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Wagakoro Izumi
Laughably Unforgettable - The 2 Stars Must Be Fugazi
"If there's one thing you must do in Kyoto, it would be to experience an authentic Kaiseki meal."
That's the recommendation you will hear from websites, bloggers, basically anyone who has visited Kyoto before.
So we took the plunge to celebrate my wife's birthday, and boy did we have an unforgettable time at Wagakoro Izumi. It was without a doubt, the most laughably disappointing Michelin meal we've had in our 20 years of traveling the world.
If you only have time to skim this review, the least I hope your takeaway from our experience is this:
Please, please don't waste your money.
Now in the spirit of objectivity, out of the roughly 10 or so dishes from the most expensive course (~40000yen/pp), 2 stood out as enjoyable (abalone and sea bream). Their drink prices were also reasonable.
However, the rest of the dishes were bland in both presentation and taste, with a few even borderline insulting listed in detail below (refer to pictures as well for reference):
1. Soba with a small sprinkle of canned caviar and a tiny egg yolk on top.
2. A plate of a few sliced figs, ONE peeled grape, and some vanilla pudding.
3. A peeled chestnut. Yes, ONE peeled chestnut.
4. And the crown dish that trumps them all: a small bowl of rice, yes, a tiny bowl of plain, white rice, served alongside supermarket grade pickled vegetables and salty cucumbers. They present the dish as something special because the rice is of "first harvest", but let's not kid ourselves: it's plain white rice and tastes like any white rice you cook from a rice cooker.
Throughout the course, my wife asked me this question twice: "are you sure this is a 2-star Michelin restaurant?" And by the time they served the rice course mentioned above, the couple next to us lost it. We didn't speak their language, but I could tell from their gesture, body language and giggling that they, like myself, couldn't believe what a joke this was.
Perhaps in an attempt to validate whether my disappointment was justified, I turned around to strike conversation. The couple turned out to speak decent English. They sarcastically remarked that perhaps the food should be treated like art, "just look, don't eat". They also jokingly said the wood carving of a pair of faces hanging above the counter, were laughing at us for "throwing our money away."
As much as I want to respect the customs of Kaiseki and enjoy what the course had to offer, the experience was so laughably underwhelming that we ended up treating it as such - a bad joke. It's baffling how this place can have any Michelin recognition at all, let alone 2 stars!
It's a shame that this ordeal not only tainted our impression of Kaiseki in general, but also of Kyoto, since it touts Kaiseki as a unique and special Kyoto experience. We're also hesitant to use Pocket Concierge to book anything in the future as to avoid expensive pitfalls going forward. The meals we had in Tokyo were much more easier to book and were of much higher quality and affordability.
Kaiseki may seem like an intriguing,novel, and worthwhile experience. And perhaps it is, at somewhere else, but not Wagakoro Izumi. Even though the Chef sent us on our way with a courteous, extended bow after our meal, Wagakoro Izumi is a far cry from being Michelin caliber and the value for what they have to offer is truly abysmal.
Would be 3 Stars if it had no Michelin stars and 25% less expensive. But as it stands, the value is simply too poor for anything more than a 1.
