Gion Tokuya — Restaurant in Kyoto

If you’re interested in traditional desserts using regional ingredients, this place is for you. They don’t offer a wide selection of desserts but they offer a few different versions and flavors of the same type of dessert (different flavors of warabi mochi, shaved ice, and grilled mochi). Also, take a ticket from inside the restaurant before you line up because they call you by number and not by what place you are in line!

I had a feeling this place wouldn’t be my favorite but we were already on line so we decided to just try it. We ordered the matcha kuzu mochi with red bean and matcha powder. We probably ordered the wrong thing but I thought the mochi would be chewier. Instead, it was almost jello-like. One bite and you cut straight through the mochi. There is no pull from the mochi at all. The flavor of the mochi itself was a very mild matcha. We had to add red beans or the matcha dipping powder to give it some flavor. Overall it was an interesting and unique experience but for us, once was enough. They serve hot tea but you can ask for cold water. They also have an upstairs and a downstairs seating area. There is a bathroom in the...

Kyoto has cemented its reputation as a capital for traditional mochi and matcha based desserts. Where this establishment fits into Kyoto’s culinary landscape is their unique presentation of mochi as Honomi Rice Cakes: served like s’mores, campfire-style.

The dining experience involves toasting raw blocks of unflavoured mochi on a miniature table top barbecue, letting the rice cakes puff and blister in the heat, and then cooling it off in a variety of dips and seasoning: some savoury (nori flakes, soy sauce), and some sweet (red bean paste, a sugary syrup).

Worth a go purely for its novelty. For those less adventurous, their regular line up of matcha- and mochi-based desserts are comparable to most other traditional dessert places...

Great dessert shop! We had the black syrup over shaved ice. It tasted like molasses but was not as thick. It had a delicious light flavor and was not too sweet. I can't remember what the other dessert we had was called. It was like a slime that you dipped in the black syrup. It was weird but tasty. The staff are wonderful. We speak no Japanese and they helped us understand how to eat the desserts with actions and demonstrations and were super friendly. They had old big band music playing as well to add to the ambiance which was great. We paid 2,200 yen and feel it was worth it. It was nice to spend some time enjoying the experience rather than just eating a quick treat and moving on...