Morita Ya
Multiple locations throughout Kyoto

Smooth Obturator told me I had to eat at the Kiyamachi location of Morita Ya for their famous sukiyaki.  I’ve never had much experience with sukiyaki.  It seemed somewhat similar to shabu shabu but with a sweet soy sauce base to cook the raw meat and vegetables, rather than just water.  We ordered 2 set courses, Matsu (6264 yen) and Premium (8100 yen).  The pricier one had higher quality meat and appetizers.  We had our own private room sitting on traditional tatami mats.

Appetizers
Not really sure what everything was exactly, but overall solid.  I loved the fresh cherry blossom branch.  It added beauty and seasonality to the presentation.

Pickles

Red Miso Soup

Sukiyaki
They start by prepping the hot pot with a chunk of fat to grease the pot and a generous sprinkling of coarse sugar.

Each set came with 2 slices of beef.  I only found that out after the meal was complete, and I was like “That’s all the meat I get for THAT price?!?!”  As you can probably see, the meat from the premium course is in the foreground of the picture is noticeably more marbled with fat.  The slices were pretty large, maybe the size of a bigger hand, but still.  I was shocked.

As the sugar caramelizes, soy sauce is added.

Then noodles, tofu, vegetables.

I’m not gonna lie.  That meat was frickin’ delicious.  It was so tender, fatty but plenty meaty.  It was served in raw egg, which only added to the lusciousness in the mouth.  After a while, it got to be a little too sweet.

All the other components to the sukiyaki were also tasty.

Fresh Fruit
Of course the melon and orange were super sweet.

Even though I have not had much sukiyaki in my life, I would say this is at the top.  The meat was superbly high quality, but it was DAMN expensive.  I was surprisingly pretty full at the end of the meal, but it didn’t seem like a lot of food.  But I guess you’re buying quality and not quantity here.  Service was attentive and on point.  English was just so so, but we didn’t need to communicate much to them since my credit card concierge service helped us make menu selections ahead of time.  Overall, I liked the place but maybe would try to find a cheaper place for sukiyaki.  The sweetness just got to me, but that just might be how sukiyaki is supposed to taste.

10 – You NEED to eat here
9 – Awesome 
8 – Very good
7 – Good (factoring price)
6 – OK
5 – Average
4 – Not bad
3 – Not good
2 – Terrible
1 – Do NOT eat here