Seien - Our favourite traditional dessert restaurant in Kyoto!
Black Beans Kohaku Nagashi with Kuromitsu (December) & Warabimochi
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
A traditional Kyoto dessert restaurant famous for their Kohaku Nagashi, which is something I really like to eat too. Plus It is also located near the touristy area Nishiki Market and also has a long history of over 100+ years, definitely a must try for us!
Another interesting part of the Kohaku Nagashi is they go by flavours of the month, changing the syrup/fruits used in the Kohaku Nagashi probably based on the best produce of that month or seasonal events.
March 2023 Update: Do scroll down for our more recent visits in March 2023 as we have tried a couple other desserts.
Close up on the Agar
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Side view
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
View when seated at the table with the internal zen flower
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Black Beans Kohaku Nagashi with Kuromitsu (December) (¥750)
Let’s start off with the latest (reverse chronological order), December’s Agar flavour of the month; Black Beans Agar with Kuromitsu.
I can honestly tell you I’m not a fan of red beans or black beans, but as a foodie and trying a new dish/restaurant I need to be open-minded, and I’m glad I did.
Note: I will just call Kohaku Nagashi as Agar from now on for the sake of lengthwise.
Black Beans Agar with Kuromitsu: The Agar is transparent colour and cut into large cube size. It has a firm outer like a typical agar would, but when you bite in, it has a soft and smooth texture.
The Kuromitsu syrup is well made; very fragrant and taste of natural sweetness, you won’t find it too sweet or overbearing.
Lastly the Black Beans, it is very fresh, slightly less than firm and has a very good bite (but not too hard or soft). Subtle sweet and salty taste.
When you eat all 3 components together, from the strong fragrant and rich sweetness from Kuromitsu, the soft and smooth texture from the Agar, and the subtly sweet and savoury taste with a different texture compared to the Agar from the Black Beans. An interesting contrast of the 3 ingredients.
Count me a fan of Japanese Black Beans after this dessert, provided the produce is fresh and of good quality!
Rating: 3.75/5
Warabimochi
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Close up
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
After adding the kuromitsu
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Warabimochi (¥750)
Warabimochi: This Warabimochi feels more like the old school style ones, unlike the very refined and elegant looking ones at Kagizen Yoshifusa, but that doesn’t mean it is worse off.
This old school kind Warabimochi is very “mochi” (for a lack of a better word) texture, cut into irregular shapes and sizes, coated with a very generously amount of Kinako already.
When you bite into it, it has the chewy and bounciness (in a very good way) and then the nuttiness/earthiness from the Kinako.
If you pour the Kuromitsu (this is the concentrated version compared to the one in the Agar) over the Warabimochi, it enhances on the overall fragrance with it’s rich yet natural sweetness and slight bitterness.
Overall: The reason we like the old school style of Warabimochi over the more refined and elegant style, is just personal preference on the texture and then how the texture brings the different taste and sensation in.
Rating: 3.75/5
Welcome Drink
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Persimmon Kohaku Nagashi (November) & Warabimochi
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Close up on the Agar
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Persimmon Kohaku Nagashi (November) (¥750)
Now onto the November’s Agar flavour of the month; Persimmon Agar.
Persimmon Agar: The Agar is transparent colour and cut into large cube size. It has a firm outer like a typical agar would, but when you bite in, it has a soft and smooth texture.
The Persimmon fruit is fresh and close to full ripe timing (not too soft kind), so still has a bit of bite kind, which we like. Taste wise it is rich and sweet.
The Persimmon syrup I’m not too sure what is it made up of, but I do see some mini persimmon pieces floating in the syrup. The syrup itself is mildly sweet like an accompaniment to the actual persimmon fruit, which is the star of this dish.
Great dish! Can’t wait to try other months’ flavours too!
Rating: 3.75/5
Amazake Kohaku Nagashi (March)
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Close up on the Agar
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Close up on the white Agar with fermented rice
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Close up on the yellow Agar with Yuzu skin
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Amazake Kohaku Nagashi (March) (¥750)
Now onto the March’s Agar flavour of the month; Amazake Agar.
Amazake Agar: I believe there’s 2 different Agar in this, the transparent colour and yellow colour one.
The yellow Agar has a bite/slight crunch to it and with Yuzu skin inside.
The transparent Agar is the usual soft type, is to be eaten together with the Amazake dessert.
The Amazake dessert got the sweet fermented rice fragrant with some hint of ginger.
Overall: Refreshing and light dessert (not too sweet) but with a bit of warming touch from the hint of ginger.
As usual, Seien’s Kohaku Nagashi always deliver! Can’t wait to try other months’ flavours if we ever go Kyoto again in other months!
Rating: 3.75/5
Red Bean Soup with Yaki Mochi
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Close up on the Red Bean Soup with Yaki Mochi
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Close up of the Yaki Mochi
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Red Bean Soup with Yaki Mochi (¥750)
The mochi is grilled on one side, texture is quite hard and crunchy but it is nice and mochi in the inside; so there’s a contrast when you bite into it. Mildly sweet and fragrant.
For the red bean itself is cook soft to the bite but still retain structure for the presentation.
Overall: A dessert to warm your heart; sweet, earthy and nutty flavours from the red bean soup, and the mochi to add the texture department with contrast.
Rating: 3.5/5
Courtyard zen garden
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
The perspective when you are seated at one of the four seats at the window area
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Skylight near the seats at the window area
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Ambience
Rarely I wrote a separate section for ambience, but this restaurant deserves a dedicated section for it.
The dining area is very zen and quiet with cosy warm lighting, even the other customers when they are talking also talked in a much lower volume.
Where ever you are seated, be it the window area or in the middle of the dining area, there’s a view. Of course the window area you will have the actual zen garden view with an actual live tree, plants, and goldfishes. Whereas the internal restaurant view, will be a small vase with flowers.
It even has a skylight close to the window seating area, you can refer to the photos for reference.
Overall for the ambience, it just gives a relaxing and peaceful to have the dessert and just chill/zen mode.
Table with the interior zen plant viewing
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Menu
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Flavour of the month for the Agar
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
English Menu
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Signboard
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Main shop area
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Wagashi Shop
It also sells traditional wagashi sweets for takeout or souvenir right when you enter the shop.
To the dining area
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Small walkway to the washroom and also a private room I believe
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
Overall
Definitely one of our favourite traditional dessert restaurant in Kyoto for it’s quality, price point, and ambience.
We actually went there 3 times during our 1 week stay in Kyoto, that’s how much we like it.
Will be going back there too on our upcoming Mar-Apr 2023 trip to Japan.
Shop Front
Seien 大極殿六角店 栖園
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Address: 京都府 京都市中京区 六角通高倉東入ル南側堀之上町120
Opening Hours: 10am-5pm Thursday to Tuesday. Closed on Wednesday and might have irregular off days. Check their SNS for details.
Payment Method: Cash and Cards
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/en/kyoto/A2601/A260202/26004652/
(Last visited: March 2023)