Opened in November 2024, Bisan is a Kyoto branch of Tokyo’s foremost Palestinian restaurant Bisan. It seems like they touched down in the right neighborhood Demachiyanagi-shuhen (出町柳周辺) which encompasses assumingly Kyoto’s most liberal territories where Japan’s oldest drag queen show and a ruin bar-ish pop-up techno club at one of Japan’s Ivy League’s dormitory are a thing. Pro-Palestinian event flyers are not avant-garde in this neighborhood (we don’t discuss if Hamas is liberal because we don’t know them).
The storefront of Bisan.
Inside Bisan.
Inside Bisan was full of love and the polite Japanese restaurant energy. When I entered, two Japanese female staff were in charge of the restaurant. As a Japanese customer was leaving, one of the staff shouted “Arigato gozaimashita, shukran! (ありがとうございました、シュクラン！)” which means “thank you” in Japanese and Arabic.
Bisan’s menu.
I carefully read Bisan’s visually elaborated menu and ordered “Bisan Plate (Bisanプレート)” which is highlighted as “Special Menu”. One of the staff explained to me how to eat Bisan Plate correctly since Levantine cuisine such as hummus and falafel sandwich are unfamiliar in Japan in general. Thus the preach, then the revelation hit me and said “Bisan Plate is their version of a falafel sandwich kit/meze.”
Bisan Plate. 2500 yen ($16).
Bisan Plate consisted of 4 mini falafels on Japanese shredded cabbage salad, 3/4 pita bread, hummus, Moroccan-ish carrot and olive salad, Turkish-ish tomato dip, and lentil soup. The falafels were fresh and perfectly cooked. The hummus was absolutely delicious: thick and creamy with a strong tahini flavor with a pleasant zing of lemon. The other dishes were also amazing. Bisan Plate was the best meze I’ve had in Kyoto unless I wondered about what 2500 yen ($16) can offer in other restaurants (for reference).
On an unrelated note, Kyoto’s first Israeli restaurant is also in the same neighborhood.
Bisan (ビサン 京都店) | 234 Seiryucho, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto, 〒602-0822, Japan
☞ More articles about Kyoto
☞ More articles about Middle Eastern food
