Restaurant Hiramatsu Kōdaiji — Restaurant in Kyoto

Don't go here if you're expecting anything decent for the vegan course.

They advertise a vegan course, so I was naturally excited. They booked on short notice as well, which was also appreciated. That was the best of it, though.

Though they're quite friendly and did their best, we had a bit of tough time communicating with the staff—even just to ask about wines. If you're not fluent in Japanese you may have to rely on translation apps quite a bit. That's fine of course—you're in Japan after all.

Be careful about ordering drinks—especially wine. The staff working when we were there for dinner didn't seem to be aware of the customary dining technique of pouring a bit of wine to let the diner taste before filling the glass. This resulted in them pouring my partner a full glass of wine before trying (having to then ask for a different type) and them almost doing the same for me before I stopped them.

Now for the food. This was a very disappointing experience for a Michelin restaurant. The plating and presentation was OK for each dish. The flavour in most dishes was nonexistent, and the pairings of flavours did not go well together when there WAS flavour. For instance, there was a main course of risotto with a piece or two of asparagus, some crumbled nuts, and some shavings of black truffle. The sauce was a sort of truffle gravy, I guess. It was terribly bland. The sauce provided nothing of any flavour and therefore the risotto tasted like nothing. The vegetables were simply boiled without any thought. The only reprieve was the truffle shavings—at least that brought flavour.

In another dish, there was a mushroom broth with some lettuce, broccoli, radish, and pasta. Of all the pasta to choose, they for some reason went with macaroni. What an odd choice. Not refined-looking whatsoever, and made the dish feel cheap. Again, however, the taste was the worst part. While broccoli normally absorbs whichever wonderful flavour you give to it, since the broth was devoid of much flavour, all the vegetables in the dish ended up being boring.

And finally, in another course, there was an arrangement of some lettuce, orange slices, a piece of asparagus, peas in a pod, and (I think?) fava bean. Oh—and a single morel mushroom. That's right, one. There was a balsamic drizzle. I love balsamic, but this again felt really strange for the dish and didn't lend itself to any of the other flavours on the plate. It felt out of place. I was excited for the morel mushroom since, as a vegan, it has a wonderfully chewy texture. However, it wasn't cooked great and was more spongy than it should've been.

The only redeeming courses were the amuse bouche (roasted pistachios) and the first course (a super succulent and tasty tomato).

Overall, I ended up writing out and translating a lengthy comment for the manager of the evening to encourage them to reassess their vegan course. It lacked in flavour, it lacked in being well-balanced (basically no protein), and the final dish of fruit was something you'd expect at a low-to-mid tier restaurant—communicating a slap in the face to vegans and vegetarians at a Michelin restaurant where your expectations are higher—especially for somewhere touting a vegan menu.

If you want a truly incredible vegan course experience, head to nearby Yasaka in the Park Hyatt hotel. A teppanyaki experience that accommodates a vegan course. It was the opposite of this place in terms of flavour and the experience was superb to have the chef make the meal in front of you. The sake was also vert good. Also, it has the same (if not better)...

Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever posted a bad review before in my life… but if I can save at least one person the disappointment that will be worth it.

We went in to celebrate my 30th birthday, and chose the special birthday menu. The service and the view is impeccable. Sadly the food is absolutely atrocious. It’s not just disappointing from a cost ratio point of view, what with this place being quite expensive, it’s just very bad food. Extremely bland, no taste at all, very average produce. We had to suffer through the embarrassment of asking for salt and pepper in a one star Michelin establishment, a new low for me.

I frankly felt sad for the front of house who delivered a stellar performance, only to be completely let down by atrocious food.

If I can muster the will to think upon this disastrous meal again tomorrow, I’ll be writing to Michelin to ask for explanation. This is by no means worthy of a star, it barely should be called a restaurant as it is for the food.

I probably sound like a toss but so be it, if at least one person hesitating reads this and decide against spending a special meal there it will be worth it… I certainly hope I’d read a similar comment before I decided on celebrating my 30th in this...

Booked the lunch menu initially for the view but unfortunately the view is the only thing that's remarkable for this restaurant and what's even more unfortunate is I've seen much better views somewhere else.

Where do I start?

I was quite excited about the French and Japanese inspired cuisine but no one dish wowed me or made me feel "ah that's really nice". All dishes were plain and boring. You can't say there's no innovation, like carrot puree on steak, but why? What kind of weiredest combination is that? Probably I live in Europe myself and have the opportunity to try more European restaurants, but I definitely have higher expections to a Michelin one star French restaurant in Kyoto.

The wine glasses looked like IKEA. Didn't even want to...