Kyoto is a world class city by any measure, and there is no shortage of scrumptious bakeries and patisseries from which to put your sweet tooth into overdrive. Unfortunately, Kyoto is also so popular these days that getting into one of these establishments can be a bit of a struggle, battling the lines and crowds. So what to do? Here’s a hidden gem of Kyoto I’m going to share.
Founded in 1948 in Provence, France, La Maison Jouvaud started making one of a kind luxury chocolates and pastries. In 2018, they opened a store in the Gion District of Kyoto. Today, Josephine and I are in Kyoto once again and while wandering around trying to escape the crowds of the Ninenzaka and Inari Shrine areas, we stumbled upon Shirakawa Lane, a delightful tree lined, cobble stone street bordered by a rushing stream lined with tea houses, inns and restaurants. Best part? Very few tourists. How refreshing!
We noticed a tiny alley off to one side and decided to explore it. Coming out the other end, we found ourselves on Shinbashi Dori and it looked familiar (more on that in a moment). The street is classic Edo Period architecture lined with old tea houses and inns. It had all the charm of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka, but because it is a little further from the larger temples, there were no more than a few people on the narrow street.
We looked left and saw the noren (a short Japanese type curtain hanging in a doorway) and saw the sign for La Maison Jouvaud. Not more than perhaps 20 feet wide and easy to miss, we slipped through the noren and were greeted with an amazing display of chocolates and pastries. Didn’t take long to decide on our options.
I chose the Beurre Chocolate and Josephine ordered the Praline Noisette. Hers was great, but mine was not only delicious but an experience in itself. We walked upstairs to the small sitting area, looking down on the street through the rice paper blinds amazed that there were no people in the street below. The Beurre Chocolate was delivered with a small cup o
f piping hot melted chocolate on the side. The dessert consisted of a tempered chocolate ball cut in two and filled with sponge cake and vanilla ice cream and small pieces of cold mango on on the plate. Instructions were given with hand gestures to pour the melted chocolate into the heart shaped opening on the top so that the hardened chocolate would melt and I could indulge my chocolate sweet tooth.
I can say it tasted every bit as good as it looked. Josephine shared her Praline Noisette, but my chocolate creation won the day. At the current exchange rate (155 yen to the dollar), it only cost around $12.50 USD. For this quality of artistry, that’s a bargain, and in a restored Japanese matcha house in Kyoto no less! Topping it all off was the fact that while there, we were two of only four people in the room.
So why did this place look familiar? As it turns out, we’d been here in 2019 when we brought our two boys to visit Josephine’s family home north of Nagano. When we walked through the noren of the patisserie, I had a moment of Deja vu, and immediately remembered one of our boys videotaping walking through the very noren I was stepping through at that moment. It was one of those “God Gifts” as Josephine and I call these serendipitous occurrences. It just added to the experience.
So here is the lesson. Yes, Kyoto is experiencing record tourist numbers and in the more well known sites, the crowds can be stifling. But take heart. Even in Kyoto and other large cities with lots of tourists, you can find off the beaten path places such as La Maison Jouvaud and enjoy the beauty of Kyoto’s historic neighborhoods without the crowds. But please don’t tell anyone! Let this be our secret! Just return here to Unchartedjapan.net as we continue letting you in on the hidden gems of Japan. Click here to read about another hidden gem right in the center of Tokyo. Keep in mind that later this month, we’ll begin posting our first travel videos on our YouTube Channel, so stay tuned.
