Amam Dacotan Kyoto

There’s a hugely popular bakery in Fukuoka called Amam Dacotan, and on November 2, 2024, it opened its first location in the Kansai region. The spot chosen for this debut is a traditional Kyoto townhouse—over 100 years old—located on Rokkaku-dori, south of Karasuma Oike. At this point, it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t become a hit in Kyoto, right? So, curious to see what kind of bakery it actually is, I decided to pay a visit…

I get that it’s super popular, but it’s a bit of a hassle… A detailed guide to visiting Amam Dacotan Kyoto and its wait times

Amam Dacotan Kyoto isn’t the kind of place you can just walk into. Walk-ins are only allowed starting at 3:00 PM; from opening time until 3:00 PM, only those with a numbered ticket can enter.

So, how do you get one of those tickets? You access an online reservation site called Air Wait via the link posted on the shop’s Instagram, enter your email address there, and get a numbered ticket. The daily quota of numbered tickets is released every morning at 7:30 AM, so the morning hours starting then are the key time to secure one. However, please note that what’s issued here is a “numbered ticket,” not a “reservation slot.” You cannot specify a time; instead, you’ll be guided into the shop in the order of your ticket number, so please don’t misunderstand that point…

Anyway, I accessed the online reservation site around 10:00 AM on a weekday, and at that time, there were 70 groups ahead of me. My ticket number was 283, and the site showed 159 remaining slots, so I’d guess they issue roughly 440 tickets per day. With 70 groups ahead and an estimated wait time of about 57 minutes, the customer turnover seems to be pretty fast. You’ll receive an email notification when it’s your turn to enter (it seems you can also opt for LINE notifications), but if a certain amount of time passes after you’re called, your reservation will be canceled, so it’s best to wait as close to the store as possible.

Anyway, I was able to enter Amam Dacotan Kyoto roughly on schedule, but you also need to be mindful of the process leading up to purchasing the bread. Most of the first floor is taken up by the kitchen, so the space for customers to walk through is really narrow. About 30 to 40 varieties of creative bread are lined up along the counter running alongside the kitchen, but since there’s a one-way flow from the entrance to the register, you can’t go back later to grab another loaf if you suddenly think, “Actually, I want that one too!” That said, you can’t just stay in one spot and take your time choosing either… I understand it’s incredibly popular, but I felt it was a bit inconvenient, especially for first-timers.

There’s an eat-in area on the second floor! How did the three creative breads I bought at Amam Dacotan Kyoto actually taste?

At Amam Dacotan Kyoto, the second floor serves as an eat-in area, so you can take the bread you’ve purchased at the first-floor register up there to enjoy. They also offer several types of drinks, including coffee and tea. If you show your receipt at the second-floor counter, they’ll prepare your drink and call you over with a buzzer.

So, here’s what I bought this time…

• Earl Grey, Dried Cherry, and Cashew Nut Levain: 390 yen + tax
• Honey Toast with Blueberry Jam, Gorgonzola Cream, and Prosciutto: 400 yen + tax
• Fresh Custard Donut: 420 yen + tax

With a hot tea added to these three items, the total came to 1,731 yen including tax. It’s not uncommon for a single creative bread item to cost over 500 yen, so I honestly thought, “That’s pretty pricey…”

Earl Grey, Dried Cherry, and Cashew Nut Levain

The Earl Grey, Dried Cherry, and Cashew Nut Levain has a fairly hard texture and feels quite substantial. The inside is moist, with a unique nutty aroma and a sweet-and-sour flavor.

Honey Toast with Blueberry Jam, Gorgonzola Cream, and Prosciutto

The Honey Toast with Blueberry Jam, Gorgonzola Cream, and Prosciutto features a base of toast that’s baked to a crisp, giving it a fairly firm texture as well. Although it’s called “Honey Toast,” the honey flavor isn’t very noticeable; the main flavor comes from the rich Gorgonzola. Combined with the prosciutto topping, it offers a brief moment of indulgence.

Fresh Custard Donut

In contrast to the previous two items, this fresh custard donut is incredibly soft. The dough is extremely thin, and it feels like about 90% of it is custard cream. Although it’s called a donut, the outside feels more like a soft cream puff. The sweetness is subtle, and I polished off the whole thing in no time.

There were plenty of other delicious-looking creative breads as well, and since none of them were the kind you’d find at other bakeries, I could definitely see why Amam Dacotan Kyoto is so popular… Even though it was still before noon, some items—like the “Rare Shokupan” (apparently a Kyoto-exclusive item)—were already sold out… Personally, I really wanted to try the “Mentaiko French,” which is apparently super popular in Fukuoka. In any case, bread lovers are probably rejoicing, thinking, “A really great shop has opened in Kyoto!”

I recommend getting takeout… Amam Dacotan Kyoto is a 4-minute walk from the nearest station, Karasuma-Oike Station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway.

But to be honest, I recommend getting takeout rather than eating in at Amam Dacotan Kyoto. The atmosphere of the traditional Kyoto townhouse is wonderful, but it doesn’t really feel like a place where you can relax and linger. They don’t have anything particularly special on the drink menu either, and functionally, it’s just an eat-in space attached to a regular bakery—I don’t think it’s on par with a proper café. In fact, most of the customers I saw that day were buying up a ton of savory breads to take home…

Now, here are the shop details…

P.S. If you are looking for a cozy cafe in Kyoto, please stop by this article below…