Shorenin Monzeki Mae Tsukioka (青蓮院門跡前 月おか) Kyoto

Super solid kappo/Kaiseki restaurant.
Chef Tsukioka, born in Hokkaido, learnt his skills in Sapporo. He then become part of the famous Soujiki Nakahigashi to refine his skill in Japanese cuisine. After a few stings abroad he open this place under his own name in 2021.
The composition of the menu is traditional, starting you off with a hassun, the decorative course showcasing the seasonal ingredients, followed by shiro miso with corn to color it yellow. The sashimi corse of Saba was of extraordinary quality with the wasabi and sanjo flowers complementing nicely the fish.
His main is a beef from Hokkaido, this time it was a Holstein, aged about 35 days. But the interesting bit was that he served us a female cow after giving birth and also the very calf it gave birth too. Holstein I has a lot less fat than wagyu and therefore a greater bite to it and loads of umami.
His Koshihikari rice comes from Niigata and he polished the rice very day just in the quantity need for his dinners.
He has quite an extensive winelist and one can order wine by the glass which gets poured using a Coravin to ensure that it does not oxidize. His sake list is also long with some rare ones from Shiga.
An excellent restaurant with high quality food at a very kind price point. Less