Hidden Kyoto: Neutron

By Andy Heather

The Fumitsubaki Building in Sanjo-Karasuma is a red-brick, Western-style building erected in 1920 whose interior is a spacious breath of fresh air, a world away from the narrow townhouses for which Kyoto is best known. It was originally home to a trading company, before being acquired by a textile wholesaler and later an upholstery company; it was also used as a cultural facility by the United States shortly after the Second World War. Fast-forward to 2010 and Kyoto's rising land prices ensure that a cavernous house with ceilings five meters high is too expensive for a single company, so the building has been divided up into a labyrinthine collection of shops, restaurants, cafés and design emporia.

A walk through this fascinating, almost homely building (assuming one grew up in a stately home in England) and up to the second floor brings you to a high ceilinged room lit by chandeliers, which houses a great café called Neutron. At the end of the room is a compact glass booth, not unlike an airport smoking area, which itself contains a gallery that houses a new exhibition roughly once every two weeks (entrance to the gallery is free of charge). The high ceilings and wooden beams are reminiscent of a dining room in a traditional English hotel. For those of a literary bent, there's a large and well-organized selection of books and magazines lining the room in file boxes. The juxtaposition of the traditional wooden building and the brightly lit, white-walled gallery gives the café a stylishly edgy vibe.

However, Kyoto's best kept secrets succeed or fail not just on aesthetic grounds but also on the strength of their culinary creations. Luckily Neutron's menu is remarkable for offering a great selection of dessert, lunch and dinner courses in beautiful surroundings at unsettlingly reasonable prices. The "weekly meat lunch with rice or bread, salad or soup", for example, belies its worryingly vague name (Just what animal does "meat" come from anyway?) and constitutes a delicious, succulent beefsteak in a rich gravy-like sauce with enough trimmings to satisfy a hungry temple-hopper for the price of just ¥900. Kyoto-ites accustomed to paying a premium for well-cooked "Western-style" steak meals may be unsure whether to react to that price-tag with delight or suspicion.

From the point of view of a long-term resident of Kyoto, Neutron is a gloriously spacious establishment in which to spend some time and be reacquainted with Western-style architecture. For the weary tourist, it's a great place to take a break and relieve oneself of temple fatigue. Hungry diners will find the food to be both delicious and offered at a price that is almost too good to be true. For the design fan, meanwhile, the Fumitsubaki Building itself is a delight.

To find Neutron, take the Karasuma or Tozai subway lines to Karasuma-Oike, turn right out of Exit 6 and right again after the Starbucks. You'll see the Fumitsubaki Building on your right-hand side, opposite Iyemon Salon.

Lunch is served from 11:00 until 17:00 on weekdays, and until 15:00 on weekends and public holidays. Dinner is served from 18:00 and last orders are taken at 22:00. Guests may enjoy coffee and cakes at any time. Neutron can be booked for wedding receptions and parties for groups of 40 to 62 on weekdays for two hours. The price is ¥5,000 per person, which includes one drink, a meal and a dessert. On weekends and public holidays the minimum size for groups is 50, but a free glass of Champagne is provided.

Neutron Kyoto

(Open 11:00-23:00 daily)

Fumitsubaki Building 2F, 79 Ogura-cho, Karasuma Nishi-iru Sanjo-dori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto

www.neutron-kyoto.com | email

Tel.: 075-211-4588

Price guide

Lunch: ¥900-¥1,500

Daily dinner course: ¥3,000

Confectionery: ¥550-¥800

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