町家 Archives - Deep Kyoto

Ran Hotei Cafe – Vintage Taishō Romance & Excellent Cake

July 25, 2023 By Michael Lambe

One day I took a walk over to the Sanjo-kai Shōtengai shopping arcade and popped into Randy Channell’s machiya cafe Ran Hotei.

Randy is well known as a master of Japanese tea ceremony, and he does teach a few tea ceremony classes at Ran Hotei. But if you are not interested in tea ceremony, that’s ok, Ran Hotei is essentially a cafe, a place to relax, with coffee, tea and other standard beverages plus some damn fine cake.

On my visit I had a coffee and cake set. It was a maple chiffon cake, not too heavy and not too light and tasted excellent.

Randy opened the cafe in 2007, after having the building, a traditional wooden townhouse, or machiya, thoroughly renovated. He explained that he was looking for an art-deco, “Taishō Roman” kind of style when decorating the interior. Taishō refers to the Taishō Era (1912-1926), a short period of liberalism in Japanese politics and culture, which in popular memory stands in sharp contrast to the chaotic drive towards modernism of the Meiji Era that preceded it and the more militaristic early Shōwa Era that followed. “Roman” is short for romantic, so essentially Taishō Roman stands for a kind of vintage romance.

The stained glass doorway above was found for him by our old friend Rob Mangold.

Take a pew – the seating above was originally from a church!

Or if you prefer you can kick off your shoes and relax on a tatami floor.

Randy has decorated the machiya very nicely with some lovely items. Check out that beautiful chandelier.

The Ran of Ran Hotei is from Randy’s name and the Hotei comes from the popular figure above. Randy has an extensive collection of Hotei statues and images, over 3000, but the one above he tells me, is his “treasure”. Hotei is a folkloric figure representing contentment and generosity.

Plus points: Ran Hotei is non-smoking and it is also officially a “Dog Cafe” meaning you can pop in here after taking Rover out for walkies. If you are lucky, you may get to meet Snow, above, so named because she is black (?), but perhaps also because she is すなお, a very calm, gentle natured dog.Randy is a very welcoming and friendly chap and he has been in Kyoto long enough to have a few stories under his obi. Before he was a tea master, he was a practitioner of various martial arts. I was very glad to meet him and am looking forward to getting to know him better. Mostly though I just want to go back and have another piece of that cake.

Ran Hotei is situated on the south side of the Sanjo Arcade which lies between Horikawa and Senbon Streets. Here is a MAP.
TEL: 075-801-0790
Opening hours: 11:30 〜 20:00 (until 23:00 on Fridays)
Closed Thursdays
No Smoking
Check out Randy’s online tea shop here: https://ranhotei.thebase.in/

Original article posted October, 2014. Updated and reposted July, 2023.
Text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.

Cafe Bibliotic Hello!

July 17, 2023 By Michael Lambe

日本語はこちら

Situated on Nijo/Yanagiyabamba, “Cafe Bibliotic Hello” is a converted old machiya, one of the traditional old wooden townhouses of Kyoto. Bring a book with you or just grab one of the many off the walls. Here you can enjoy coffees, teas, cakes, pastries or grab some dinner if you are really hungry. They do some pretty awesome sandwiches but one night I treated myself to the day’s special. It was pleasing both to the eye and tongue.

I also recommend the “Old Fashioned” a kind of fruit crumble with ice-cream.

The atmosphere here is super relaxed, and unlike Starbucks you aren’t expected to leave or order more as soon as your coffee is finished. Here are some pictures.

Sitting here, surrounded by lights and books and old wood is a balm to the soul.

To find it just head west on Nijo from Teramachi and look out for the ridiculously oversized palm leaves. Here’s a MAP
Cafe Bibliotic Hello! on Instagram.
Open every day: 11:30 ~ 23:00
Tel: 075-231-8625

This article was first posted in July 2007, then updated and reposted in July 2023. Some items on the menu may well have changed in the interim!

Salut Ya

July 14, 2023 By Michael Lambe

日本語はこちら

さるぅ屋 is a cafe/bar/diner in a lovely old renovated machiya on Imadegawa. The food menu concentrates on burgers, sandwiches and curries and is generally pretty meaty. As I don’t do the meat thing, I settled for an advocado and cottage cheese sandwich, expecting something bland and was surprised by its sweet deliciosity. And the bread! That was something else.

I finished off with chocolate cake and ice-cream — smashing!

Below are some more pictures and you can see some pictures of the renovation process up here.

The drinks menu includes coffee, a full range of Yogi teas and fruit smoothies. As well as wine, cocktails and shochu, the bar also has Premium Malts on draft and also some Mexican and Belgian beers.

Salut Ya is super easy to get to from the Keihan Demachiyanagi Station. Take the number two exit and go east from the Family Mart on the corner of Imadegawa/Kawabata and Salut Ya is right there on your right. Here is a handy map.
Opening hours: 11:30~22:00 (Last orders for food: 21:00, and drinks: 21.30)
Telephone: 075-203-6552
Salut Ya on Instagram
On the way out I asked where they got their delicious bread from.
“レ・フレール・ムトウ”, she said.
And I said: “What?”
Next post: the bakery/cafe Les Freres Moutaux.

Quarirengue

July 12, 2023 By Michael Lambe

日本語はこちら
Here’s a nice quiet place for coffee and cake. Mewby and I found this cafe one Saturday and spent a pleasant afternoon there enjoying the tasty fare and the cosy mood and burying ourselves in our books. Tucked away down an old residential machiya alleyway it’s not a place you’d find by chance. It’s word of mouth that gets you there, and Quarirengue has clearly earned its reputation as a place of quiet retreat and fine confections.

Let’s take a look at those cakes shall we? This chocolate cake (自慢のクラシック・ショコラ – Classic Chocolate Pride) will set you back 750 yen. And yes folks, those are real blackberries you see on that plate.

[Read more…]

Kawai Kanjiro’s House

November 25, 2013 By Michael Lambe

This is the house of Kawai Kanjiro, a legendary potter and a key figure in the mingei or Japanese folk art movement. His beautiful wooden townhouse has been preserved as a memorial run by his family. The building itself and the garden are wonderful, but you can also see here many of his works: ceramics, sculptures, and woodcarvings. His kilns are preserved at the back of the house. I was there back in September and took some 360 degree pictures which I shall share here as they give a good impression of how much there is to explore in the house. Just click on them to have a proper look around: [Read more…]

Ushinohone Anaza

February 21, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Here’s another comfy, little izakaya style restaurant in an old machiya building on Sanjo. There are lots of simple but tasty Japanese dishes to choose from here. Behold the food!

Back Camera — Appetisers. Unusually (but happily for me) none of them contained meat!

Ushinohone Anaza is part of a group of restaurants established in Kyoto in 1985. They specialize in hot charcoal cooked dishes and seasonal obanzai ryori. The atmosphere is relaxed, spacious and welcoming. This one sits on the north side of Sanjo in between Tominokoji and Yanaginobanba streets. You can find a map to it here and a map to the other branches here.
TEL/FAX：075-213-2822
Open every day：17:00～24:00

京町家の再生 – Machiya Revival in Kyoto

March 19, 2010 By Michael Lambe

I’ve just finished reading this fine little book about the machiya (町家) of Kyoto. Machiya are the traditional narrow wooden townhouses of the old capital. Once, their tiled roofs and wooden lattice fronts typified Kyoto’s urban landscape. However, since the end of WW2 this traditional landscape has in large part been replaced by high rise buildings and parking lots. 13% of Kyoto’s remaining machiya were leveled between 1996 and 2003, and sadly this process continues even today. However, not all has been lost and in recent years there has been a movement to renovate and restore old machiya. Many of them have been converted into cool modern shops, cafes and businesses while maintaining their integrity as traditional structures. To visit these places is to experience old and modern Kyoto simultaneously: a modern Kyoto that respects and takes pride in its history.

Machiya Revival in Kyoto is produced by the Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration, an NPO that works to protect and restore old machiya. The book is divided into four parts. The first gives a thorough grounding in machiya history and design. Cross-sectional diagrams reveal both the typical structure of these buildings and also their design genius. [Read more…]

Omuraya

February 4, 2009 By Michael Lambe

Omuraya is a cheerful izakaya style restaurant in an old wooden machiya house just off Hyakumanben. I love it! Cooks and waiting staff bustle about behind counters piled with colourful seasonal vegetables to the background sound of the Blues. The food is simple, healthy and rustic. I recommend the “nama fu dengaku”: moist, lightly fried strips of gluten in a smoky miso sauce. I also recommend the “kani korokke” (crab croquettes) and in the winter the “kaki furai” (fried oysters). Oh, heck! I recommend everything!

There are also a couple of delicious Kyoto micro-brewed beers on offer: a light hoppy Kolsch or a darker, heavier Amber Ale. Dinner and drinks for two will cost around 5,000 yen. Here are some pictures. Just click on the arrow to move them forward or take a closer look on flickr.

Omuraya is close to the Hyakumanben junction of Higashioji and Imadegawa. It sits on the north west side just behind (eek!) MacDonald’s. Here is a most convenient map.
Open: 17：00～24：00
Tel: 075-712-1337

Hale ~晴~

May 23, 2008 By

Hidden away in the heart of the bustling market on Nishiki Dori is a tiny little alleyway that leads to Hale. This is a fully organic and vegan restaurant, specialising in seasonal dishes, yuba tofu and Kyoto’s famously distinctive vegetables. For lunch you can have a ￥1000 set or the “Special Lunch” for ￥1800. I settled for the ￥１０００ lunch which you can see amid the pictures below and which was more than ample enough for me.

Even if you are not vegetarian, Hale is worth a visit for its traditional cuisine or just to spend a pleasant hour or so in a peaceful old machiya house quietly contemplating the central garden. A wide range of beverages are also available, coffees, teas, soy drinks, juices, beers and shochu and even something made of dandelions – but I didn’t go for that. To find it walk along Nishiki Dori between the Fuyacho and Tominokoji streets and look out for that little alleyway on the north side of the market. Here is a most helpful map. It might be worth booking ahead on weekends as Hale is both small and popular.
Opening hours: Monday & Wednesday ~ 11:30 – 18:00 / Wednesday – Sunday ~ 11:30 – 14:30 and 16:00 – 21:00. (Closed on Tuesdays).
Tel: 075-231-2516

Kyoto Cycling Tour Project

October 5, 2007 By

Kyoto Cycling Tour Company offers a variety of bicycles for rent, ranging in price from ￥1,000 to ￥2,000 a day. For those who wish to go it alone, the friendly staff will be happy to suggest the best cycling courses and there is also a very handy K.C.T.P. cycling map available.　In addition to its rent-a-cycle service K.C.T.P. also offers cycling tours of Kyoto with professional tour guides. Some of the tours on offer include:

The Machiya Tour: “Machiya” are the old wooden town-houses of Kyoto. This tour is a chance to experience traditional Kyoto life as it would have been, fifty, a hundred or even two hundred years ago.

The Mystery Tour: Kyoto has a long and bloody history and so naturally has many ghosts. This is a tour of some of the more famous haunted sites of Kyoto. Not for the faint-hearted!

The Japanese Tea Tour: Experience the Japanese tea ceremony and learn about its deep culture and long history.

Tour prices range between ￥3,900 and ￥9,800, depending on the tour chosen and the duration and all tours must be booked at least three days in advance. See the English website for further details.

Kazuo Taga, who founded K.C.T.P., has a deep sense of mission; both to promote traditional Japanese culture and history, and also to promote the use of bicycles within modern cities. He was kind enough to grant me a short interview, which you can see below.
For bookings and inquiries, please contact KCTP, on their website or telephone them on 075-354-3636. K.C.T.P.’s main terminal is very close to Kyoto Station. Leaving the station’s main north exit (facing Kyoto Tower), turn left and head west, past the post office on your right and then the new Bic Camera store on your left, until you come to the end of the road. K.C.T.P. is just around the right-hand corner. There are also terminals for the rent-a-cycle service dotted throughout the city, and maps and directions to these are available on the website here: K.C.T.P. Terminals.