Kyoto: Eel Kinshi-don at Kanesho (かね正) in Gion-Shijo

When I visited Kyoto in April, I had dinner at Kanesho (かね正) in Gion-Shijo, a restaurant famous for its signature dish, Kinshi-don.

You might walk right past the entrance on your first visit—I did too! The restaurant is tucked between a post office and a small building, so it’s best to look for the post office first to find your way.

Kanesho has been serving eel dishes in Gion for about 150 years.

The restaurant is small, with just six counter seats and two tables seating four people each. They do not accept reservations for lunch, and the wait time can be one to two hours. However, dinner reservations are available, and most seats are booked in advance. If you plan to visit for dinner, making a reservation is highly recommended.

During my visit, more than half of the customers were from abroad. However, please note that Kanesho only accepts phone reservations in Japanese.

Fortunately, despite visiting during peak cherry blossom season, I was able to secure a seat just before leaving for Kyoto. Here’s the menu—it’s all about eel! They also offer a selection of drinks.

No need to worry if you don’t read Japanese; they provide English and Chinese menus as well.

After placing our orders, the staff set trays with chopsticks and pickles on each table. Cooking eel takes time, but drinks were served quickly.

The kitchen is simple, but clean and well-organized. On the left, you’ll see the grilling station. The moment they start cooking the eel, the delicious aroma fills the restaurant.

Around 90% of customers order the Kinshi-don. It took about 30 minutes to arrive.

What is Kinshi-don? “Kinshi” refers to shredded egg crepe (a thinly cooked tamagoyaki). The grilled eel is hidden under a generous layer of kinshi, completely covering the rice.

The kinshi was incredibly soft. The eel and rice are seasoned with a soy sauce-based sauce, while the kinshi itself is lightly seasoned.

Of course, there’s plenty of eel beneath the kinshi! The eel is prepared in the Kanto style (split open from the back), but cooked Kansai-style—grilled without steaming.

Although they don’t steam the eel, the kinshi naturally softened it while I was taking photos. The eel was light and not overly fatty—perhaps thanks to the kinshi?

The rice was pre-mixed with sauce, ensuring every bite was flavorful. Even after finishing the eel and kinshi, you’ll want to eat every last grain of rice!

There’s Black Shichimi togarashi, Ichimi togarashi and sansho pepper on each table.

Each table had Black Shichimi Togarashi, Ichimi Togarashi, and Sansho Pepper.

I tried all of them, and while the Black Shichimi was good, the Sansho Pepper paired best with the eel. If you visit, I highly recommend sitting at the counter. From there, you can watch the chefs in action—grilling eel, cutting eggs, mixing rice with sauce—everything is prepared right in front of you. Thanks to this lively view, I didn’t mind the 30-minute wait, whereas people at the tables seemed to grow restless.

I also ordered kimoyaki. I had expected skewered eel livers, but instead, they were served on a small dish. Since they were fresh, they had no unpleasant smell and a pleasantly springy texture. However, just like the eel bowl, it took quite some time to prepare (about 20 minutes). To make the wait worthwhile, I sipped my Japanese sake slowly, as I wanted to enjoy the dish with a drink😋