Gion Kinana Honten

Delicious ice cream in Kyoto.
After having the matcha green soft serve ice cream on the streets of Kyoto, I was on the hunt for some gourmet ice cream.
The first night we went here, it was 6:50pm and they stated it was closed. We also had been standing outside for a solid five minutes trying to remember the characters for the restaurant, as their restaurant definitely has no English on their signage.
Rather confused about the early closing time (since Unilocal states 7pm), we arrived at 6:25pm. This time they stated they would seat us and that last call for service was 6:30pm. So, note-​if you’re coming here arrive before then!
The café has a nice and quiet seating area upstairs with customers quietly enjoying their desserts. We must have obviously looked American or maybe they recognized I was Chinese, because they instantly handed us an English menu. Well, that works!
We ordered the trio of ice creams-​kinano (roasted soybean), black sesame and red bean, and the duo dish– with green tea and vanilla, along with some rice cakes and red bean.
The ice cream was delicious– light and creamy. I’ve had smoother ice creams before, but it’s ice cream was definitely up there. Plus, I was really happy with their green tea and black sesame flavors– it wasn’t too heavy and it wasn’t too sweet.
They also provide a pot of tea to go with the dessert.
Mmmm definitely a good try if you’re in the Gion area!

Oh, the roasted soybean flour «Kinako» ice cream. What a unique flavor! I’ve honestly wondered many times if I could re-​create this delicious treat at home with an ice cream maker, but I don’t even know where I would begin.
There is quite possibly nothing else like the kinako ice cream in the world. My wife and I ordered a few other flavors (eg. black sesame, etc.) and while they were good, the kinako flavor was still the best.
This place is a must-​try if you are in the Kyoto area. An added bonus is that they have english menus, all you have to do is ask. Unfortunately there isn’t much signage, so if you are going to visit be sure to familiarize yourself with the appearance of the storefront. We probably walked up and down the street at least 2 – 3 times until we realized the store was right in front of us.
We will be back soon! Highly recommend this place to all ice cream lovers.

Being an ice cream fan, I had to try ice cream in Japan. Gion Kanana is one of the better known ice cream places in Japan. I ordered scoops of the black sesame ice cream, the black sugar syrup ice cream and the caramel ice cream. This was a very small but quaint place, everything in Japanese (I was the only non Japanese person in the place).
All of the ice cream was rich, creamy and perfectly not too sweet. Believe it or not, sesame ice cream is very good: nutty, rich and creamy. Likewise with the other flavors that I ordered. The ice cream here is very good and very high quality.
A little nice touch which I would have never ordered with my ice cream was their providing you with a cup of green tea. It was nice because it sort of offset the sweetness of the ice cream, almost like a palate cleanser.

Gion Kinana is a really lovely little ice-​cream café in the Gion area of Kyoto. They have many Japanese flavours of ice-​cream including kinako (roast soyabean flour), azuki (sweet red bean), kurogoma (black sesame), kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), maccha (powdered green tea) and yomogi (mugwort). You can order just scoops of ice-​cream or parfaits and they also serve tea.
Gion Kinana do not put any additives, fillers or artificial ingredients into their ice-​cream. The owner and chef Omoto-​san is reportedly very picky about what goes into his ice-​cream (look up the concept of kodawari).
You should try the «dekitate» ice-​cream which is ice-​cream that is just made that day so it is still very soft and creamy because it hasn’t been frozen yet. The texture is pure bliss.
Gion Kinana is a lovely spot to rest your feet after a day of exploring Gion and I try to visit every time I’m in Kyoto.
Hot tip: Free wifi!
Directions:
From the Yasaka Shrine, walk down the left side of Shijo Dori, Take your second left (Hanamikoji Dori) a really beautiful street with old edo style buildings. Take the second right, then first left and continue down and you will see it on the right, about 6 shops down. If you hit another intersection you have gone too far and it will be a few stores back. If you ask any locals nearby they should know it and be able to point you in the right direction.