Sweets and Desserts to Enjoy in Kyoto - 5 Recommended Cafes Discover Oishii Japan -SAVOR JAPAN -Japanese Restaurant Reservation Guide-

Update-date: May 12 2025

Author: SAVOR JAPAN

Categories: Kyoto Sweets Cafe Bar/Cocktails

Sweets and Desserts to Enjoy in Kyoto - 5 Recommended Cafes

Kyoto, often called the center of Japanese culinary culture, has many restaurants offering delicious sweets. Sweets made with traditional Japanese ingredients are one of the pleasures of sightseeing in Kyoto. Why not try sweets that capture Kyoto's charm in both appearance and taste, made with uniquely Japanese ingredients such as matcha, which is gaining worldwide attention, as well as red bean paste, shiratama rice flour dumplings, and kuromitsu syrup?

See full listings of Sweets, Cafe, and Bar/Cocktails restaurants found in and around Kyoto.

Gion Kitagawa Hanbee

Gion Shijo Station is a 6-minute walk from the location of Gion Kitagawa Hanbei, a cafe operated by a long-established tea wholesaler founded in 1861. The ‘Matcha Deglination’ features an abundant amount of the highest-grade matcha produced in Kyoto and offers a fragrant and visually stunning assortment of sweets. The ‘Cha Utami’ is also recommended, offering five varieties of colorful tea made with the highest-grade tea leaves, paired with tea confections that enhance each tea.

5 Recommended Cafes for Sweets and Desserts in Kyoto to Visit Along with Kyoto Sightseeing

The restaurant is located near Yasaka Shrine and Kennin-ji Temple. The interior of the over 120-year-old traditional Kyoto townhouse is a modern space that exudes a calm Japanese atmosphere. Using Japanese materials, the interior features a slightly dark gray base that vividly highlights the green of matcha. Visitors can enjoy fragrant Japanese tea sweets in a space that evokes a sense of history.

Gion Kitagawa Hanbee

Open: [Weekdays] 11:00 am - 6:00 pm, [Saturday, Sunday] 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Closed: Irregular
Average price: [Dinner] 2,500 JPY
Access: 6-minute walk from Exit 6 of Gion-shijo Station on the Keihan Main Line
Address: 570-188, Gion-machi Minamigawa, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
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Malebranche Kyoto Tower Sand Restaurant

Malebranche Kyoto Tower Sando Restaurant

Located a 2-minute walk from Kyoto Station, Marubranche Kyoto Tower Sand is a Western-style confectionery specializing in sweets made with rich matcha. In the restaurant's eat-in area, customers can enjoy the exclusive "Nama-cha no Ka Ice Bar." It is delicious on its own, but adding rich matcha espuma made from tea produced in Kyoto and Uji enhances the tea's flavor even more.

5 Recommended Cafes for Sweets and Desserts in Kyoto to Visit Along with Sightseeing

The exterior features a champagne gold base color, and inside the restaurant, there is a pine design symbolizing "Cha no Ka." Customers can purchase "Cha no Ka," a langue de chat cookie made with rich matcha, and "Nama Cha no Ka," a fondant au chocolat with rich matcha. These sweets, made with carefully selected Uji tea leaves, come in stylish packaging, making them perfect souvenirs for a trip to Kyoto.

Malebranch Kyoto Tower Sando branch

Open: 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
Closed: Depends on the establishment.
Average price: [Dinner] 2,500 JPY
Access: 2 minutes walk from the central exit of JR Kyoto Station, in Kyoto Tower
Address: 721-1, Higashishio-Koji Cho, Karasuma Dori Shichijo Sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto

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Tapioca Berries

Located a 2-minute walk from Kyoto Station, Tapioca Berries offers sweets made with Japanese tapioca and Kyoto matcha. The freshly baked crepes and waffles have a chewy texture thanks to the use of tapioca flour in the batter. The drink menu includes options with black tapioca, colorful tapioca, and the rare chocolate tapioca.

The restaurant is located on the basement first floor of Kyoto Tower Sando. In addition to counter seats, table seating is also available in the food hall, allowing customers to enjoy sweets and drinks at their leisure. The menu offers a wide range of popular items suitable for all ages, making it a recommended choice for families.

Tapioca Belize

Open: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm (L.O. 10:00 pm)
Closed: -
Average price: [Dinner] 500 JPY
Access: 2 minutes walk from the central exit of JR Kyoto Station, in Kyoto Tower
Address: 721-1, Higashishio-Koji Cho, Karasuma Dori Shichijo Sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
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Tsujiri Cafe

Tsujiri Cafe, located a 2-minute walk from Kyoto Station, is a restaurant offering a variety of drinks and sweets made with Uji matcha. The original menu item "Tsujiri Soft Kyoto Parfait" features rich matcha soft serve topped with sweet red bean paste and shiratama rice flour dumplings, allowing customers to enjoy a harmonious blend of flavors from each ingredient. The "Kyoto Latte Matcha ICE," which perfectly combines matcha and milk, is also recommended.

This restaurant, located on the first floor of Kyoto Tower Sand, offers both indoor table seating and spacious terrace seating. In addition to the café menu, customers can purchase baked goods such as rusk and langue de chat, as well as carefully selected Uji tea leaves. Visitors can also take home the taste of Tsujiri, the main store in Kyoto Uji with over 160 years of history, as a souvenir of their trip.

Tsujiri Cafe

Open: 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
Closed: -
Average price: [Dinner] 500 JPY
Access: 2 minutes walk from the central exit of JR Kyoto Station, in Kyoto Tower
Address: 721-1, Higashishio-Koji Cho, Karasuma Dori Shichijo Sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
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PANCAKE ROOM

Located a 2-minute walk from Kyoto Station, this pancake specialty restaurant originates from Kitayama, Kyoto. It offers pancakes made with meticulous attention to detail, such as cracking eggs and preparing the batter only after an order is placed. The 'SANDO Pancake,' exclusive to the Kyoto Sando restaurant, is a Japanese-style pancake served with slightly bitter matcha cream, dango, and sweet red bean paste, allowing customers to enjoy a flavor unique to Kyoto. The depiction of Mount Daimonji on the plate further enhances the Kyoto atmosphere.

5 Recommended Cafes for Sweets and Desserts to Visit Along with Sightseeing in Kyoto

The restaurant is located on the basement first floor of Kyoto Tower Sando. The pancakes are carefully baked with special attention to the type and blend of flour, as well as the baking time and temperature. Customers can use the table seating inside the food hall. Additionally, it offers Kona beer from Hawaii, craft beer from Kyoto, wine, whiskey, and cocktails, allowing guests to enjoy it as a bar as well.

PANCAKE ROOM

Open: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Closed: None
Average price: -
Access: 2 minutes walk from the central exit of JR Kyoto Station, in Kyoto Tower
Address: 721-1, Higashishio-Koji Cho, Karasuma Dori Shichijo Sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto

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This article was written by AI Translation.

Disclaimer: All information is accurate at time of publication.