Restaurant Suggestions

The number of restaurants in Kyoto is amazing. Lots of old traditional Japanese restaurants, and plenty of new places as well, both Japanese and foreign, so the choices are plentiful. Here are just a few suggestions from our own experience. New places open and old ones close, all the time. It is quite difficult to follow up, there are just too many. Don’t hesitate to let us know about any good and/or interesting places you came across.

Some of the places we mentioned below will not accept a reservation from outside Japan or from foreigners (because of possible cancelation). We’ll gladly help our guests to book a table. BTW, our guests will find a map and description of shops and restaurants around their place in each of our machiya houses.

We recommend you use the following websites to find ideas, select a place, and make the reservation directly:

OpenTable

Tabelog

Gurunavi

Our limited selection

Junsei: Tofu Restaurant

This time, I’d like to mention a different kind of restaurant, a different kind of food. It is about a well known “Yudofu” restaurant located near Nanzenji temple. Junsei serves “yudofu”, or boiled tofu in English, a popular dish around Nanzen-Ji

Ikkyuan – Vegetarian Restaurant

To try Shojin Ryori (精進料理), Zen Vegetarian Cuisine, this is a good address. It’s located next to Kodaiji Temple and is open from lunch to dinner, non stop. The type of Shojin Ryori provided is called “Fucha Ryori”, and was brought to Japan by Chinese monks during the Edo period.

Yamayoshi Snow Crab

Now, for something different, only available during the cold winter months. . . Snow Crab. From Shijo Kawaramachi Crossing, walk South on the Kawaramachi dori street for five minutes — you find this restaurant with a large crab hanging on the face of the building.

Kikunoi, Menu for Satsuki (May)

Kikunoi, a Michelin 3 stars Kyo Kaiseki restaurant is one of our favorite place to enjoy Kyoto style haute cuisine. We often select this place to celebrate birthday, friends and family reunion and other special occasions. Here is the Menu for Satsuki (May).

Kikunoi, Menu for Fumizuki (July)

To celebrate the visit of Akiko’s parents and our son 21st birthday, we managed to get a table in July. We choose to have lunch and took the basic course. It was, as usual, a memorable experience.

Kikunoi, Kaiseki Restaurant

Kikunoi is a ryotei or restaurant of fine Japanese cuisine located in the Gion-Maruyama district of Kyoto. Michelin 3 stars, this is one of our favorite place to enjoy Kyoto style haute cuisine (Kyo Kaiseki), which makes the most of Kyoto’s seasonal delights.

Il Pappalardo, Italian Restaurant

Well, Japanese food is not for everyone, and may not be for all the time. Once in a while, one may crave for something else, for a good pizza or a nice plate of pasta, for example. And in such case, Il Pappalardo is probably one of the best option you can have in Kyoto.

Otonari, Yakitori Restaurant

“Otonari” (Next Door, or Neighbor) is our local yakotori restaurant. It is located on Gojo street, near the Kiyomizu-Gojo Train Station (Keihan line), a few minutes away from Gojo Machiya, Kiyomizu Machiya or Gojozaka Machiya.

Shoentei, Chinese restaurant

Sure, nobody will specially go there from across the city, but if you’re visiting Kiyomizu-Dera Temple or are walking from Gojo street up to Shijo street along Higashiooji street, then this is certainly a good option. The place is pretty standard, but the food is cheap, copious and good.