GYUKATSU Kyoto Katsugyu Gion Yasaka — Restaurant in Kyoto

Well, that was an experience!

We’ve arrived at the restaurant at around 19h of a Thursday. According to Google, they were open until 22h. There was no queue.

Coming in, for the first time in my stay in Japan we were not greeted by the staff. We were taken upstairs, where two other groups were eating. Everything from then on was… chaotically rushed.

Before we sat, a waiter appeared out of nowhere from behind me, bringing us tea, and when I moved aside to let his fellow waiter pass by, I accidentally bumped into him, making him spill some of the tea. He then cussed in Japanese, put the cups on the table and left without even looking at us. I didn’t even get the chance to apologise, even though it wasn’t really my fault.

Then, 5 seconds after we sat, another waiter appeared at our table and looked at us expecting us to order. We had barely had the chance to open the menu, let alone choose, so I asked for 5 minutes. He didn’t seem pleased. He then stood in the corner, waiting.

We ordered, and the service was very fast, which is good.

Food was good, but not exceptional.

My friend finished his food before me, and they took his plate. At 19h51 we were the only table left upstairs (but downstairs there were lots of people), and they started cleaning tables, and it looked like they were closing soon. One of the waiters yawned loudly, another came and while I was chewing my rice, asked me if I was done. I had my mouth full and was so taken aback with his insistent questioning that I just said yes. So he took my plates and tea, leaving just my beer. Which I chugged down fast cause it felt like we were being timed and I feared next thing they would just kick us out.

The waiter from the tea was there, so I wrote a note on translator to apologise for upsetting him. He said it was alright. We rushed downstairs, paid and left.

It was very weird, and feeling like we were bothering all the staff made the experience really unpleasant.

Having worked on customer service for years, I understand they are probably overworked and tired, but as a customer myself, the first impression made me not want to have a second one, so I won’t be...

We went twice to this restaurant chain. The first time to the branch in the narrow side street where we had to queue for around 20 min. I had the sirloin and my wife the tenderloin cut. Both were very delicious and juicy. The meat comes rather medium rare but you are given a hot plate to cook the pieces to your favorised cooking level. I liked the way it was served. The second time we visited the branch near the Yasaka shrine where we both choose the wagyu menu. Again we both were absolutely satisfied.

There are people complaining about the low quality wagyu and that it was too chewy. One lady even claimed that she was not able to chew it at all. I'm absolutely convinced, this is a ridiculous exarragation. Why didn't you complain? Maybe she overcooked it herself after it was served.

I'm sure there is better quality of wagyu beef but the one we enjoyed was very tender and was a bit melting in your mouth. Overall both visits were totally worth the money. Also I'd like to suggest to anyone using the argument "who ever liked this quality of meat, never tasted a real wagyu" to please specify how much they paid for said experience and what level of restaurant this was. Again, there surely is better wagyu quality but as always it comes down to value for money. Without this information your argument is pretty useless and you appear arrogant.

Lastly: yes you will smell as if you spent an hour in a smokers lounge at the airport but from our experience with many (good) meat restaurants in japan, this is always the case. What do you expect? You are sitting literally next to frier. If you claim that this is due to a poor fume hood, please again specify what level of restaurant you are comparing to. This is a pretty much moderate level restaurant. It helps if you keep your...

My wife and I were touring the area (visited Fushimi Inari Taisha and Kiyomizu Dera) and were on our way into Gion. We were on our 2nd day in Kyoto, and we had already learned the hard way that you either have reservations for dinner, you go extremely early, or you end up in a long queue. We stopped to check ratings at restaurants in our area, and this Katsu restaurant showed across the street at a 4.6 rating. We walked in ahead of several other people who likely had the same idea and were directed upstairs where they had additional seating. Our server, Dhira, greeted us and gave us a delightful experience (it just happened to be our wedding anniversary). She explained the menu, which is straightforward. You choose a cut of meat, and they serve it to you partially prepared (breaded and temperature medium rare). Dhira strongly recommended the Japanese sirloin (pricier, but well worth it! Not as fatty as wagyu). The meal comes with miso soup, cabbage, egg, and some sauces. These sides can be refilled at no charge. They have a nice dressing at the table for the cabbage. They light a small fire under a black iron skillet where you can place your meat to heat it and / or cook it more. Our only complaint was that we prefer our meat medium rare, but we also like it a warmer temperature, and it is tough to get it warmer w/o overcooking. Drink options are limited. I ordered a draft beer. Overall, the food was good, but Dhira really made our experience by paying close attention to us and ensuring we were looked after. Central Gion is a short walk after your meal, which is a nice scenic stroll to walk off...