Wakuden in Kyoto Station opens for lunch at 11 a.m. Who eats lunch that early? To answer I arrived minutes after 11, thinking I would be dining tout seul. Far from it: The queue was out the door. The reason: Wakuden serves pricey kaiseki (haute cuisine) — sets starts at ¥6,000 — but every day there are a set number of roughly 15 lunches (called Kuchinashi) priced at ¥2,700. Hence the early birds, many of whom were in their twilight years.

Like many things in Kyoto, there's a history lesson first. Wakuden began as a ryokan (inn) in the third year of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) in the eastern part of Kyoto. At the Kyoto Station restaurant I was seated at the counter, with Kyoto fanned out in gridiron formation, offering a chance to gaze across the city. Save for some temples and the ring of mountains that accommodate Kyoto, much of this city has changed since Wakuden began. But, maybe not with Kyoryori, or Kyoto cooking, Wakuden's raison d'etre.

As happens in many Japanese restaurants, once you choose your course the menu disappears. This has its advantages, and its drawbacks, as per when the first dish arrived — a cup, actually, little bigger than a thimble. I heard my server say genmai (unpolished rice), missed the rest and presumed from its clear color it was sake. A kind neighbor explained it was kosencha, a rice tea served to show the restaurant's hospitality.