This is a Kyoto cuisine restaurant with a counter and three tatami rooms. It has a good Gion-like atmosphere and is located favorably in the Gion area, a little apart from the exciting Shijo Street. Their mackerel sushi and sesame tofu are particularly popular.

The Kyoto cuisine starts with hassun. It is beautifully arranged with crisp sea cucumber and eel fry decorated with grated daikon (on the upper left side in the right picture), and boiled beans (on the upper right side in both pictures) having to do with Setsubun (the day of the bean-scattering ceremony in Japan). On the center is a set of shrimp, sardine, mackerel and other kinds of sushi.

One of the noted menus of Gion Nishimura is this mackerel sushi. It is in its perfection with this thick mackerel.

The following dish is in a bowl.

The fragrance of yuzu floats in the air when you open the lid. Today’s bowl dish is Kani (crab) Shinjo. In addition to crab, it contains a piece of rape blossom and a grilled scallop. Enjoy the delicate broth soup, crab, and the sweet flavor of the scallop.

Today’s sashimi is yokowa and flatfish. Yokowa is the fry of a horse mackerel. This is hardly eaten in Tokyo.

Steamed Amadai (literally translated: sweet sea bream; tilefish) with turnip. As the name speaks itself, this meal is unique in its sweet flavor and plain meat of the tilefish. With its viscous soup by adding kudzu starch, this meal is a luxury one.

The grilled dish for the day is grilled Japanese Spanish mackerel in Saikyo style.
Grilled dish in Saikyo style requires a delicate preparation when grilling and seasoning, and therefore you may sense the careful work done to this meal. The grilled shiitake mushroom added as a garnish is also incredible.

Here comes a bowl of rice seasoned with soy sauce and boiled with edible burdock and ginger. The rice has been steamed in an earthen pot and each grain of rice is very thick. Enjoy the sweetness and the flavor of scorched portions of the rice.

The garnish is a set of pickled vegetables.

Dessert for the last part of the course.
It consists of some warm pieces of bracken-starch pastry and strong tea sherbet. It is interesting that they dare to serve a warm dessert and a cold dessert at the same time. You may sense the restaurant’s enthusiasm in serving their meals.

Finish with tea.

The restaurant has been awarded five stars in the Michelin Guide and therefore has recently gained popularity even more than before. But I have been very impressed by their polite attitude towards customers. The cook Mr. Nishimura even came to see me off when I was leaving. Needless to say, each dish was perfect to enjoy Kyoto cuisine. Before I left, I had an opportunity to speak with Mr. Nishikawa, according to whom more and more customers from foreign countries are visiting the restaurant. Keep paying attention to Gion Nishikawa. It will become a worldly famous restaurant.

■Nishikawa
Address: Kyoto-fu, Kyoto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Kawaramachi-tori,Yasakatorii-mae,kudaru kawaramachi 473
Access: 761 meters from Gion Shijo Station