Salt Lake City｜Instant Trip to Kyoto ⛩️✨

The most atmospheric Japanese restaurant in Salt Lake City! With wooden lattices, white lanterns, and tatami private rooms, stepping through the wooden door feels like a dreamy escape to Kyoto. 🏮🌸 Unlike trendy industrial-style spots, this decades-old gem radiates the warmth of a family workshop🎏—simple and comforting, like a bowl of miso soup on a snowy day. The original owner, Tada, has retired in Kyoto⛩️, and now Peggi Ince-Whiting runs the show. She trained with sushi masters in Tokyo and brought her skills back to Utah, becoming one of the few female sushi chefs here! 👩🍳🍣 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ SABA SHIOYAKI (Salt-Grilled Mackerel) Just okay—a bit dry. Comes with miso soup, salad, and rice. As a set meal🍱, it might not be enough for those with a bigger appetite (like me—a hungry Chinese girl!), but it’s authentically portioned like a typical Japanese meal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ NAMA CHIRASHI (Sashimi Rice Bowl) 🍣 The fried shrimp head is super fragrant and really wakes up your appetite! Great value—loaded with salmon, tuna, grilled eel, sweet shrimp, octopus, herring, tamagoyaki, carrot, sautéed onion, pickled burdock, and escolar (which, fair warning, might have a laxative effect…😅). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SAKE OYAKO DON (Salmon Rice Bowl) Absolutely loved it! Visually appealing and delicious. ❤️🍚 ⭐️⭐️ BEEF SUKIYAKI 🥘 Not the high-end version where you dip thin beef slices in broth and egg. Here, the beef and noodles are pre-cooked together, and the flavor is overly sweet for American tastes—even as a Southerner, I found it too sweet. The meat wasn’t tender either. Not recommended. They also serve oyakodon, unadon, and teriyaki chicken rice—all generous portions and great lunch options. 🍗🍱 The clientele skews older; recently, I saw four grandmothers celebrating a birthday, each with a rice bowl, asking each other, “Is yours tasty? What did you order?” So heartwarming! 👵💕 📍 1080 E 1300 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84105 #SaltLakeCity #SaltLakeCityFood #SLC #Utah #SaltLakeCityLife #FoodReview #WeekendEats #SLCFoodDiary #MyFoodJournal #FoodShare #FoodieInUSA #Inspiration #UtahCuisine #WeekendPlans #FoodieDaily #LunchIdeas #DinnerOptions #MeTime