Kyoto — Restaurant in Karnataka

Kyoto broadly serves Japanese dishes and some Asian preparations! They have a bar setup too.

Food: Shumai Dumplings: We tried 2 variations: Garlic Mushroom & Sesame Chicken. Both of them were quite good. The dumpling wrappers/skins weren't thick and the ratio of size to filling is quite good. The accompaniments along with the dumplings are quite good too; there are about 3 variants. We liked two out of them; a chilli oil and a peanut chutney.

Gyozas Dumplings: We tried the Shitake Mushroom & Ginger ones. Again they were quite good overall. Maybe one or two of them may have a slightly stronger hint of ginger. Overall, the dumplings are one of the best offerings here!

Tom Yum Soup (Prawn): Quite a good soup; the prawns were very fresh and well-made. The flavouring and the seasoning of the overall soup were quite good.

Shitake Mushroom Tempura: This was a slight disappointment. The tempura wasn't done right; the covering was not made well. Also, the shitakes felt more rubbery than usual.

Chicken Satay: An okay starter: satisfactory. Nothing to write home about.

Korean Fried Chicken (Cheese): The non-cheese is the better variation I guess (and recommended too). We tasted the cheese version though which in 2 words would be cheesy and sweetish. The quantity of cheese was heaped in proportion and the sweet sauce in it (perhaps the BBQ one) seemed slightly sweet and more like sugary and not honey! Will try the non-cheese version on the next visit.

Ramen: We tried the Chicken Tonkotsu Ramen & Chilly Chicken Ramen. First, the quantity of the ramen is quite a lot; one can perhaps be shared if you have other appetisers on the table. The Tonkotsu was good with an overall umami flavour. (P.S: It can come across as slightly flavourless due to the umami ness) but we enjoyed it. Overall it was good. The Chilly Chicken ramen had a nice broth with a mix of chilly oil (Slightly oily for my liking). The ramen had Hakka noodles and not the ramen ones. The chicken was a bit mushy in its cook. Though both the noodles and chicken were cooked well, they didn't hit it off for me as ramen.

Desserts: I have a very sensitive tongue towards sugar. So this is very sweet; it's a cold set cheesecake if I'm not wrong. The slice is huge but the milo flavouring felt lost amongst the other sweet ingredients in it.

I tried one of their cocktails a while ago. It was smoked with hints of ginger. I'm unable to put a pin on the name, but it was okay. The smoke infusion was decent.

P.S: Most of the dishes mentioned here may not be from the list of usual recommendations. They have a ton of offerings. So perhaps other dishes may be better tasting and more recommended. They serve Sushi as well.

Ambience: The place has a nice open bar setup that's separated from the dine-in space by a false wall. The lighting, space-to-table proportions, and overall ambience are quite welcoming. The wall decor is highly influenced by Japanese Manga and anime; there are all kinds of posters and frames used to decorate the place.

Value for money It's the only or one of the very few restaurants in Manipal that serve Ramen and certain other dishes. Having said that, the place is quite pricey when compared to other places in Manipal.

Service & Staff: The service and staff are quite good. If visiting on a weekend, having a reservation may prove to be helpful. We visited the place a couple of times. A reservation didn't promise us a table upon entering (unless a huge group reservation) but will put us on top of the...

One of the best places in Manipal to enjoy authentic Japanese and Asian cuisine, and the place gets it right giving a fine dining experience. Being at a convenient location, the place is usually full during the lunch and dinner times, and if you have to wait for a table, it’s certainly worth it!

The ambiance is well lit and seating is spread out and spacious allowing one to have the personal space. The interiors are simple and minimalist, peppered with Japanese anime pics and other artifacts, which gives the place an interesting look.

The real winner is the food, and rightly so. It is brilliantly presented, very tasty and does give a feel of authenticity in every dish! The menu is elaborate along with pictures which really helps in making the choice. Be it the soups - The Thai shrimp is awesome - or the dumplings - Kimchi and the crab ones are delicious - or other starters like fried chicken or crispy lotus stem or the rolls, they are all flavorful and presented beautifully! Even the main course has the variety to choose from and i surely recommend the ramen dishes over others as a must try. You cannot go wrong with the order - they are all fantastic and the quantity is quite generous too! The cottage cheese miso ramen is surely a must try! The sushi was alright but maybe I’m being too harsh. I have tried sushi elsewhere and thought the rice quality and the taste could do with a bit of refinement.

The place also serves mocktails and beverages to go with the food.

And to our surprise - The desserts are simply to die for. We tried the cheesecake and the coconut panna cota and those were absolutely perfect. It’s the perfect way to end the lunch / dinner and the menu had more delicious looking dessert options that we regret not trying but surely coming back for more!!

The service too is great! The waiters are polite and courteous and always willing to help out with the menu. The food may take some time to arrive but it’s a minor setback.

You may however find the prices a tad bit expensive but in hindsight for the place , the quality and quantity of the food and the overall atmosphere, it’s surely worth the amount.

To top it up, the place also serves alcohol and something you can take advantage of. The bar has their signature cocktails, shots and many more creative options to choose from (though we did not try the bar on this visit). To our smoker friends, no...

Don’t go for the ramen!

Fried chicken starters which were ordered tasted pretty good, although the quantity was very small. Everything goes down hill from there.

Had to wait 1 hour to get the main course: ramen. I had ordered the sesame glazed chicken ramen. And it was the biggest let down. The noodles used are simply wrong for ramen, i’m pretty sure hakka noodles or some other noodles meant for stir frying was used for the ramen. Such noodles do not absorb any flavor and the texture doesn’t go well at all. The egg used in the ramen had a really bad smell and it affected the entire ramen smell. The broth in itself was very bland, there was no way to pinpoint any of the flavor and along with the stench of the egg it was impossible to eat. The mushrooms used in the ramen were...so bad to the point where I couldn’t continue eating the dish anymore. The dish might look good in pictures but that’s all the good it can do.

There’s loud music blasting at the restaurant, so loud that most servers aren’t able to hear us when we call them and that definitely added to our frustration. I also noticed most of the servers did not wear their masks properly/did not wear masks at all and that is unacceptable. A lot of things added to the discomfort my friends and I faced.

For people who have tried authentic ramen I highly suggest you don’t come to this place. If you want ramen, order samyang/shin ramyeon...