MoMo & Coco

Kyoto’s Most Instagrammable Flower Desserts & Must See Cherry Blossom Itinerary (Japan)

Introduction 

Japan was the destination of these Dessert Correspondents’ very first solo dessert travel way back in 2015, and just over ten years later, we still hold fond memories of that first experience. From then to now, from Tokyo to Kyoto and back again, we have published guides to the best wagashi (see here and here), the best sakura cherry blossom high teas, and waxed lyrical about a most evocative tea house and an unparalleled ryokan tea experience. In this volume of our Japan dessert adventures, we check out two dessert spots in Kyoto that feature heavily on Instagram and asess whether it is worth the hype. And in commemoration of ten years since that very first trip, we provide a list of all the best cherry blossoms to see in Kyoto – for before or after you have visited the below two dessert spots. 🙂

Flower mochi ice cream from This(is) Shizen 

  • ☑ Dessert destination: This(is) Shizen, 〒604-8172 Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto.
  • ☑ Budget: $ (Approx USD $10).
  • ☑ Short and sweet story: About 10 minutes away from the centre of Kyoto and Nishiki Market, This(is) Shizen is a starkly modern cafe space. A giant black crystalline sculpture anchors a shop otherwise partially covered in a veritable forest of leafy plants and pampas grass. Here, vanilla ice cream is scooped into a cone and then studded with a colourful trio of flower-shaped mochi and a handful of other floral ornamentation. Is it the best ice cream? No, and we have spent more than a decade as part of this dessert travel blog eating ice cream from around the world. Nor is it the most inventive – vanilla, after all, is vanilla. But it is indeed, without a doubt, the prettiest ice cream cone that we have ever had. 
  • ☑ Dessert adventure tip: Visit in the last 1-2 hours before the shop closes – we didn’t have to wait and had the whole space to ourselves. By contrast, there can be long queues earlier in the day. 

Flower rain drop cake from Rokujuan

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Rokujuan, 〒604-8217 Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward.
  • ☑ Budget: $ (less than USD $15).
  • ☑ Short and sweet story: A stone’s throw from This(is) Shizen, Rokujuan is a very typical Japanese-style teahouse. Beyond fluttering half-drop curtains at the entrance, you remove your shoes to pad across several rooms and hallways before you reach a dimly-lit, somewhat spartan eating space. This space is bookended by long windows that overlook small courtyard gardens. In the falling light around 3-4pm in spring or autumn, it yields a very particular feeling of serenity. The dessert offerings here are just one – and specifically, it’s a platter of Mizu Shingen Mochi cakes, otherwise known as raindrop cake in Western speak. They are petite translucent jewels, each enlivened in colour by an embedded flower. Be forewarned, they are slippery to grasp and entirely tasteless unless dipped in kuromitsu, a black honey concoction. For us, we much prefer the Chinese bingfen as a cold summer dessert.
  • ☑ Dessert adventure tip: To be guaranteed of a seat, make a reservation on Tablecheck – an English-friendly restaurant reservative website- a day or two beforehand.

Must-see cherry blossoms spots in Kyoto

  • Daytime cherry blossom viewing itinerary — We will keep this short and sweet since you may likely be reading this portion as an afterthought. Whether you are a first-time visitor or have been to Kyoto before for sakura season, Southern Higashiyama is Kyoto’s must-see district (and the most crowded) for cherry blossoms. We recommend starting south early in the morning and head north in the following order. You might be able to do all of the below in a single day…if you do not stop for food (or desserts!):
    • Morning: Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka Streets, Keage Incline, Okazaki Canal, Heian Shrine, Murin-An Villa.
    • Afternoon: Especially in the late afternoon just before golden hour when the sunlight softly glows on the blossoms (the crowds thin out as well), Philosopher’s Path, Nanzen-ji Temple, Honen-in Temple, up to Ginkaku-ji Temple.
    • Evening: Maruyama Park (for evening hanami parties and street food), followed by Shirakawa-dori (for fancy dinner), then take a post-dinner stroll around Kiyamachi-dori.

  • Evening cherry blossom viewing itinerary — For evening photography, don’t miss yozakura at a number of places, but especially at the following two special illumination events (see our previous review here):
    • Kiyomizudera (the crowds here are intense and it’s an accident waiting to happen as there’s an absolute lack of crowd control – do not bring small children or elderly here. However, this is undoubtedly the most iconic spot in Kyoto, and no must-see list would not be complete without it).
    • Nijo Castle (for gardens of weeping sakura).
  • For sakura viewing further afield, we highly recommend:
    • Arashiyama – especially Tenryu-ji and Okochi-sanso. The “Sagano Scenic Railway” is much hyped, but you need to ensure that you have a window seat to make it worthwhile.
    • Mount Yoshino – the ultimate local spot.

Dessert adventure checklist

  1. ☑ Dessert destination: Kyoto, Japan.
  2. ☑ Budget: $.
  3. ☑  Sweet irresistibles: Flower mochi ice cream and flower mizu shingen cake.
  4. ☑  Previous Kyoto dessert adventures: See here (Kyoto teahouse), here (Arashiyama), here (beginner’s wagashi guide), cutest character themed dessert cafes (here).
  5. ☑ Travel notes:
    • When to visit for cherry blossoms? Aim for the last week of March or the first week of April, and make all bookings flexible. We recommend monitoring the peak season with local friends or check XiaoHongShu (yes, a Chinese app and not Japanese) for accurate live updates. Much to our chagrin, the Japanese official tourism website has never been accurate. In our experience, by the time it predicts or records “peak,” it is too late to visit. 😦
    • How long? Kyoto is a compact historic city. If you are a first-time visitor, plan for a minimum of 3 days. Each time that we have been to Kyoto, we have stayed for a week — not so much for desserts, but for landscape photography.
    • How to get there? Getting to Kyoto is not convenient — there is no international airport nearby, you have to train to and from Osaka airport. The alternative is that you can arrive by Shinkansen, but we are not great fans of this train system, especially compared to the far more straightforward booking convenience and greater operational smoothness of China’s high-speed rail system.
    • Where to stay?  In Kyoto, we recommend staying around Southern Higashiyama (such as the Hyatt Regency) for the first-time visitor. Otherwise, if you are not a first-time visitor, we prefer Gion and the surrounding area, such as Gojo, which is more well-connected with the very convenient bus system. As for Arashiyama, we will never forget Hoshinoya Kyoto (see previous review here), but since rooms are exceptionally limited, we can also recommend the riverfront Suiran (we will post a review soon).
    • Pro dessert tip? Bring cash. Kyoto is still more than half cash/one third credit card. And you will need a lot of coins for visiting all of those temples and gardens for cherry blossom viewing, as well as for many teahouses and dessert spots.

 

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