Where Gourmet Meets Geisha: 9 of Gion’s Best Restaurants

The former capital of Japan, Kyoto remains the cultural capital of the country. Within Kyoto, the geisha district of Gion is where the traditional spirit of Japan continues to thrive at its most vibrant. 

Historically, Kyoto is the birthplace of Japanese cuisine. Katsuo (skipjack tuna) from the south and konbu from the north meandered along trade routes to converge on the old shogunate capital. The meeting of these two key ingredients gave rise to dashi broth, which is the foundation on which all Japanese cuisine is built.

Fittingly for the beating heart of Japanese culture, it is in Gion where some of Japan’s most famous restaurants continue to both keep Japan’s culinary traditions alive.

You may not have heard of the lesser-known Kyoto style of yakiniku (grilled meat) — swapping the usual yakiniku sauces for a thinner, lighter sauce that resembles a dashi stock — but if you're going to give it a try, there's really only one place to book a table: Tendan Gion.

Promising effortless style, city views and an enviable selection of byFood-original wagyu beef course menus, this restaurant is more than deserving of a spot in your day spent exploring Kyoto's Gion district.

With course menus for every season and occasion, you could opt for a summer-exclusive nomihoudai all-you-can-drink menu, giving you 100 minutes to indulge in premium wagyu beef and unlimited drinks — with free-flowing Asahi Super Dry included, of course.

Prefer to be surprised? Order one of the exquisite omakase chef’s choice options, featuring only the finest of seasonal flavors alongside beautiful cuts of kuroge wagyu black beef. 

Reserve and relish premium wagyu beef at Tendan Gion in Kyoto.

Gion Sasaki is possibly the most famous restaurant in Gion, if not the whole of Kyoto. 

Even before the Michelin Guide made landfall in Japan, it was already one of the most highly respected kaiseki restaurants in the country. Its popularity only exploded worldwide when it received two Michelin stars in 2010, holding the accolade for a full decade before receiving a third star in 2020 — an achievement it continues to hold to this day.

For the uninitiated, it’s difficult to explain the kind of titanic reputation that this restaurant has in the Japan culinary circuit. It is to traditional nihon-ryori what Ginza Kyubey or Sukiyabashi Jiro is to Edomae sushi, or what Sezanne and Moliere are to French cuisine — a restaurant that so perfectly embodies the spirit of its chosen cuisine that it is impossible to separate.

Every element is immaculate. The quality of the ingredients is second to none — Chef Sasaki Hiroshi’s extensive network of suppliers, built up over decades in the industry, give him access nothing but the best. A sip of his dashi broth is a gateway into a world of flavors previously unknown; he makes liberal use of the iconic brick oven in his kitchen to imbue his dishes with smoky aromas. 

So there is perhaps no better place to try traditional nihon-ryori than at Gion Sasaki, if you can somehow secure a reservation. Spaces are hotly contested, as is to be expected from a three-star Michelin restaurant. It doesn’t help that the restaurant only seats 19; that’s more than most kappo-style restaurants, but it’s easily overshadowed by the overwhelming demand.

Reserve Gion Sasaki for Kyoto kaiseki cuisine.

While it may not be quite as wildly popular as the above-mentioned Gion Sasaki, the two-Michelin-starred Gion Nishikawa is similarly deluged with reservation requests all year round. Almost every night, every seat is filled — whether it’s at the counter, the table seats or in the private room.

Kyoto is renowned among Japanese people for the purity of its water, and this is clearly evident in the dashi at Gion Nishikawa. Chef Nishikawa Masayoshi personally makes a trip to the nearby Yasaka Shrine to draw water. He then combines this ultra-pure water with more than 70 ingredients — most of them sourced from the surrounding Kyoto areas — to make some of the most remarkable kaiseki course menus in the entire city. 

In homage to kyo-ryori tradition, the dishes at Gion Nishikawa are startlingly simple. The fundamental characteristics and tastes of Japanese cuisine are clearly evident in each dish, whether it’s the subtle sweetness of miso, or the rich umami of dashi. 

Reserve a seat for kaiseki in Kyoto at Gion Nishikawa.

Nonetheless, if reservations are difficult at the two restaurants above, Gion has no shortage of incredible kaiseki restaurants for guests to choose from. Out of respect for the heritage of the city and the district, many chefs have dedicated their lives to kyo-ryori, or Kyoto-style cuisine.

Gion Kurashita is one of these. Interestingly for a kaiseki restaurant, where most make ingredients like wagyu beef and hon-maguro (bluefin tuna) their major selling point, Gion Kurashita takes special pride in its tofu. 

It sources all of its tofu from Nanzenji Hattori, one of the most historic suppliers of tofu in Kyoto — even supplying the nearby Nanzenji Temple with beautiful beancurd. Hattori tofu is noted for its aroma and mouthfeel, with a particularly satisfying feeling when swallowed. 

Of course, that’s not to say the other ingredients in Gion Kurashita are to be sniffed at. As the seasons change, so do Chef Kurashita Satoru’s highlighted ingredients. Japanese king crab takes center stage in the winter, as does the poisonous fugu pufferfish, while local Kyoto wagyu beef — often called Kyoto’s best kept secret — is a popular ingredient all year round. Every meal at Gion Kurashita may be different, but each one is uniformly delicious. 

Reserve exquisite kaiseki cuisine at Gion Kurashita.

Sushi Gion Matsudaya is the former holder of a Michelin Star. Its owner and head chef has traveled as far as New York to perfect the craft of sushi, and extensively trained in Tokyo in various sushi restaurants to perfect the craft of Edomae sushi. 

Bringing his technique back to his native Kyoto, Sushi Gion Matsudaya has become one of the most popular restaurants among Kyoto sushi enthusiasts, who are unanimously enthralled that they don’t have to travel to the capital to get a taste of authentic Edomae sushi. 

Interestingly, Sushi Gion Matsudaya sets itself apart from other sushi restaurants by offering a kosher menu option, so guests keeping kosher can still experience the Edomae culinary tradition. 

Reserve your table at Sushi Gion Matsudaya.

History lesson! Arguably the greatest factor in determining how Kyoto cuisine took form was its location. As a landlocked city, its historical access to seafood was extremely limited, with the majority of its trade coming over land routes. 

This also had a key part to play in the development of its sushi — or lack thereof. While Osaka and Tokyo independently developed their own schools of sushi, with Tokyo’s historic sushi scene giving rise to the hallowed Edomae style of sushi, poor access to fresh seafood limited Kyoto from developing its own.

Nowadays, thanks to the wonders of modern refrigeration and rapid transport, Kyoto sports its fair share of sushi restaurants, many of them even cementing their place among the best in the nation. 

Another former Michelin star holder, Gion Sushi Tadayasu is the other Edomae sushi restaurant that has become synonymous with Gion. It’s unmistakably Kyoto on both the inside and outside: set in a renovated townhouse, the restaurant is characterized by an abundance of natural wood, a door inlaid with stained glass, and elaborate carvings adorning the cupboards and drawers. 

In true Edomae fashion, Chef Tadayasu Morita is especially particular about the rice he uses. The son of a fishmonger from Gunma, he spent 20 years training in a Tokyo sushi restaurant, and it certainly shows. 

All shari — sushi rice — is dressed with traditional red vinegar. Depending on the ingredients, Chef Tadayasu changes his vinegar of choice; for instance, tuna is given rice treated with a stronger blend of vinegar to cut through the richer and fattier flavor of the fish. 

Part of the buzz surrounding Gion Sushi Tadayasu comes from not just its former Michelin status and impeccable sushi quality, but also about Chef Tadayasu himself. Lively and always armed with an array of jokes at hand, the only thing sharper than his wit is his sushi knife. 

Reserve your seat for Edomae sushi at Gion Sushi Tadayasu.

The newest addition to the Michelin Guide Kyoto on this list, Mizuno earned itself a place on the Guide with its first Michelin Star, less than a year after its opening in August 2023.

But this shouldn’t be a surprise. Head chef and owner Mizuno Takahiro trained first at Gion Sasaki — the first entry on this list — which firmly placed him on the path to culinary stardom. He then became head chef of the Michelin Selected restaurant Gion Rakumi, one of the other superstars of the Gion kaiseki circuit. 

Surprisingly for a culinary tradition dictated so heavily by rules, Mizuno’s strength is in its unpredictability. While not quite out-there enough to be considered “fusion” by most critics, Chef Mizuno has a definite creative streak that borders on the rebellious. 

Few kaiseki chefs would even consider flavor combinations like curry and rice with baked apples — a dish firmly associated with “home cooking” in the collective Japanese consciousness — right after a steaming bowl of softshell turtle soup. But true to his surname and his restaurant’s name, both of which contain the character for “water”, the creativity of his cuisine flows freely.

Reserve your spot for innovative kaiseki cuisine at Mizuno.

With Kobe being so near to Kyoto — a ticket to the shinkansen can make the journey as short as 30 minutes — some travelers might decide to bite the bullet and head over to Kobe to try Japan’s most famous wagyu beef at the source. 

But thanks to Mouriya, that won’t be necessary. One of the most well-established Kobe beef specialist restaurants, with over 140 years of experience in buying and serving domestic beef, Mouriya’s only branch outside of Kobe itself is in Gion — as expected, it’s the gold standard when it comes to this melt-in-your-mouth meat.

Mouriya has a long relationship with Kobe beef ranchers in the city of Yabu in northern Hyogo, considered to be the birthplace of Tajima cattle — the variety of Japanese Black cattle from which all Kobe beef comes from. This ensures that the restaurant gets first pick of nothing but the best, right from the source.

Grilled to perfection on the teppan grill, the A5-grade sirloin and fillet at the restaurant are so finely marbled that it might be impossible to go back to any other kind of beef afterwards. The particularly special thing about its Gion outlet is its dedication to the use of local Kyoto produce, which is renowned all across Japan for its quality and deliciousness — ostensibly thanks to the purity of the water. Taste the difference with teppan-grilled vegetables and fresh salads.

Fun fact: Kyoto is the city with the highest beef consumption in Japan (according to Mouriya themselves).

Gion Duck Noodles is exactly what it says on the tin: duck noodles in Gion. 

Does visiting restaurants in Japan have you worried about a language barrier? Here, visitors from overseas can be assured that the locals will be just as confused about how to read the menu. It’s entirely pictorial, just like the sign outside the shop; every entry is a series of emoji. 

Some are fairly straightforward; an emoji of a duck next to one of noodles leaves little to the imagination. But what about a duck next to cherries? Or a duck next to an orange? What’s the difference between a bowl of rice and a bowl of rice with a smiley face?

There’s no mystery whatsoever when it comes to the flavor, though. Gion Duck Noodles consistently places in the most highly ranked ramen shops in Japan, with a beautifully clear, rich broth made from boiled Kishu duck, raised in Wakayama Prefecture. 

It’s not a very conventional ramen — the restaurant claims a healthy amount of French influence — but that hasn’t stopped legions of ramen enthusiasts from lining up outside its doors every day, with its popularity bolstered by its proximity to Yasaka Shrine.

Unfortunately, Gion Duck Noodles doesn’t take reservations, so the only way to guarantee a seat is to go early before the restaurant opens at 11 am. 

Keeping the food tour going in Kyoto? Explore these Michelin-recognised Kyoto restaurants, pick a few plant-based spots, or pick up new skills at these Kyoto cooking classes.

Gion is a historic district in Kyoto, Japan known for its traditional wooden machiya houses, tea houses and geisha.

A geisha is a traditional Japanese female entertainer who performs various arts such as classical music, dance, and traditional Japanese games with guests.

Yes, it is possible to spot geisha and maiko (apprentice geisha) in Gion as they go to and from appointments. However, it is important to respect their privacy and not disrupt their work.

Some popular attractions in Gion include Yasaka Shrine, Hanamikoji Street and the historic tea houses along Shirakawa Canal.

Yes, visitors can experience a traditional tea ceremony in Gion at various tea houses that offer this cultural experience. In fact, we even have multiple Kyoto tea ceremonies available to try…

Yes, Gion is home to many traditional Japanese restaurants serving Kyoto cuisine, including kaiseki (multi-course meal) and teppanyaki (grilled dishes). Many of these restaurants have been detailed in this article!