Mankamerou

A little hard to find, this restaurant is hundreds of years old, and serves an amazing presentation of food. It is as much fun to look at it as it is to eat.

Visited March 2019

We visited this lovely restaurant in a pre-autumn night when the weather was cool and winds breezed through the traditional Japanese garden crafted in a nearly 300-yr-old venue. From appetizer to dessert, we learned that the chef carefully picked the most seasonal ingredients and combined th...em in great balance to reflect the beauty of nature upon every dish. Sashimi tofu was made to perfection we could tasted the fresh beany flavour! We were really amazed by the dish’s texture which was as soft as butter, blended with pungently spicy ginger that also melted so easy giving us strong reminiscent of a humbling Japanese spirit. Fish sashimi was the star of the show. Precious red sea bream, Tilefish and barracuda (Kamasu) was prepared fresh in Yusoku banquet style proving once again the expertise of Mankamerou which lies in Hochoshiki, a traditional culinary art meant to show respect to the diners (we learned that this same technique was used to serve the Emperors of Japan) and also to maximize the freshness from each of every flesh. The background ingredients were humbly crafted to bring us great taste. After all, we were very happy to dine in this traditional Japanese house and served by humble and extra-attentive staff. At booking, we were introduced to three dinner menus which cost 20, 25 and 30 thousand yens per person. Our menus were the later ones and hell we never look back! So worth it we will dine in again next time in Kyoto.

Visited October 2018

This is a famous 2 Michelin star restaurant famous for its fish dishes. We had a good Kaiseki lunch at JPY20,000 ++. The private dining room we had was large enough to seat 20 people with space for the entertainers. The food was excellent but we did not find it extra-ordinary.

Visited April 2017

Based in yusoku-ryori & its ikama-ryu, our expectation was high. Gochiso perhaps. But was offered regular washoku instead. Rather disappointing.

Visited December 2016

This was the only 2-star Michelin restaurant we managed to book at peak season. Well-laid out premises with nice garden we glimpsed through the dusk. Servers spoke some English, but not as refined as we have seen at other places. Paid about US$650 for dinner for two for 9 courses but no display of k...nife skills. Did not think there were exceptional dishes I would return for. Experience at a non-starred kaiseki restaurant we also tried was not inferior, and the stars come with a premium price.

Visited April 2016