Rating: 19/20
Where: Kyoto, Japan
When: Lunch for 2 on 22 September 2023
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 22000-44000 JPY
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars, Tabelog Bronze Award (2023)
Why: Kaiseki cuisine full of bold flavors; modern open kitchen

“Gion Sasaki” is a three-Michelin-starred restaurant serving modern Kaiseki cuisine in Kyoto. I wasn’t able to visit here on my previous trip to Kyoto since the restaurant was closed for renovations. But fast forward a few months: the construction had just finished and thanks to the efforts of an amazing hotel concierge team, we found ourselves with a lunch reservation soon thereafter. Having lunch is obviously great, but were we were missing anything by not going for dinner? Well, dinner reportedly features ingredients that are of a “higher quality” than lunch, but then again, dinner is (a) twice the price of lunch, and (b) apparently almost impossible to reserve unless you know the chef personally. Based on our dining experience, it’s probably not worth holding out for a dinner reservation since (spoiler alert!) our lunch was already amazingly delicious.

Gion Sasaki received its third Michelin star only recently in 2019, and, not having read any reviews, we went in pretty much without any preconceptions. Well, maybe we were a bit apprehensive, since several previous Kaiseki dinners in Kyoto left us a bit disappointed, for example at Mizai and Hyotei. So we were curious to see whether this trip to Japan - planned around this single meal - would be worth it (at least according to some definition of “worth it”).

As its name suggests, “Gion Sasaki” is located in the Gion district of Kyoto, a traditional part of town that is popular with tourists. Thankfully, the restaurant is located on a side-street away from the crowds. One might call the street “quiet” if it wasn't for the occasional car speeding down the narrow one-way alley. Assuming one survives the vehicular obstacles, Gion Sasaki's entrance can be found up a narrow staircase. The restaurant's name is only displayed in Kanji, and no Michelin plaque disturbs the plain facade. Talk about understatement.

The interior of the restaurant is decorated using light-colored wood. We removed our shoes in an entryway that had a small window into a prep kitchen. Past a sliding door was the main dining room, where ten (give or take) counter seats faced a large open kitchen. Compared to traditional Japanese Kaiseki counters, the setup here felt more modern and, shall I say, more Western. In old-school Japanese counter-seat restaurants the head chef prepares (or at least finishes) all dishes in front of the customers, while the other cooks and helpers toil out of sight in a back room. At Gion Sasaki, almost all action happened right in front of us in the extensive open kitchen. More than half a dozen chefs prepared dishes at multiple stations, and the head chef wasn't directly involved in the cooking at all. More of a Western setup, that is.

Chairs were filled in order of arrival, left to right. But there really wasn't a bad seat in the house, courses were finished in various locations throughout the kitchen, so that all diners saw some action right in front of them. We didn't see a drinks menu (or any menu, for that matter), but sake, white wine, champagne, beer and tea were available by the glass. I had a glass of the house-label sake, which was on the drier side and went nicely with the food. The white wine we sampled was underwhelming, but the champagne was pretty good.

During our visit, most of the staff spoke very little English. A newly hired chef from Beijing thankfully helped translate some of the course descriptions for us, and our Japanese seat neighbors provided additional help. (We were the only foreigners among the ten guests at the counter.) The atmosphere was not quite as lively as at Maeda, but there were definitely conversations going on - this was not a silent temple of food, and we felt very comfortable and welcome.

Our lunch started with a welcome beverage, a pinkish soda made from shiso flowers. Refreshing, sweet and with a light vegetably aftertaste. A good beginning 15.

The first course consisted of torched squid, red snapper and some vegetables, all covered by a vinegary dashi gelee. This was a very well-executed version of a staple of Japanese cuisine. The squid had a firm texture - no creaminess nor rubberiness here - and just a hint of smokiness. Very nice. The red snapper was excellent as well, the vegetables were fresh and crunchy, and the dashi also very good - it was flavorful, yet restrained. Often dashi gelee is so potent that it overpowers the rest of the dish, but that was not the case here; the gelee contributed some flavor, but let the other ingredients shine. A great balance 18.

Next, a dish in multiple parts. Clock-wise from the top left in the picture: marinated Japanese vegetables, a breaded and fried piece of taro, salted ginkgo nuts, fried fish, and a fish on top of a slice of onion (!). (Unfortunately, our server did not know the English names of either the vegetables or the fish.) Let's begin with the most bizarre sounding combination: fish on an onion? The fish in question tasted a lot like saba (mackerel), and surprisingly went extremely well with the (possibly blanched) onion. There was lots of flavor from the fish, and the onion had a nice crunch without any spiciness. Unexpectedly delicious (a 20 by itself). Equally amazing were the marinated vegetables that reminded me of seaweed. Their dressing was lightly sweet and perfectly seasoned - another stellar dish. The other components of the course were good, but not outstanding. The fish and ginkgo nuts were of good quality, and the taro had a vaguely cheesy aftertaste for me (which was disputed by my wife). Overall, a very nice collection of small bites, with a couple of them being truly outstanding 19.

The traditional Kaiseki course of clear soup came next. The clear broth here was made from fish and kombu, and it contained a large piece of tofu, house-made with eggs and fish, some house-made noodles and some thinly sliced negi (a kind of green onion). The yellow piece of tofu was meant to symbolize the moon, in honor of the upcoming Japanese autumn moon festival. I've had my ups and downs with the clear broths of Japanese cuisine. In theory, it is an amazing feat to produce a translucent broth that still exhibits complex flavors. But in practice, the flavors are often too subtle for my Western palate. Thankfully, Gion Sasaki's broth didn’t fall into that trap. It was quite lovely, maybe of a medium strong flavor as far as these courses go. The noodles were nicely cooked, the tofu had maybe a hint of egg flavor, and was a bit tricky to eat with chopsticks, since it was very soft 17.

Following were two courses that featured raw fish. First up, sashimi. Slices of torched nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch) were served with slices of pear and a ponzu seasoned with radish. The fish was culinary perfection - fatty, flavorful, slightly smoky, it practically melted in one's mouth. Together with the slightly spicy and sour ponzu, this was a marvelous combination (20, easy). The pear was probably meant to add a bit of crunch and sweetness, but I found it a bit too sweet compared to the rest of the dish 19. My wife disagreed - she thought that the pear was a great addition.

The next course was sushi. Slices of aji (horse mackerel) were served on rice. Next to them was a maki filled with ginger and fish. The marinated aji lightly tasted of mackerel and was delicious. An amazing example of this kind of fish. The roll was also very good: the ginger was not spicy at all and complemented the fish very nicely. Altogether delicious; my only nitpick would be that the rice could have been a bit more flavorful 19.

Roasted ingredients made up the next dish: swordfish, a local Kyoto pepper, and romaine lettuce. They were served with a fermented mushroom sauce, and on the side were some figs drizzled with a sesame sauce. Let's first consider the savory parts of the dish. The fish was cooked perfectly, and relatively fatty. It went amazingly with the mushroom sauce that was sour, salty and full of umami. The gently charred peppers and romaine were great additions to the sauce as well. This was a whole symphony of flavors coming together - excellent! In my mind, the figs belonged to a separate dish, they felt more like a dessert than a main course. But apart from being on the wrong plate, they were delicious. The nuttiness of the sauce nicely complemented the fruitiness of the figs. Hard to see how to improve on anything in this dish 20. Well, my wife said that her fish was overcooked and dry, so maybe there is still some headroom.

Anago (conger eel) is a mainstay of Japanese fine dining, especially at this time of the year. Here it was served with an egg yolk sauce on top of pieces of breaded and deep-fried tofu. The dish was finished with Japanese ginger. My first thought was how excitingly different this anago dish was from literally all the others that I've had in Japan before. Anago in a soup and grilled anago are standard preparations. But anago in a rich, creamy sauce? Not just unusual, but also very good. The tofu was a bit lacking in taste, but otherwise this was an excellent dish 18.

The final savory course was the traditional rice pot (gohan). Today, it was prepared with sliced matsutake mushrooms, topped with yuzu zest, and accompanied by Japanese pickles. The rice was a bit underwhelming; it felt underseasoned, with only a light mushroom flavor, and with none of the (desirable) crunchiness that comes from cooking the rice a bit longer. The pickles were excellent, however, and adding them to the rice made for a good combination 16.

Finally, a dessert course that was surprisingly Western for a Japanese kitchen: Gion Sasaki's take on tiramisu. Coffee-flavored cookies were topped with a mascarpone/custard cream, grapes and persimmons. Rich, creamy, fruity, crunchy, and a bit bitter from the coffee - overall quite lovely 17.

A cup of coffee that had been cold-brewed for 12 hours concluded our meal. It was nicely smooth, and relatively light.

Overall: Inventive Kaiseki cuisine in a modern open kitchen setting. I loved the surprisingly bold flavors, and the interesting combinations employed by the fearless kitchen (fish and onions, fish and pears, anago and egg yolk). The chefs are definitely experimenting and taking some risks, but those are paying off in spades. One of the best meals I've had in Japan, never boring and very delicious 19.