Mokubee

Lovely staff and it was a pleasure to meet the current fourth generation owner. Beautifully presented and unusual tasting food. Highlight for me was the eel and other half the highlight was the cherry blossom desert. The rice, grown in Kyoto was exceptional.

Visited April 2024

Booked 1 mth ahead. We came during the New Year week so only one course was available for dinner. Guess most guests are travellers as it’s a small capacity (10-12 pple) and fully booked while only 2 were Japanese. Service is attentive though English is limited as expected but they do point out all t...he ingredients by showing an ingredient book with each plate. Flavors in every dish is complex, can be contrasting and unusual. The dinner course price is 13,000 jpy which is very decent for a Michelin rated establishment.

Visited January 2023

My family of 7 stumbled upon this restaurant as we were walking in the Gion district. We were lucky to get in for dinner on a weeknight without a reservation. We sat at the counter and ordered the 8-course kaiseki dinner (approx $85/person). This was our favorite place in Kyoto. Each dish was beauti...fully presented and delicious. We had a kaiseki dinner a few days later at the Ritz-Carlton, but we all preferred Mokubei, including my teenagers. The staff was extremely welcoming and would explain each dish to us. They used a picture book to show us what kind of fish we were eating. Although this restaurant has a Michelin star, it is not well-advertised on the outside. I would highly recommend Mokubei if you want to try a kaiseki dinner.

Visited June 2019

I sat with a few other guests at the counter sitting as I was alone. They have private dining but that requires two guests. First course was Japanese noodles with caviar which was cold and tasted excellent. With second dish of duck, vegetable and sushi. A poem came with the second dish. Third course... was Japanese soup. It had baby lotus leaves that were very small and delicious along with abalone fish, tofu, okra that looked like a pice of art! Next was combination of various fish which included pike, flounder and “Japanese fish”, the name of which was not written in English! Next was red snapper with sweet pepper which was again a treat. Every item has been a. Visual treat and treat to the pallet. Next came combination of poetry, river eel, eggplant, yellow beans sprinkled with Sesame and Japanese lack pepper. This dish was served cold. Even something as simple as seasoned seeds came alive with the meal. Eggplant and eel melted in the mouth. Next was combination of potato stem “we don’t use potato for this”!, pickled cucumber, cooked scallop, shrimp with pepper oil and home made mayonnaise. After that came pike fish which was skillfully cut, along with sea weed and picked vegetables. Again a very unique experience. This restaurant is rung by the same family for last 90 years. Chest is the fourth generation of the family. Next came pudding with passion fruit, yellow sauce, melon, pineapple and cherry. Last dish sweet bean jelly wrapped in cherry blossom leaf and green tea. This was a memorable meal that would be hard to forget.

Visited July 2019

We had what seemed like the ultimate kaiseki experience- -upstairs in a private room with our own server. The food was exquisitely prepared and presented. Just a first-rate experience for us all. You do have to reserve well in advance and pay upfront, so you can’t make changes in your plans if yo...u want to go there.

Visited June 2019