Shoraian - Tofu Kaiseki restaurant with a scenic view of Arashiyama

Shoraian 松籟庵

Tofu is one of Kyoto’s specialities, and when I heard there is a traditional Kaiseki restaurant famous for Tofu cuisine, that definitely piqued our interest. As we like to try signature/culture food of each city if possible, and this is a Tofu Kaiseki at it too!

The restaurant is located in the woods of Arashiyama and on the edge of a mountain. There’s a few ways to get there, we went for the most straightforward route; which is to walk along the riverside from Togetsukyo Bridge.

Once you reach an intersection, there will be signs (in Japanese) showing the direction you need to climb up stone steps to reach the restaurant.

Entrance Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Entrance**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Main dining hall Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Main dining hall**
Shoraian 松籟庵

We got a window seating Shoraian 松籟庵 — **We got a window seating**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Nice light shining through the restaurant Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Nice light shining through the restaurant**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Peaceful and scenic view from our seats Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Peaceful and scenic view from our seats**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Books Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Books**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Intimate and warm (light) setting for the restaurant space as you can see from the photos.

It was a very peaceful and quiet dining experience, and the start of autumn foliage just out of the windows.

Pretty wife Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Pretty wife**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Took a shot of wife when the light shone through the trees and windows.

Shofu Menu Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Shofu Menu**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Shoyo Menu Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Shoyo Menu**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Introduction

There are 3 different menus to choose for their lunch kaiseki, pricing from the most expensive to least expensive respectively: Shofu, Shorai, and Shoyo.

Shofu (¥5800)

Shofu is their most expensive menu and expansive food courses, approximately 5 additional items compared to Shoyo.

Shoyo (¥3800)

This is the basic set that also includes their signature dish of Yudofu.

Drinks Menu Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Drinks Menu**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Chopsticks and spoon Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Chopsticks and spoon**
Shoraian 松籟庵

Shofu/Shoyo - Appetizer - Tofu with salt and Umeshu Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Shofu/Shoyo - Appetizer - Tofu with salt and Umeshu**
Shoraian 松籟庵

[Shofu/Shoyo] Appetizer - Tofu with salt and Umeshu

Taste: Pure unseasoned tofu so you can taste the raw original taste of the tofu

Texture: Soft and silky

You can also add the salt for a different taste, and the tofu is pair with an umeshu to cap off with a sweet ending.

The tofu if I have to compare, it will be like a firmer and thicker version of our local Singapore traditional beancurd (ie. Rochor Beancurd) without the sugar syrup.

Shofu/Shoyo - Assorted Specialities Plate Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Shofu/Shoyo - Assorted Specialities Plate**
Shoraian 松籟庵

[Shofu/Shoyo] Assorted Specialities Plate

Depends on which menu you chose, the assorted specialities plate will differ in the amount of food and serving style. But other than that, both plates are presented beautifully with artful and colourful presentation (autumn feeling) of food items in mini bites.

For this course, it has a variety of taste and food type. From sweet to salty to creamy, and vegetables to meat to seafood.

The vegetables are interesting and fun to try, like a quail egg disguise as a cherry tomato. They also taste great, fresh and natural sweetness from the produce.

But the meat and seafood are rather meh, very average passable taste.

[Shofu] Special Item

Just a heads up, I didn’t take the photo in the correct orientation and angle as I’m not that creative in that part haha! Just imagine the cracker is the ground, the cinnamon stick is the tree branch, and the chilli peppers are the leaves, then you will get the gist of the orientation.

As we visited the restaurant in autumn, so this is a creative dish depicting autumn. You can feel the art and beauty of autumn from this dish, the colours of the leaves depicting the change of season to autumn, the entire structure of land, tree, and leaves. You can even see leaves drop onto the ground (cracker) being dried up (fried).

The only thing we are not sure what to make out with is the purple sweet potato and pumpkin.

Overall, it is an artful and creative dish in a Japanese traditional way like a haiku poem.

[Shofu] Kyo-ryori seasonal selection - Yuba

Yuba is made by using the thin layer that forms on the surface of boiling a pot of soy milk. So for this item, the cycle is then repeated until the layering is till the expected height.

The outcome resulting in a texture that is silky soft with a bit of melt in your mouth feel, the taste is mild with subtle sweetness plus saltiness from the shoyu sauce and also the fresh smooth spiciness from the fresh wasabi.

Unique dish especially the bite and texture. Although in Chinese cuisine, we have a similar food like this, it is not as refined and nowhere near that much layers.

[Shofu] Toyuba Tempura

Similar to Yuba, but on a simplified explanation, Toyuba Tempura is a deep-fried version of it.

It has a delicate and crisp texture, and also came with a matcha powder which we poured it over the Toyuba Tempura.

Reminds me of a refined and elevated version of Tau Kee.

[Shofu] Tofu gratin with namafu

As per the dish name, this is like a fusion of Japanese and Western, and we really quite like it!

Rich, creamy, and cheesy for a tofu dish, but doesn’t feel heavy or cloying at all, which is a good thing.

One of our favourite dish of the set.

[Shofu] Mini-steak of wagyu beef

Similar to Assorted Specialities Plate which also contains meat and seafood, protein is not their speciality.

Not saying it is bad, but it is really of average quality at best.

Straight to the point, the meat is overcooked, so it is kind of tough.

[Shofu/Shoyo] Yudofu

Finally, the signature dish of Shoraian, the Yudofu (Boiled Tofu)!

Very simple dish and condiments to go with: tofu, water, kelp, dashi, and spring onion.

First, let the tofu boil in the hotpot of water and kelp for a few minutes.
Next, cut a portion of it and dip it into dashi and mix in some spring onion.
Lastly, eat it!

Texture: Very smooth and silky soft, yet the structure won’t break or fall off to pieces when you are cutting it to smaller portions.

Taste: You can taste the purest taste of the tofu taste in its natural state with this simple cooking method, very fresh and light taste of soybean. You can add a slight condiment boost of subtle sweetness, saltiness, bitterness, and freshness from the dashi and spring onion.

This is also one of our favourite of the set!

Postcard Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Postcard**
Shoraian 松籟庵

[Shofu/Shoyo] Agedashi Tofu

I believe most people will be familiar with this dish; deep-fried tofu in a dashi based broth with dried bonito flakes and spring onion.

Texture: Outer skin is fried to crispy, and inner tofu is still smooth and silky soft!

Taste: Stronger on the sweetness and saltiness compared to Yudofu, as it should be with this dashi based broth and deep-fried type of food.

Shofu/Shoyo - Rice and pickles (+ Chirimen Sansho) Shoraian 松籟庵 — **Shofu/Shoyo - Rice and pickles (+ Chirimen Sansho)**
Shoraian 松籟庵

[Shofu/Shoyo] Rice and pickles (+ Chirimen Sansho)

Last dish for both sets, fluffy and nice Japanese rice with pickles and chirimen sansho (dried young sardines and Japanese peppercorn).

I personally love fried ikan bilis (dried anchovy) which normally goes together as a local dish, fried rice with ikan bilis.

Guess in Japan they do the same too, but with a different type of fish and cooking method.

Overall, I feel this is a homely dish.

[Shofu/Shoyo] Dessert - Tofu ice cream with mochi

Lastly, the dessert course. There are 2 options for it, of course we chose 1 each for tasting purposes.

Texture: Ice cream can feel a bit “powdery” and not smooth, maybe it is intended to be that way or maybe handmade can’t achieve to full smooth ice cream texture? The mochi is thin and chewy.

Taste: Quite sweet (I believe mainly from the brown sugar syrup), but can taste the strong presence of soy bean flavour in the ice cream.

[Shofu/Shoyo] Dessert - Tofu Pudding

We both like this more as we don’t have much of a sweet tooth.

Texture: As with most of their tofu dishes, it is silky soft and smooth.

Taste: A bit sweet (but much lesser compared to the ice cream), and overall more subtle taste of the soy bean.

Overall

This is probably the most bang for buck kaiseki, yes I do know this is mainly a tofu affair with minimal meat.

For information, typically high-end kaiseki cost around ¥10000 to ¥50000, Shoraian is just a fraction of that.

At this price point, the authentic restaurant setting, the view of the riverside, the food quality (except the meat/seafood), and hospitality is just great.

It is really the experience you can enjoy (food and serenity) and take back as a memory (views from the restaurant, enjoying the great food with people) that is quite memorable.

Rating: 4/5

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Address: 京都府京都市右京区嵯峨亀ノ尾町官有地内

Opening Hours: 11am-5pm Monday to Thursday, 11am-8pm Friday to Sunday and PH.
Dinner only by reservation with at least 1 day in advance.

Payment Method: Cash and Cards

Website: https://www.shoraian.jp/

Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/en/kyoto/A2601/A260403/26003826/

(Last visited: November 2019)

Food - Japan, Food - Kyoto, FoodShiro AngJuly 4, 2020shiroang, shiro ang, food, japan, kyoto, 京都市, 京都県, 日本, photography, leica, sony a7riv, review, good, best, top, tabelog, 食べログ, 百名店, Shoraian, 松籟庵, tofu, kaiseki, toyuba, tempura, namafu, gratin, wagyu, beef, yudofu, yuba, agedashi, shofu, shoyo, shorai, scenery, arashiyama, 嵐山, ice cream, mochi, pudding, 懐石, 京料理, 豆腐, 湯豆腐, 生麩, 湯葉, 揚げ出し豆腐, 4 starsComment

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