Jisai Kyouman Gion — Restaurant in Kyoto

Jisai Kyoman was recommended to us by our hotel cause the other restaurant was fully booked for lunch. The restaurant was a hidden gem located at an alleyway in Gion. At first we were not quite sure whether the small entrance door could lead us to the restaurant. We took off our shoes at the foyer and walked into a cosy traditional Japanese style space. There are two tables with four seats next to a small beautiful garden, and the counter with six seats facing the open kitchen. We were seated at the counter where we could see the chefs preparing our meals. One chef was grilling the unagi on the open grill on the right side and the other chef who speaks English served us with the rice and sashimi etc. The restaurant was filled with appetizing and heavenly sweet grilled eel smell which made us feel hungry.

We preordered 4 of lunch sets:

Two orders of eel bowl course (served in red lacquer boxes) 6800 yen each including 5 pcs of eel n seasonal w bone cracker, Sashimi, One eel bowl, Spices, Clear soup w eel guts, Dessert

Two orders of Eel rice steamed bowl in clay pot course 6800 each including 5 pcs of eel n seasonal w bone cracker, Sashimi, Eel rice bowl in clay pot, Spices, Eel rice with a dashi broth, Dessert

The eel were impeccably cooked and served pertinently. The skilled Chef grilled the unagi until the flakiness and firmness of the unagi flesh was balanced superbly. The unagi skins were crispy and gently glazed with a sweet special sauce. One of the best unagi I have ever had. The rice was tasty and fluffy in texture and was a good complement to the grilled unagi as always. The last dish was the rice with unagi in soup. The chef put the two pieces of unagi in a bowl of rice and poured clear broth into it making a sumptuous bowl of 茶漬飯. At the end of our meal, The grill master gestured to me to take video of him preparing the unagi. I was really impressed with his skills. The video is over 1 minute long. I will change the video speed and upload it soon.

While we were dining in the restaurant, we noticed that the two tables were occupied by local Japanese patrons. Hope it remains as a hidden gem for unagi lovers.

Finally we would like to say that the unagi is absolutely delicious and bursting with flavor. We were impressed with the chef culinary skills and also we appreciated their effort and attention to detail.

Recommend Jisai Kyoman to anyone who loves unagi or anyone who never tried unagi. You will never regret dining in...

Highly recommended! It was a true hidden gem. We came from Singapore and happen to pass by this hidden restaurant at the back of another restaurant at the Gion kyoto area during early Apr when the night cherry blossom viewing along the street of Gion Shirakawa. It is common in this area for there to be buildings set behind other buildings. The only indicator is a lantern/curtain indicating it is a restaurant. The walkway is dimly lit but you will find a beautiful restaurant at the end of it.

The first walk in attempt we were rejected, however we were determined to try it, take note you have to reserve! You can ask your hotel to call or you can reserve thru google map. We managed to got a table just before the night we leave Kyoto on a Monday evening.

We ordered the basic set of 1 eel (4400 yen) for each pax, it was mind blowing good, the UNAGI was nicely grilled and the exterior skin is nicely crisped and you could taste the caramelisation yet right balance of flakiness and firmness to the flesh. One thing that is outstanding is it was grilled to such perfection that you can’t feel the tiny fine bones that will usually happen in unagi. Recommend you to order sake to pair with the meal.

This place is cozy with limited seats and with 2 chefs and 1 lady attending to us, there isn’t any English menu but with google translate and the help of the lady we were able to order and she even recommended us some side dish to go along with simple gesture and pointing. The friendly lady showered us with warm Japanese hospitality (omotenashi), sending every customer off to the door step when you are leaving.

It will definitely be our come back choice for unagi for the next time in Kyoto. I do hope it remains a hidden gem otherwise it might be hard to get a reservation. If you are thinking about unagi in Japan and happen to be in the Gion area of Kyoto, don't miss Tokisai Kyoman....

I made a reservation through Tabelog 5 days before I visit the actual restaurant. We chose the 7,800 per pax claypot eel rice set.

The actual restaurant is not easy to find - it is located at the end of a narrow valley. Initially we are concerned that the shop was closed. Do not worry! Just slide open the door and the friendly chefs and waiteress will be waiting for you.

We were first served with some assorted appetitzers - eel crackers, vegetables, eel jelly, eel pieces with marinated cucumbers, marinated eel, and duck. Eel crackers is extremely crispy, and while the eel jelly looks cubic and ordinary, it was packed with fragrance and flavours, as though you're consuming a real eel.

Next, we were served with red sea bream tempura. This was seriously out of my expectations! Red sea bream is fresh with flavours and it was very lightly layered with tempura flour before being fried - the freshness of the sea bream is being retained within, and the taste of the batter is not overpowering at all.

The main character, claypot eel rice is finally served. Honestly, I have never tasted anything like this before anywhere else. In Singapore where I come from, a lot of sauce is added to the unagi rice to bring out the "sweetness". In this claypot eel rice, the freshness and sweetness originates from the eel itself, which is charcoal-grilled under the watchful eyes of the chef. The rice is also quite crispy. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

There are 3 ways of eating eel; 1) Japanese pepper; 2) Spring onions and wasabi; and 3) Dashi stock. All 3 ways of eating eel is delicious! But I personally prefer the 3rd way because the crispy rice tastes very well with the dashi stock.

We ended the meal with a mochi.

Special call-out to the waitress who has been extremely patient and attentive to our needs!

Will definitely drop by if I'm in...