Ki: Kyoto’s only Lebanese bistro

Ki (汽) is such a sophisticated, fast casual bistro in chic Gojo in Kyoto City. It’s impossible to tell if it’s really a Lebanese restaurant until you read the menu. Ki’s ever-so-minimal menu offers the classic repertoire of Lebanese cuisine (or Levantine cuisine) such as hummus, falafel, and shawarma. Ki’s dishes are the creation of Japanese chef Hirotake Nagano who is an expert on French cuisine.

Ki’s Falafel. 1000 yen / $7.70.

Ki’s falafels came in the form of a perfect sphere resembling Japanese takoyaki. On a bed of tofu-ish soy cream, sure they were the most beautiful falafels I’ve eaten (compare if interested). Most importantly, these falafels tasted falafels.

Hummus. 400 yen / $3.

Ki’s hummus was on its own: light yet creamy, pleasantly sour, and sans tahini. The hummus was more of a mayonnaise than a bean paste. But it was way too beyond Hellmann’s. It’s something you can never find at Stop & Shop. This is Kyoto City, after all.

Ki’s shawarma. 900 yen / $6.90.

Ki’s shawarma on a bed of hummus was such a dark horse. Downright meaty beef and freshly made chimichurri (or zhug). The whole flavor was so mind-blowing that the definition of shawarma was also blown away.

Pita. 300 yen / $2.30.

Everything was flawless at Ki. But one should probably wonder “Is Ki really Lebanese?”

It’s as nonsense as asking about Kevin Spacey’s sexuality. No, Ki doesn’t speak Arabic but I kept binging like I fancied each and every episode of House of Cards. And all the plates were Claire-d.

P.S. You need no Française to savor the best of Ki.