Izakaya Style Cooking Class

Fabulous cooking experience. Class size was 9 people. Easy to find, warm and friendly atmosphere, covered so much in 3 hours, so well taught, well equipped and laid out, teaching was thorough and patient, and the dishes we all cooked turned out so well, delicious. Demystified all these dishes for me. So looking forward to cooking them at home. I can’t recommend this experience highly enough, so worth it. Thank you.

I'm glad I took this class because I learned some new cooking techniques and new ingredients. The menu was varied and I enjoyed having a hands-on experience. To improve the experience, I suggest a smaller class size. It was too hard for the instructors to keep an eye on everyone. And it was really distracting to have the instructors constantly washing dishes and not engaging with us as we were preparing the meals. The instructor or instructors should focus just on the students and there should be back counter staff to do dishes.

It was a great experience, we did it at the end of our trip, which was a good choice. The instructions were clear, help was always offered if one struggled with something. The dishes chosen were not too complicated to prepare, and tasty. Would give it a go to prepare some of the dishes at home in the UK. Recommended.

What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Great hosts, fine food, and lots to do. In short, great people delivering 6 different dishes with aplomb. Exceptional value for money.

They did great accommodating gluten free dietary needs. Cooking class.❤️❤️ Cooking Sun Kyoto Studio Our travel coordinator signed us up for a cooking class in Kyoto. So much fun. They made a few changes for mine. GF soy sauce, rice flour for the fried chicken instead of cake flour, deep fried tofu flakes instead of tempura flakes. 💞💞. Each couple had their own induction burner and cookware. 5 courses🌺 So much fun. Everything was delicious.

I had a pleasant experience, the instructor paid attention to all participants and are very encouraging. Time passed so fast! I will certainly return again if I ever come to Kyoto in future

highly recommend this activity, i had such a great time and learned so much. we made 6 different dishes so there was a ton of variety and the chefs were super knowledgeable

The workshop was great and in a cozy setting easy for everyone to see and cook!

We thoroughly enjoyed our Cooking Sun’s Izakaya cooking class in Kyoto. The dishes we made were fantastic and we're looking forward to making them at home. We started off with dashi (Japanese soup stock) which was used in most of the dishes we made. My favourite dish was okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes), and the yuzu jelly to finish was so refreshing. All the ingredients we used were locally sourced - so fresh. Our instructors were two lovely ladies, who were extremely helpful, and explained each step so well. This cooking class was one of the best experiences we had in Kyoto, and I'd recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

What an excellant experience! The atmosphere was fun, friendly and authentic. A great way of spending the afternoon with a small intimate group of 12. The 3 teachers were engaging, friendly and informative including little tips and tricks. Being Coeliac they easily adapted certain parts of the menu to suit with no fuss or risk of cross contamination. It was an absolute pleasure cooking in their kitchen, laughing, having fun and learning about their cuisine. We will definitely be back when next we are in Kyoto.

We absolutely loved this cooking class, our hosts were very lovely and informative. We made some really tasty dishes and are so happy to take the recipes home with us. Absolutely recommend this cooking class!

A great way to spend an afternoon. The lesson on making Japanese tapas was informative and fun. The food was delicious and I will be making some of these when I return home. Well done and a big thank you to the two lovely instructors who made it all possible.

Enjoyed the 2 ladies as we cooked and learned about japenese preferred ingredients. Enjoyed eating as well!!

Wide variety of tastes and great instructor. Very hands-on. Quaint location. Sake was offered for reasonable additional charge.

Our family with 2 teens loved this experience. We cooked delicious food, the pace and set up was great and this activity became one of our Kyoto highlights.

We had 2 wonderful chefs teaching us some simple Japanese dishes that were delicious. After preparing about 6 different dishes were enjoyed them for dinner.

I'm in love with Japanese food and the private cooking class was a great way to learn how to cook some of the dishes I had been enjoying from my trip. We were able to ask questions and have hands on experience before enjoying our efforts. Since returning we have been able to recreate the dishes using the recipes provided which makes this even better.

Great class, delicious food, easy instructions to follow and lovely instructors who gave us some history on the dishes we were cooking as we were going along. Advise booking in advance

Great chefs teaching about great food! This experience was fun, informative, and delicious. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cooking experience in Kyoto.

So much fun and totally accessible. I’ll def be making these dishes when I get back. Perfect experience for my 10 year old son too.

Such a fun afternoon! We made six dishes in total. The prep was easy and the food was delicious! Our structure spoke great English and were wonderful about explaining the differences between the various sauces and condiments. Highly recommended!

It was a fabulous afternoon. The instructors were so lovely.I learnt such a lot about the food we were cooking.It was delicious. Highly recommend.

We had a great time participating in the Izakaya Cooking Class at Cooking Sun Kyoto. It was a large class of twelve but we always felt we had the full attention of the three teacher cooks leading the class. The six dishes we prepared during the class were all delicious and we truly feel we can recreate all of them at home to share with family and friends. Thank you so much team cooking Sun Kyoto for a great tasting and fun filled afternoon. We look forward to taking another class soon.

Yep, we had a great time. Found it easy enough. The hospitality was great. Communication in english was excellent. Food was wonderful. They made allowances for allergies (we had one gluten-free, and one shellfish allergy). Was a great experience, and learnt some really interesting things about Japanese ingredients and cooking. Well worth it. Dinner afterwards is not required.

I had the most incredible time at Cooking Sun’s Izakaya cooking class in Kyoto. We learned to prepare six dishes, starting with the essential dashi (Japanese soup stock), followed by kinpira gobo, hijiki seaweed and lotus root miso salad, tofu meatballs with mushroom balsamic sauce, karaage, okonomiyaki, and a refreshing yuzu jelly to finish. What made the experience truly special was the use of locally sourced ingredients, many of which I’d never seen back home in the US. The freshness and quality were outstanding. I also loved learning traditional techniques, like grinding ginger and roots using authentic Japanese tools. It gave me a real appreciation for the care and precision behind each dish. The class was beautifully paced, with mini breaks to enjoy our creations and chat with fellow guests from France, Netherlands, Australia, and Korea. It felt like a global dinner party, full of laughter, shared travel tips, and delicious food. Plus, the studio’s location in the heart of Kyoto made it super convenient to find and easy to fit into a day of sightseeing. If you're looking for a hands-on, heartwarming way to experience Japan, I can't recommend Cooking Sun enough. It’s a perfect blend of learning, tasting, and connecting with food and people alike.

We love taking cooking classes when we travel, we’ve taken many all over the world - from Hanoi to Istanbul to Fez… THIS ONE was exceptional!!! The class was very organized and full of interesting facts about Japanese cooking. The instructors were so sweet and knowledgeable. There were 10 in our class (2 didn’t show up) but it didn’t feel crowded. We worked in pairs and we each got hands on experience and personal attention from the 3 instructors. We highly recommend Cooking Sun!

I enjoyed the class. It was smooth and organized. It was a big class but they have a great teamwork. Explained everything and attentive to everyone. I learned something new. Delicious and healthy recipe. I can make it for sure at home and share it with family and friends.

This 3-hour cooking class was a fantastic experience! We explored six delicious izakaya-style dishes, and the instructors made it easy and fun to follow along. As someone with celiac disease, I really appreciated how they accommodated my dietary needs—using gluten-free soy sauce and rice flour so I could fully participate and enjoy every dish. Everything was incredibly flavorful, and I walked away with new skills and recipes I can use at home. Highly recommended for food lovers and especially great for anyone who’s gluten-free!

Great experience that I booked last minute. Venue was nice, instruction was clear, and food was delicious! I highly recommend.

The cooking instructors were well prepared, communicated very clearly and were so friendly! All cooking activities were well planned, and we enjoyed the food. We learned some interesting aspects of Japanese Izakaya cooking (e.g. dashi stock, okonomiyaki, and using lotus and burdock roots). The level of cooking was very basic/simplistic - hence the average rating. As long as you go into the activity with the appropriate expectations, you'll enjoy the class! We appreciated the sharing of the recipes electronically.

A really enjoyable experience. The ladies are so well organised and prepared. We had minimal preparation of ingredients which allowed us to make more dishes and enjoy a variety of foods. I'd love to do more classes with them.

This was one of the best tours I did in Japan. Not only was the food delicious, it was very informative to hear and learn what the Japan really eat. I would highly recommend this cooking class. The 3 ladies teaching us were fantastic.

We had a great time and did was excellent! They did a nice job prepping ingredients and explaining what we cooked. Highly recommended

Can’t recommend highly enough ! We learnt so much and thoroughly enjoying the experience. The teachers were wonderful and the meal we prepared was delicious!

What a great experience. When you are “so done” with the Temples and the shopping this is what you need to do. I took the class with a friend, but this is a very family friendly experience that everyone can participate in. You get a little history, a little knife technique, a little info on ingredients and a whole lot of fun and food to eat that you personally prepared! The instructors were fun, helpful and informative. Easy to understand ( I am from the USA)

If you need a rest while exploring Kyoto - this is the perfect afternoon. The class was presented by two wonderful teachers who guided the participants through the recipes in an knowledgeable and engaging way. I learned a lot while having fun.

Such a lovely experience at cooking sun! I chose this cooking class over others due to the fact that the meals cooked were ones that could easily be cooked at home and I wasn’t disappointed. All of the recipes were super yummy and doable for a home cook and I cannot wait to cook them for my family! The hosts were lovely and patient and made sure we all had a good time whether we were in a group or solo! The class caters well to vegetarian options along each step (in fact the vegetarians next to me seemed to love the work arounds in the recipes as it solved problems they had had cooking in the past)

Fantastic class. Instructors spoke clear English. Lots of interesting information about the ingredients and Japanese cooking. Very well organised, very hygienic and best of all the good was delicious!!

My wife and I like to take a cooking class in each new country we visit and this class was a very nice experience. We had reservations about the listed 3hr class time but things went quickly and efficiently and we were done in 2.5hrs without being rushed. They recommended a great knife shop we also enjoyed shopping at.

This was such a perfect cooking class. We learnt how to make multiple Japanese dishes and were given lots of tips on how to replicate them at home. Our teacher Yumi was so friendly and accomodating and really made it such a nice experience. Was such good value for money considering how long it goes for as well. Would highly recommend to anyone in Kyoto.

My husband, two teenage sons, and I participated in this cooking workshop on our recent trip to Kyoto. We all loved it! Everything was so well prepared and so well organized. The instructors did a great job of giving instructions, explaining different ingredients, and answering questions. We will recommend this cooking workshop to anyone we know who visits Kyoto.

The meals were so delicious! Enjoyed making the dishes and keeping the recipes to try again at home. Definitely a unique experience with the kindest hosts who made the cooking so easy.

Amazing experience instructors were so nice fun helpful and the food menu was so interesting and tasty. Me and my kids loved it and would definitely recommend to friends

This Izakaya cooking class was one of our absolute favorite activities for our two week trip to Japan. The hosts were incredibly kind and fun to learn from. We got to learn a ton about the culture and food was cooking very easy to follow recipes that we will definitely be making at home! I would give them a 6th star if I could!

The two ladies running the session were so kind and structured. We got great insights on techniques in Japanese cooking. Overall we enjoyed the experience, and got lots of new knowledge to take home, though we would’ve rather have cooked a dish with Japanese noodles rather than a pasta dish.

We did this on our first day in Japan! The class was full but well organised with 3 teachers to assist. The recipes were home-style but with Japanese ingredients to make it interesting and fun. Very delicious and a couple of recipes we will definitely try at home.

We greatly enjoyed our cooking class with Cooking Sun. The value for the money was excellent. The variety of foods was appreciated. The two women who led the class communicated well and it was clear they enjoyed teaching and wanted the 8 students to have a great time. The written recipes were clear and were followed up by an email containing a link to the recipes in the event we misplaced our recipes.

My 3rd Cooking Sun class didn’t disappoint. The instructors are nice and very patient answering the classes questions. The cucumber salad is still one of my favorites it I think the Pumpkin soup is now my #1. The pasta was delicious and I loved the mochi dessert we made.

My wife and I spent a lovely morning learning how to cook a few Izakaya style dishes with Chiaki. We learned a lot about the basic building blocks of Japanese cooking then made and ate some very tasty dishes. They were even better with a little sake at the end. :-) Definitely will be making these at home. Well worth your time.