Morning Auction / No. 1
A Kyoto restaurant
that stands on the auction floor.
A port's auction floor is not a place just anyone can walk onto. Because TAISHO has earned the trust of the people at the source through decades of trade, the owner can step onto the auction floor alongside the licensed buyers, judge the day's fish with his own eyes, and buy it right there at auction. Every Thursday he leaves Kyoto at 5 a.m. — about two hours each way — and at the ports of Obama and Takahama in Fukui he buys the fish, then brings it back to Kyoto still alive, the same day, in the restaurant's own live-fish tank truck. That is why this table carries fish you will not find in Kyoto's markets.
More about our sourcing →
Flash Frozen / No. 2
Flash-freezing that spares the cells,
freshness kept intact.
Ordinary freezing takes time to freeze all the way through, so large ice crystals form and rupture the cells. The red liquid that seeps out as the fish thaws — the drip — is the flavour escaping from those broken cells. What TAISHO uses is liquid freezing that works about 20 times faster than ordinary freezing. The faster the freeze, the smaller the ice crystals — so small that the cells are barely broken at all. That means almost no drip on thawing: the fish is caught at its very best and, in effect, has time stopped right there. It is how we can send even faraway guests fish with a freshness close to the moment it was landed, by mail order.
Dried fish & mail order →
“I never imagined I could eat fish like this in Kyoto.”
That surprise is born of these two strengths.
Taste the difference
You can taste this freshness.
Book online — any timeFor large groups, courses or special requests, please call
+81 75-571-2804