Course is priced at 13,200 yen and brings together abalone in white miso, mackerel sushi, seasonal fish and Kyoto vegetables. Seven dishes are followed by rice cooked in a clay pot, soup and dessert, and a souvenir is included. The eight-dish Miyabi Course adds Kyoto beef, offering a broader selection of ingredients. There is also an omakase course, in which the chef chooses seasonal ingredients; the meal’s shape changes with the course you select.
Rice is another part of the experience. The restaurant’s listing says it cooks rice from Hachidaime Gihey in a clay pot and uses Yanagi water in its cooking. One lunchtime diner thought the saltiness of the beni-zake salmon would pair well with rice, but noted that the rice arrived later and wished they could have eaten the two together. Another diner praised the rice’s distinct grains and lingering finish. If eating salmon with rice matters to you, or you want to savour the full course through to the end, the order in which the dishes arrive is worth bearing in mind.
Private rooms are available. Some diners have reported enjoying a relaxed lunch in one, while another described dining in a separate room with a young child. Reservations are recommended for both lunch and dinner, so contact the restaurant in advance if you have a preferred time or seating arrangement.
