Tempura Matsu

“Our passion is creating pleasure through meals. Because each dish is constructed for each individual customer, working with the imagination, we have no signature dishes in particular. Our menu is always fresh and changing.”

Among the numerous Kyoto restaurants of note, Tempura Matsu stands out, both in a literal sense – Matsu stands on a quiet stretch on the bank of the Katsura River far from the tourist sights – and also because there is nowhere else in the ancient capital that offers high-end Japanese cuisine of this quality with such a welcoming warmth.

Matsu has always been a family-run restaurant, and that is reflected in the attention to service and the customers, as well as in the kitchen. Since taking over from his father, Matsuno has brought an extra level of finesse to the cuisine. Rooted in Japan’s age-old appreciation of the yearly cycles, he supplements premium ingredients he sources from local suppliers with seasonal wild plants and foraged fungi from the surrounding area.

“The name is misleading. When Tempura Matsu opened in 1974, the speciality was indeed tempura – at least ostensibly. But chef Matsuno always set his sights higher. Over the years he developed extended menus that are creative, complex and, often, inspired.” –Robbie Swinnerton, The Japan Times