a la Chalamont — Restaurant in Kyoto

Looking for a restaurant late one evening close to our hotel (the Hotel Brighton, which is in a bit more of a residential area so not a large number of restaurants in the immediate vicinity), we came across a la Chalamont, which turned out to be a real gem! While you might come to Japan to partake in the local cuisine, after a while we had to mix it up, and the dishes here were all delicious and the service was terrific. The server spoke enough English to go through the specials menu for us (and to help ensure our daughter's food allergies were taken into consideration) and the regular menu had English and French options. Very reasonably priced for Japan, but they don't take credit cards so make sure you have enough cash with you (and there is a Y300 cover charge per person for dinner, which seems like more of an old-school European thing - but...

Ambient atmosphere, attentive staff, and great cuisine. I had a wonderful dinner here with my family(they were amazed by the tastiness throughout). I was worried it might take long for meals to come as the chef do all the cooking by himself. Luckily we were the first visitors that night and the dishes arrived swiftly one after another. The price was very reasonable, considering the quality of the food and service.

I will surely visit this...

I know what you're thinking... French food in Kyoto. If you want a 3 course, hearty, gourmet meal for a very affordable price and you're near the Kyoto Imperial Palace, make sure to be here at lunch as soon as it opens at 11:30. There is a set menu, with some possible upgrades. Everything we had was delicious. Menus are not in English but our hostess knew enough to explain our choices. You'll not find a better value...