Morden communal bath house → Retro café♪
Have you ever watched the movie “Spirited Away” written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki? Do you want to go to a communal bath house similar to the one appeared in the movie, to experience… not bathing, but dining? “さらさ西陣” (Sarasa Nishijin) is a café in Kyoto renovated from a former communal bath house (Fuji no mori hot spring) with 80-year history. The roof of the entrance is similar to the kind in the movie; the walls inside the café are full of majolica tile; how gorgeous this former bath house was! The café gives you a retro feeling as if you were back to the mid-1900s. The ground floor is café, and the first floor is a gallery space available for rental.
The café has updates about its weekdays and weekend lunch menus and the events information on its blog. For the lunch menu I had, it was sautéed pork in citrus-based sauce with grated radishes. Soup, salad and drinks were included. If you want to have lighter meal, sandwich set can be your choice. While I was dining, I imagined which part of the former bath house does my seat belong to? Was it the dressing place? The shower place? Or the bath place? But then I felt a bit disgusting to think about bath issue while having meal… LOL
“さらさ西陣” is one of the nation registered cultural property in Kyoto. Some parts of the café have still kept the style and features of the former bath house. So you can just enjoy a relaxing retro time, as if you were enjoying a relaxing bath there.
株式会社KINSHA