Gion Duck Rice — Restaurant in Kyoto

Foods were ok, above average i would say but won't comment much since everybody's tastebud is different.

But what really bring the experience down for me was the initial service provided. Went there at 6pm, it was packed and queue started to form which is ok. Queue started at the doorstep (slightly on thr pathwalk) with one white guy infront of me, got attended immediately by the host/hostess about the waiting time and etc.

Soon after the guy left (long waiting) then I'm next in line, zero interaction, nobody came forward to talk or offer a menu for viewing first, despite multiple instances of us looking at each other or me trying to enquire.

Later, a Chinese couple just storm right through (no reservation nothing), and the staff actually attended them first and gave them seats. Fine, gonna let it slide and proceed to wait.

Was invited to wait inside, with another couple (next in line after us) queuing inside too. Waited another 15mins or so, the staff proceeded to give the menu, explain it and begin to take the order of the couple that comes after us.

Enquired that we're in line first, staff just said "sorry" and show us the menu without any explanation and just stood there, asked questions and all i got was mediocre responses.,from there the experience just went downhill.

Would suggest you to start a numbering system, long queue was forming outside with nowhere to stand and certain origins of people are so used to cutting queue.

If the service is good, I would rate it higher but is...

Saw this place rated very highly by influencers on instagram so i got interested as well! Unfortunately, the food fell short of our expectations. The price is actually quite expensive when compared to other places that I've been to; the proportions and quality does not reflect the price itself. Some parts of the duck was tough. I feel like they could have incorporated more veggies into the set, as even a small salad would have provided a better variety. I also ordered their in-house beer which tasted quite diluted and had nothing special about it that could rationalize its cost (~1400 yen). In my opinion, it feels more like a tourist trap and would not come again! Nor do I recommend it. Lastly, we found out the next day that when they gave us change for the meal we were given 500 won rather than 500 yen, which as per conversion, is about 50 cents and not 5 dollars in my currency. Surely, they did not do that on purpose but still we feel cheated and even more so vulnerable as tourists who trusted them to give us the correct change. If you want aesthetic photos, this is a great place for that. The 2 stars I am giving is for the service. It is good, the staff take time to explain the menu. P.S: my mom paid 500 yen for tea which came in a small tea pot (~500mL perhaps?), and was not refillable. We have also had better tea elsewhere which was free and refillable. There is water provided so I dont advise to pay for tea...

Located in the basement of a building near Yasaka Shrine, and also near their sister store 🦆🍜. Went on a Wednesday evening at around 7pm, with three groups in front, with an hour and a half wait. We waited! The store has 7 seats, so expect to wait if you're going during peak eating time.

The emoji menu is explained by the helpful staff who can speak English and Japanese. I ordered the 🦆🍚😋 (Special hitsumabushi) which came with sea urchin and salmon roe.

The dish was presented beautifully and came with the bonito stock and three seasoning condiments to enhance the dish and change up the flavours. The condiments came in test tubes filled with Yuzu pepper, black shichimi and green Japanese pepper. The duck rice bowl was delicious, however as it is packed with umami, I couldn't really enjoy the sweetness of the sea urchin as much. The duck meat was very succulent and not gamey at all.

I would recommend ordering the 🦆🍚 and adding the salmon roe for that extra burst of flavour. However if you're going to wait 1.5 hours... Have something to entertain you while you wait, otherwise I do not think it'd be entirely worth the wait. I suggest coming around 8:30pm for the last session to get a spot easily (the next group of 3 came around then, and waited 10 minutes to be in the same...