Restaurant Kikusui is a long-running Kyoto Western-style restaurant at the eastern end of Shijo Ohashi in Gion, directly opposite Minamiza theatre and close to Gion-shijo Station. Founded in 1916, it occupies a 1926 Art Deco- and Spanish-influenced building that is registered as a cultural property, giving a meal here a distinctly historic Kyoto setting.
The first-floor restaurant and parlour serves familiar yoshoku favorites alongside classic Western cooking, including beef stew Bordeaux-style, hamburg steak, prawn fry, omelette rice, beef cutlet, gratin, curry and Napolitan spaghetti. Upstairs, the grill offers French-influenced courses and seasonal dinners, while the takeout menu includes bento and several of the house staples for meals on the go.
Restaurant Kikusui also has private banquet rooms for groups in its historic building, and the first-floor glass-fronted parlour hosts string-quartet performances several times each month. It is a practical choice for a Gion lunch, a relaxed pre-theatre meal near Minamiza, or a reservation-based dinner with wine in central Kyoto.
