KYOTO

I'm heading over to visit my daughter and am looking for dinner recs...I've done French at Natsuka and obviously Japanese- just wondering if anyone has any recs from a recent trip. arigato

L.D.,

I had two excellent Kaiseki meals in Kyoto when I visited in March: at Kinmata (the Ryokan at which I was staying, but they have a restaurant) and at Yutaka (which is somewhere out from the center city - to the North I think). I enjoyed both. I would give a slight edge to Yutaka. Perhaps neither reached the heights of our dear departed Matsumoto, but they were two of my four finest meals in Japan (the others were Kozue at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo and Kanawa in Hiroshima where I had a ten course oyster meal. Yum.)

Konnichi wa, Donna-chan. La Professoressa recommends the following:

Omen Restaurant near the Silver Pavilion in northeastern Kyoto (in a large traditionally styled building just south of the tourist bus drop-off for the Silver Pavilion). Traditional Japanese cuisine specializing in seasonal preparations and "one-dish" (ippin ryoori) selections. Food is fresh with emphasis on non-processed ingredients. Lunch and dinner. Closed Thursday. Phone: 075-771-8994.

Minokichi Restaurant, in the lower level of the Kyoto New Hankyu Hotel, just across the street from the main entrance to Kyoto Station. This restuarant has traditional Kyoto food at a moderate price. Cozy, but nice.

Nakamura-ya, in an alley just north east of the main intersection at Kyoto University (at Hyakumanben). This little shop specializes in yakisoba and okonomiyaki, which are cooked on a iron griddle at your table.

For all variety of edibles made with green tea (ocha)--soba noodles, cake, ice cream, etc.--look for the Hayashiya Chaya. The new and enlarged restaurant overlooks the Kamo River from an upper floor (just across the street from a huge Starbucks). Enter 1 and 1/2 blocks west of the river on Sanjo, take the elevator to the fourth floor.

For an interesting, comparatively new spot, try the Somushi, a Korean tea shop (tea, coffee, and a few things to eat). Located about a block west of the Starbucks on Karasuma a few bocks south of Oikedori.

Some other suggestions: Meigetsuen, in the heart of the shopping district near the intersection of Shijo and Yanagibamba. Also: Yamazaki near Royanji, or Sakon near Ninnaji.

Two other possibilities: the Fujita Hotel and Le Relais Okasaki for French food.

Dewa mata.