One of my favorite occasions to eat out in Japan is after returning from a long trip abroad. I have learned to empathize with those Japanese tourists who can't wait to get home and eat Japanese rice after a whirlwind tour of Europe.

But, incidentally, rice was in short supply when I visited Moriwaki, a family-run restaurant that clutches to the corner of a side street in the Gion district. There were, however, plenty of occasions when I smiled from the sheer delight of eating food that I had missed while away.

Chef and owner Tsutomu Moriwaki serves kaiseki ryōri (traditional multicourse cuisine) that is classical in concept and execution, but he leaves enough room for the unexpected. Instead of serving rice for the penultimate dish, he opted for homemade 100 percent buckwheat soba noodles.