Dining + Cafe & Bar Uruu — Restaurant in Kyoto

We were looking for somewhere local to eat whilst staying in the area with a view of celebrating our son's 17th birthday. Dining + Cafe & Bar Uruu was close to our accommodation and had excellent online reviews so seemed to be a perfect option. We attempted to book a reservation online but the process was more complicated than it needed to be so we decided to drop by to see if they could fit us in. To the young waiter's credit, he eventually overcame himself when we responded that we didn't to his reservation question, sought permission from the kitchen, nodded that he could squeeze us in and led us upstairs. The restaurant didn't seem very busy and most of the downstairs tables were empty but I thought they may have others arriving later. The furnishing and aesthetics of the restaurant were very impressive and tastefully done. We sat down and were greeted respectfully by the young female waitress who gave us time to place our order. We were sitting between two tables of well dressed Japanese who obviously thought themselves very important. We ordered a pizza each for the boys, a prawn pasta for my partner and as a vegetarian, chose one of the few options from the menu that didn't have meat. We also ordered some fries for the boys, just in case the pizzas were small as both of them are strapping young men with an appetite. As an afterthought, I ordered some fried truffle pasta since it sounded interesting. We ordered soft drinks for the boys and a glass of the white wine each for the adults. The drinks came out quickly and I was a little taken aback by the paltry wine pour. I mean we've eaten at family and fine dining Italian restaurants in several continents and never have I seen such as this. Next were the appetisers. The boys weren't very keen on the seasoning on their fries as it tasted like olives or anchovies, I couldn't quite pick it but thought it tasted okay. My fried truffle pasta was actually like eating uncooked pasta and it wasn't at all what I was expecting. I ate because I was hungry though the noise of the pasta being eaten may have been offensive to the ears of other patrons. There was simply no way to eat them quietly. Out came the pizzas and pasta and I'll admit, I was shocked. The pizzas were the size of an appetizer plate, no more. You know those pizzas you used to eat at school from the canteen? Well, they weren't much bigger than that. And quality? It's no exaggeration to say that Dominoes pizza is better. Much better. And I don't eat that because it's not great, despite being cheap. Needless to say I was not happy though I did a reasonable job of masking my ire and my deep disappointment. The pasta? It was okay, nothing special and the serving size was meagre but relative to the pizzas, enormous. The vibe of the place was very snooty which is okay if very fine dining is what you're about, but Bar Uruu is a long way from that. Finally, adding a 300 yen / patron charge just for the sake of it is egregious to the extreme and I've never seen that anywhere. Bar Uruu, you really missed the mark and despite the mock politeness on offer, the environment of your establishment is cold and unfriendly. That, combined with average food and terrible portion sizes led to us having the least impressive, most unpleasant dining experience in Japan...

I love this place. We were staying at a hotel next door and tried this place out. I probably went five times over the course of our stay it was so delicious. My favorite dish was the Quattro Formagi pasta which I probably ate four times. The rest of my friends got different pastas and all said they were good, but I can’t remember what they were called. The ambiance in cool in here and there are two stories with a variety of seating options from...

Absolutely exceptional food. I’ve eaten pizza in some of the best places in the UK, US and Italy (Rome) and the pizza I had here is by far the best I’ve ever had. My wife had a prawn pasta dish which she throughly enjoyed too. I was in two minds about recommending this restaurant, simply because I wanted to keep it...