Genkai-don — Restaurant in Kyoto

I write this with much hesitation, as I hope it will not be overrun with tourists and influencers, as it is relatively off the radar. It should be preserved and revered as truly local place.

Not too far off the beaten path, nearby the local food market.

I knew this was going to be good when I walked in early afternoon after the lunch rush, there was only two occupied tables, one with a couple and the other with a single older lady, both easily identified as locals. I truly believe if you walk into an establishment and its only filled with those who live there, they are "in the know."

We had three of the freshest bowls of chirashi I have ever had. One included uni which I find hard to eat in most places but this place it was truly sweet and had a mild touch of the ocean. The usual characters of fatty tuna, salmon, and scallops were as fresh as couple be. The all tuna bowl was also a delight as my better half swore it was the best she ever had. And the other in our party had the seared tuna bowl with fresh egg as a dip. All were masterfully executed and accompanied by a red miso soup with choice of soy sauce based dips. We all walked out completely satisfied and wonder at the simplicity of their execution. Let's keep it between us...

Came for the Genkaidon Ultimate which 9 different experiences of bluefin, uni, ikura, salmon sake, hotate, unagi and snapper.

Bowl is not the largest but a perfect size for the price of ¥4,000.

Ordering is done on the phone using the browser but is only in Japanese and therefore you must use the translate feature on your phone.

The bowl is served with miso soup and your choice of soy sauce, sesame oil, or garlic.

I came right at opening so I was seated immediately and after about 8 mins of ordering my food was ready.

Everything was presented beautifully to me on a brown wooden platter.

The fish quality was all spectacular with the highlight being the uni, which was some of the most delicate and flavorful uni I’ve ever had.

My next favorite part of the bowl was the bluefin tuna scrape with the pickled radish which was absolutely delicious.

The rice is warm and does not contain vinegar (or contains low vinegar content). The rice is very good, but I would have liked it to be more like sushi rice.

In any case the experience was phenomenal and the food was so good and the price was super reasonable at 4,000 yen. Will...

Got here just about 5pm and there are already people in the store. The place is not very big and glad to make it. Ordered the medium pieced Matsu Course (2000 yen) which has most of the pieces in the most expensive Genkai Don Ultimate (4000 yen) but not bluefin tuna and less sea urchin. The "medium" faty tuna is just regular tuna. There is only a small piece of big fat tuna with strong tendon. Snapper are ok, not great; a bit like what you would get from supermarket. The salmon roes are smaller than anticipated. Overall, not very good quality for 2000 yen spent. The miso is really salty that overwhelmed the fish taste. The place feel like big chain, even though modern looking and nice atmosphere but food isn't great. Won't be back again. Oh right, the place get way too much Google reviews because they give free scallop or salmon order with review. Most people probably feel obligated to give higher rating than what's actually worthy or there are too many tourists who haven't been to a local sushi restaurants. Do save your money and go to a real sushi restaurant. The fish definitely taste...