Ikemasa-tei

On March 16, I went to “Ikemasa-tei” located in Nishiki market in Nakagyo Ward which has been already famous for Kyoto’s kitchen from long years ago to eat lunch set with my best friend who is residing in Kobe City.
“Ikemasa-tei” is a vegetable shop which represents Nishiki market and deals with expensive vegetables.

Influenced by recent boom for overseas trips, Nishiki market is now presenting the status of international street.
Foreign tourists are flooded who walking through while eating tempura pierced with skewer in the area.

Located in the middle of Nishiki, Ikemasa-tei is, at first glance, nothing more than a run-of-the-mill vegetable shop.
However, at the back of the vegetable-lined store hangs a curtain dyed “Ikemasa-tei”.

Once you enter through the curtain, you will find a cozy dining room! The interior is simple and unassuring, with four sets of wooden tables and chairs facing each other and a wooden counter in the center.
The counter is surrounded by a forest of sake bottles from all over Japan.

The best characteristic of this shop is first of all, to be able to taste many of healthy and delicious Kyoto dishes used plenty of fresh Kyoto vegetables which are dealt in the vegetable shops. For lunch, the restaurant serves a monthly set meal, kakiage donburi, yuba donburi, and oyakodon, while in the evening it serves a la carte dishes centered on Kyoto-style obanzai, such as Kyoto vegetables and fish. As a non-drinker, I have never visited here in the evening, but I have become a repeat customer for the monthly set menus during the daytime.

Well, here is what the March set meal looked like when I visited the other day.

First is the bamboo shoot rice, which is cooked with tender young bamboo shoots and chirimenjako (dried baby sardines), and the rice is garnished with kinome (sprouts of trees).
It is gentle Kyoto-styled seasoning.

Next, spring vegetables are cooked with young bamboo shoots, fu, butterbur, carrot, konnyaku and yuba in a light Kyoto-style broth.
You might recognize the trick on carrots and nama-fu by kitchen knife.
Vegetable shop Ikemasa is originally famous for trick vegetables.
When the eatery is free, even now the shop owner and his sun make trick vegetables silently.
This is also a beautiful item by sight and taste.

And tempura of spring vegetables contains butterbur, wild garlic, peas, tara buds, firefly squid, and all of which representatives of taste that tell the arrival of spring.

Lastly, let’s look at the soup.
The ingredients of the soup are young bamboo shoots and wakame.
Light tasted Kyoto-style broth is used for this, too.

My friend I went together was hitting his tongue exciting with these dishes and with his face lighting up.
“They are delicious! I will come to eat here every month. They are also good for health!”

That is for sure, because this Ikemasa-tei is where the high-end eatery’s owner Yoshihiro Murata visited and said:
“Ikemasa-han, your broth is true and respectable Kyoto taste.”
The mother who is in charge of the cooking in this restaurant told me before.

I and my friend ordered Ume-sake soda as before-the-eat sake.
Its taste is also remarkable.

The restaurant is managed by the owner, the mother in charge of cooking, and their son.
The warm household air is said to be one of its charms.

The price of Monthly Set Menu is 1,850 yen.

I think this is a rare restaurant where you can have authentic Kyoto dishes for affordable prices and use usually without straining your shoulders.

↑Please support us by clicking here! m(_ _)m

Author

つばくろ(Tsubakuro)
I was born and raised in Kyoto and am a native Kyotoite.
When I was young, I longed to visit Tokyo and Osaka, which are more bustling than Kyoto, but as I have gotten older, I have come to appreciate Kyoto a little more.
In this site, I will introduce you to some of the best places to explore Kyoto's food that you might otherwise miss at first glance.