SUI Fine Dining Restaurant — Restaurant in Kyoto

The best omakase kaiseki menu. A MUST for any budding foodie or experienced gastronome. Degustation is a food-lover’s dream. SUI is both a contemporary revelation and a respectful homage to Japanese and Kyoto cuisine. It is both welcoming and elegant - a rare combination that ensures your dining experience is not stiff, but a wholesome, healing enjoyment of the food.

SUI opened in October 2022, helmed by the talented Maki Miyazawa, who worked in Tokyo’s fine dining. She’s talented, passionate about food and warm and humble. She is assisted by her husband, Ai Izawa. Front of house is managed by Yumi Kawahara.

If you're a travelling foodie & want to know more about the produce and the process, this contemporary fine dining restaurant will open doors to your understanding. The chef and staff speak English, and Ai-san is actually a licensed English teacher.

Space is sophisticated, the highlight being the gorgeous garden behind the counter. I ate on a rainy night, which added to the appreciation of wabi-sabi. Calming.

Yumi-san is an exemplary hostess. My water was always filled, she was attentive and welcoming.

I had the chef’s omakase:

Assorted appetisers: Fugu (puffer fish) soup (consommé) with crispy fugu fin - Delicate and deep flavours. Oyster with sea cucumber garnish - great combination I’ve never had before.

Seasoned fugu - served with a small quail yolk - to be mixed before eating, like a Korean bibimbap.

Tempura of Hirame (Flounder) with Sansho pepper tartar sauce.

Japanese soup (dashi) with monkfish liver (ankimo) - seasoned with spring onion from Kujo (an area renowned for their spring onion specifically for seafood).

Grilled Fugu on hot stone - marinated in soy, grilled at your table so the smoky flavours are enjoyed before eating. Served with a garnish of grated daikon infused with ponzu and champagne. I cannot explain how delectable this was.

Fried Ebi-Imo - a type of taro from Kyoto. “Ebi” means prawn”, and the chef shared what the tuber looks like - it’s curled with ridges/ stripes, thus resembling a prawn.

Steamed soft milt (Shirako) in a turnip sauce and anchovies. This was incredible.

Grilled eel -salted, with Sansho pepper garnish. Crispy eel skin.

Stewed beef tongue with miso and wine. The meat was soft and tender, more like beef cheek and delicious.

Udon with egg soup - Kyoto style. This thicker soup with Udon is Kyoto style - but the flavours were amazing and reminded me of the complexities of shark’s-fin soup (which I have not had for decades due the cruelty). udon was perfectly al dente (what is known as “koshi” - chewy texture).

Japanese dessert and tea - made by the chef - the beautiful sakura flower and small bud. Small detail - the yellow stamen inside the flower is yuzu, from Maki’s mother’s garden.

Although I dined alone, I felt welcomed, comfortable and at ease. I was lucky enough to be eating at the same time as the Chef’s mother and SUI’s owner (although I didn’t realise it at the time), so there must have been a bit of pressure on the kitchen to deliver, but the service hummed. It was a pleasure seeing the chef and staff manage the service so well. The other diners were regulars, or knew the chef, but I was still treated the same.

I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. I intend to come to Kyoto just to eat here.

Exemplary quality, passionate chef, staff and owner, seasonal delicacies in an outstanding interior. I congratulate the owner, Hide-san for his discerning choice and support of Chef Maki. He is also passionate about great food, and that his love of this place is not just a passing investment. I love supporting a talented young chef who is also a lovely person.

PS. Go to the SUI Cigar Bar upstairs after your meal. ;)

Merging the traditional with the global, whilst staying true to the heritage of Kyoto’s cuisine and Japan’s rich artisanal knowledge, I have no doubt that Maki Miyazawa will take sophisticated SUI to gain a Michelin Star. I foresee it being booked out. Eat here while...

If you are looking for a true Kyoto hospitality, cuisine, culture and creativity, be sure to make SUI a destination. Book early although during winter, your luck of finding a spot is higher.

The Omakase experience starts with a view into a secret garden where our host and chef perform their service and culinary specialties in front of you.

From local produce to seasonal dishes, you will be treated with a lot of care.

We started the dinner with a selection of grilled local Japanese fish, octopus, plum and ginkgo nuts and vegetables.

Then a creative cold ‘ramen’ surprised us with thinly sliced squid as the noodles.

Next, grilled puffer fish on hot stones is a first for us as we see the chef flips the slices of fish and finished it with radish as toppings.

We had a warm bowl of seasonal Japanese soup with radish, fish and a slice of Yuzu. The broth was clear but deep in flavour.

Then came a potato that looks like a prawn hence its name! This is only found in Kyoto and its deep-fried like fries. And chef told us to enjoy it with our hands.

We had steamed oysters with seaweed and a mixture created with rice. The starchy concoction makes the heart full like a home-cooked comfort food.

We had a sweet dish as an interval. But this was a cross-over in flavour! Sweet persimmon with dried fish roe. I’ve never seen a dried fish roe. It’s hard and the grated version tastes like aged cheese. The symphony of sweet and salty brought together by cream makes this dish small dish a delight!

Our protein was crunchy eel and braised beef that’s soft and tender.

Then came Udon in thick creamy soup base with egg.

The evening ended off with sweet treats and a Japanese matcha.

This is a hidden gem of Kyoto waiting to...

SUI Fine Dining was the best dining experience we had in Kyoto, and for myself, it was the best I had during my three weeks in Japan.

The restaurant is being run by a married couple, Maki and Ai. Maki was looking after us and the other guests. The service provided was really nice and welcoming. She explained each and every dish we received in English (they're both fluent in English), so we actually knew what we're eatig and what taste to expect. At first, we were seated at the table due to not having enough space at the counter (4 other guests were already seated there). After some guests left and their seats at the counter were cleaned up, Maki asked us to sit at the counter, and we got our tableware moved. The whole experience felt more personal and up-close. They even taught us how to properly (and traditionally) drink matcha tea, which was really nice. The tea itself was also done right in front of us and was the best matcha we had during our stay in Japan.

The food itself was visually like no other, and the taste was, Oh my. It's very good. The Beef was the best I've ever had. We even got to try puffer fish for the first time, and it tasted wonderful. Everything was just perfect. I've got nothing to complain here; I'm just speechless. It really was an enjoyable experience, especially when Ai was always looking so happy when cooking.

I will definitely eat there again the next time I'm in Japan.

Our tip: Try their Sake. It's really, really...