July 30, 2009
Il Ghiottone イル ギオットーネ
Kyoto is known for it's classical Japanese cuisine, sticklers for tradition. On the other hand, Japan also offers excellent Western cuisines, possibly the finest in Asia. Certainly better than anything we would find in Taipei, anyway. So I also did some research on Western restaurants in Kyoto. Hidden away amongst all the traditional Japanese restaurants is this modern fusion of kyo-ryori and Italian cooking.
The converted house near the Yasaka Pagoda doesn't stand out amongst from its surroundings and only a modest sign inside the porch confirms that we'd indeed found the right spot. The interior has also been renovated with high ceilings, warm wood floors, with upholstered banquettes as well as seats. The kitchen is open in the back, along with some more intimate booths. It would fit just as well in any European city, but the small garden outside the picture windows reminds one of the Japanese influence.
Puzzling through the Japanese website (damn Flash animation made translation websites useless), it looked like they opened reservations exactly one month ahead of time. Wanted to be sure so I made the international call on the appointed date. Thankfully the person taking the reservation spoke passable English and the booking was confirmed without issue. Turned out to have been a good idea since the place was fully booked even on a Thursday evening. The menu was hand-written with a cute design, but Japanese-only, offering prix fixe courses at a few different price levels as well as dishes a la carte.
Wife wasn't in the mood for a full degustation, so we ordered one full course from the menu plus one entree and made it into a small-plate kind of thing. They were quite accommodating with the extra plates and silverware for sharing.
We started with a white peach and lobster tail salad, with a yogurt foam dressing. Sprinkled with green cucumber-enfused tapioca. Cool and refreshing to start the meal after a hot day walking about Kyoto.
Next was salmon confit, squash and shitake mushroom chunks. Topped with salmon roe and a salad of spicy greens. Purees of green and yellow peppers and tomato plus a streak of olive tapenade provided distinctive flavor highlights.
Nothing fancy here. Japanese beef slices cooked perfectly medium for the wife. Fresh Kyoto summer vegetables like squash, okra, and baby corn char-grilled. Not going to get blown away with the portion size, but you don't expect big slabs of meat when it comes to Japanese beef.
Edamame cream, steak tartar topped with edamame, and soy-milk panna cotta. Usually not brave enough to try raw beef, but it was a good thing I couldn't read the menu beforehand because the chopped beef was tender and spiced to enhance the natural beefiness, treated with the same respect and with a similar silky mouth-feel as a fine piece of sashimi. The soy-milk pudding was creamy and worked surprisingly well as a palate-cleansing savory.
Seafood spaghetti dressed with olive oil and Kyo-ryori style ingredients: mintaiko, cucumber, and shiso flowers. Wasn't quite sure what the tiny edible florets were until the first mouthful released the distinctive shiso flavor. A tasteful fusion of flavors and cuisines.
Hot risotto is dumped out of the hot pan into a block of Parmesan cheese and stirred to incorporate a bit of the cheese into the rice. A lot more impressive than shaving the cheese on top, that's for sure. A classic cheesey risotto with chunks of ham, chicken, and kernels of grilled sweet corn. The flavor's very Italian, but the rice grain's texture seemed a bit different. Asked the server and turned out they use Japanese rice instead of arborio rice. Cheap Taiwan pasta place uses local rice to make risotto and it's sacrilege. Expensive Japanese restaurant uses local rice for risotto and it's brilliant fusion. Go figure.
My entree featured juicy chunks of pork belly, with firm meat, crisp skin, and a silky but not overly thick layer of fat. Mixed with asparagus (green and white) and mushrooms. Too bad we couldn't put it over some white rice and let the rich lard soak into it.
Nothing says summer refreshment like watermelon. A red-watermelon sorbet, garnished with yellow watermelon chunks, topped with a gelatinized cream-soda foam.
Had a few choices for dessert. Decided on a grilled-banana tarte, with a scoop of caramel ice cream and caramel sauce. A good cappuccino went nicely with the dessert.
The wide bench and good spacing between the tables allowed enough space to set down my camera bag and the wife's breast pump, and let me snap away at the food with the DSLR without causing a fuss. Meanwhile other tables featured a group of nicely dressed ladies, a few couples on a romantic meal, and a family celebrating a birthday or anniversary. The food was tasty and interesting and unique to our experience. Very highly recommended.
Il Ghiottone
京都府京都市東山区下河原通塔の前下ル八坂上町388-1
Shimo-Kawaramachi-dori Tonomaesagaru, Yasakakamimachi 388-1
just N of Yasaka Pagoda