MUKU — Restaurant in Kyoto

少し贅沢なランチを「出汁と米UKU」さんで頂きました。 メニューは一択でオプション選択のスタイル。 出汁にこだわり、出て来る一皿ごと、一椀ごとに色々な出汁を素材に合わせて調理方法を変え、景色のも良く、口を楽しませて頂きました。 「お迎えだし」は鰹節としじみの出汁で始まり、「自家製の温豆腐」、「出汁巻き玉子」、「季節野菜の出汁蒸し」には素材に合わせた出汁を変えていました。 なかでも、まぐろ節と利尻昆布の出汁で作った出汁巻き玉子は絶品で、今までに食べた出汁巻き玉子より美味しく感じました。 椀物はもっと複雑な味わいで、干し椎茸×二番出汁×焼きあご×トマトでこしらえた赤味噌を加えた椀には豚肉と豆腐、たしか若ニラを添えたものでした。 二番出汁のコクと椎茸のふくよかな香り、焼きあごの香ばしさとトマトのスッキリした旨味が複雑なハーモニーを奏で赤味噌にピッタリと思いました。 メインの皿は季節をあしらった「弥生の豆皿料理」 素材の色と人間の五行陰陽に合わせたようなお皿にそれぞれ載せられたものを順番に頂くスタイルです。まんなかの桜色は桜鱒の緑豆味噌焼きで、温かいうちに食べるように進められ、その後は、汲み上げ湯葉の皿から順番に頂き、最後の佃煮で締める形で頂きました。 ご飯は瀬戸物の羽釜炊きされた「京都見山のコシヒカリ」でした。香りよく適度な粘りとふっくらと炊き上がった直後の煮花の香りごはんを最初に一口だけ茶碗に盛ったものを頂いたうえで食べさせて頂きました。 香りが良く蒸される前のごはんは、独特な香りと粘り強く、珍しいごはんを頂きました。 最後には自分で出汁を取って頂く鯛茶漬けは食事のシメには最高でした。デザート無くても満足感でいっぱいなお昼ごはんでした。 オープンキッチンスタイルのカウンターで頂いたのですが、プレゼンテーションスタイルが和食のスタイルとは違いますが、食べる人間が舌で味わうだけでなく目でも香りも音にも、そして空間そのものも五感をフル動員して楽しめる場所でした。 朝ごはんとお昼のランチタイムは3部制で夕食の提供は無いお店です。 満席近かったですが、お客で日本人は母と私と、一人の男性だけで、後は全て外人ばかりでした。 こんな食べた後の余韻が続くお昼ご飯は初めてかも知れません。記憶に残る時間でした。

Here's the English translation of your review of "Dashi to Kome UKU": A Luxurious Lunch at "Dashi to Kome UKU" I had a slightly luxurious lunch at "Dashi to Kome UKU." The menu is set, with just one option, and you make selections for that. They're very particular about their dashi (Japanese soup stock), and with each dish and bowl, they change the type of dashi and cooking method to match the ingredients. The presentation was beautiful, and it was truly a delight for the palate. The meal started with an "O-mukae Dashi" (welcome dashi) made with bonito flakes and shijimi clams. Then, for the "homemade warm tofu," "dashimaki tamago" (rolled omelet), and "steamed seasonal vegetables with dashi," they used different dashi tailored to each ingredient. Among these, the dashimaki tamago made with bonito flakes (magurobushi) and Rishiri kombu dashi was exceptional. It was more delicious than any dashimaki tamago I'd ever had before. The soup dish had an even more complex flavor. It was a red miso soup made with dried shiitake mushrooms, niban dashi (second broth), grilled flying fish (yaki-ago), and tomato, served with pork, tofu, and, if I recall correctly, young nira (garlic chives). The richness of the niban dashi, the mellow aroma of the shiitake, the savory scent of the yaki-ago, and the refreshing umami of the tomato created a complex harmony that paired perfectly with the red miso. The main course was the seasonal "Yayoi Mamezara Ryori" (small dish cuisine of March). This style of dining involved sequentially enjoying items placed on individual plates, each seemingly arranged to match the ingredients' colors and the five elements of yin and yang. The pink in the center was Sakuramasu (cherry salmon) grilled with green bean miso. We were encouraged to eat it while it was warm. After that, we proceeded in order, starting from the lifted yuba (tofu skin) dish and finishing with the final tsukudani (simmered dish). The rice was "Kyoto Miyama Koshihikari," cooked in a ceramic hagama pot. It had a lovely aroma, a pleasant stickiness, and was perfectly fluffy. We were first given a single bite of the freshly cooked rice in a bowl, which had the aroma of "nikibana" (cooked flower). The rice, with its unique aroma and stickiness before steaming, was quite rare and delightful. Finally, the tai chazuke (sea bream over rice with dashi), which you prepare yourself by pouring dashi over it, was the perfect way to finish the meal. It was a lunch that left me completely satisfied, even without a dessert. I had my meal at the open-kitchen counter. While the presentation style differs from traditional Japanese cuisine, it's a place where diners can fully engage all five senses—not just taste, but also sight, aroma, sound, and the space itself. The restaurant operates on a three-part system for breakfast and lunch, and they don't serve dinner. The place was almost full, but other than my mother and me, and one other man, all the other customers were foreigners. This might be the first time I've experienced such a lingering afterglow from a lunch. It was truly a...

We went to Muku for lunch after visiting Arashiyama, it’s located across the bridge from the Arashiyama Bamboo forest area (and the popular Arabica location).

The restaurant has a modern aesthetic to it, there are table and counter seats, we were seated at the counter which was a nice experience as you get to watch the food getting prepared.

It is a set menu with a few optional addons, I would recommend coming hungry as there is quite a bit of food. There are multiple side dishes/appetizers that you are served leading up to the main course, many of the dishes contain a special broth that is described in the menu they provide. Lots of different flavours and you really feel like you are getting a taste of the more traditional side of Japanese food. The main course consists of 9 different small courses, each with its unique flavour, I would only suggest this restaurant for adventurous foodies. The couple beside us barely touched most of the food.

We also added the add on for Dashizuke, they give you a ceramic filter where Bonito flakes are placed inside and you pour the broth into the filter to make the dashizuke broth. This dish was pretty disappointing as I usually love dashizuke dishes but doing it this way was really bland, I would not recommend...

A good dining experience at a relatively affordable price. Lots of different food items served in bite-sized portions.

The welcome broth was warming and light in flavor. It tasted a little seaweed-y but it wasn’t fishy.

The handmade hot tofu was velvety with a thick soy-based sauce on top and a hint of ginger.

The steamed seasonal vegetables were super fresh and served with a salt dip and miso paste for flavor.

The main dishes include yuba, baby sardine, potatoes & cabbage, clam & kelp, chicken, sweet potatoes with strawberries, radish, bamboo shoot & seaweed, and trout. Everything tasted fresh, some were light in flavor and others a bit more punchy.

Even the rice was notably good—it’s freshly cooked in an earthen pot. The miso soup was more hearty and flavorful than the usual. The tamagoyaki was pillowy soft with a spongy center.

Overall enjoyed it but probably wouldn’t come a second time, it’s more of the experience rather than the food itself...