Uosaburō
Uosaburō was established in 1764 and has been serving high-class Kyoto cuisine for more than two-and-a-half centuries. The ninth-generation master chef, Araki Shigeo, continues the traditions of his ancestors by using Fushimi water from the restaurant’s private well to brew tea, make broth, and cook rice.
Uosaburō’s specialty is sea bream, a fish traditionally served at celebrations that is, according to Shigeo, “delicious almost all year round.” Only during the stifling heat of midsummer and the chills of midwinter does he replace it with pike conger and flounder, respectively.
The restaurant’s original façade faces Kyōmachi Street, historically the main thoroughfare that leads north from Fushimi to central Kyoto. After passing by the Minamiza Kabuki theater, the street runs all the way north through Ōhara village and beyond, connecting the ancient capital to the coast of the Sea of Japan. This key thoroughfare was the site of a historic skirmish between shogunate police and pro-imperial warriors during the Boshin War (1868–1869), and bullet holes from the intense battle can still be seen in Uosaburō’s outer wall.