Abbesses — Restaurant in Kyoto

Okay food, annoying service/rules.

6 course meal with a set price of 5,000 yen tasted fine. The dessert and the duck at the end were fairly good. The pre-appetizer of raw fish on top of a thick sauce at the beginning was a bit off-putting. Small pieces of bread were served twice during the meal, but no new butter came out the second time, so we had to eat it dry.

Beware of the one drink per customer rule. I ordered a beer I didn't really want because of this rule.

The Japanese waiter kept coming around for each new plate of food and explaining to us what all of the ingredients were in a mix of Japanese and almost unrecognizable French. We mostly had no idea what he was saying. I wish he would have just realized that we couldn't understand him and let us eat in peace. The wine menu was very short, and the waiter did not know the names of the wines.

After the meal was over, we sat waiting for our check, not sure whether we pay at the front. After waiting for a while, I got up to walk to the front to pay and I was ordered to go back to my table to pay.

This place seems like a better fit for a Japanese couple looking for a French restaurant experience than for an American couple looking for...

Stumbled upon this little Japanese-French gem by chance. In Kyoto, Google Maps sent us on a detour through a neighborhood with small side roads that we hadn't planned to see.

Neither my friend nor I are known as dieters, so we threw in a six-course set menu for lunch with spring water, coffee and an item of your choice with or without alcohol for less than 7.500 yen per person.

The servings were full of flavor and umami. For example, our first serving was a salad that, according to the card, was made up of 30 different flavor elements: seafood, fresh vegetables and small dabs of enhancers and dressings.

Next followed, among others, a soup of European eel and lemon melon, which went surprisingly well together.

Finally, coffee and homemade petit four with white chocolate, a stalk dipped in powdered sugar, a miniature caramelized croissant and small macarons with pistachio.

Restaurant Abbesses was a wonderful surprise and the spontaneous highlight...

Amazing hole in the wall! The chef was the most amazing cook, so quiet and served a beautiful menu. Fun set menu with a salad with 30 different types of vegetables in them, wakame, a lovely risotto and fish, stunning steak and most beautiful dessert. Stunning find, a must do in Kyoto - very close to Fushimi...