Okudohan

For a little of several dishes, the Okudohan set meal brings together obanzai, sashimi, chawanmushi, rice cooked in a traditional hearth and miso soup, followed by a drink and dessert. Some diners have remarked on the array of small dishes and the explanations given for each one. Another lunch visitor praised the gentle flavour of the dashi and the hearth-cooked rice, whose grains still had a slight firmness at the centre. With the contents of the set laid out clearly, it suits a meal when you want to sample both obanzai and sashimi.

For a lighter meal, the Miyuki-cho set includes obanzai, hearth-cooked rice and miso soup, with a sweet and a drink afterwards. The Wagyu-focused set is more substantial, with obanzai, sashimi and chawanmushi as well as a sweet and a drink to finish. Both make room for a range of flavours rather than centring the meal on a single dish.

Dessert is part of the appeal, too: one lunch visitor noted enjoying the ohagi rice-cake dessert. In the evening, small plates offer another way to dine. Options include an assortment of Kyoto-style obanzai, a dashi omelette with grated daikon and a silver-sauce topping, and beef tendon and Eigenji konnyaku simmered in miso. Beer and wine are also available for a relaxed drink with the food.

Okudohan is an obanzai restaurant on Maruya-cho in Kyoto’s Nakagyo Ward. It has counter seating for solo diners as well as tables, and reservations are available for both lunch and dinner.