Izakaya Ikedaya Hananomai - Sanjo Station — Restaurant in Kyoto

Really disappointed. Initially we went to the front desk and asked for a table for 2 at 6pm. The staff member said not possible as they are fully booked. We went to a bakery a few doors down (which was great btw) and tried to plan to eat elsewhere. We noticed you could reserve tables on google- and that ample time slots were available! So we booked for 6:45 and went back! The staff member explained they were booked and we showed her our reservation. They stuck us on a tiny awkward table and left. Oh well, we whipped out google translate and tried to work out the menu. Ordering via iPad was easy but it meant no interaction with staff- they dumped food and ran and left empty dishes on the table. We ordered chicken skewers (chewy) tofu on sticks (bland) chicken meatballs (decent) gyoza(good) a crumbed tuna (we thought this was pork so got surprised- the crumb was great but the tuna was cooked and mashed with no seasoning) a blue lychee cocktail (tasteless) and grape sake (excellent) it came to 4500 for 2. Meatballs and gyoza are...

Food was average, best item was the sukiyaki. Initially tried to book through a local popular restaurant reservations site but uncomfortable with having to leave credit card info and a fee. So decided to walk-in.**Noticed the reservations site offers unlimited set menu etc for a fixed price about 6000-8000yen per pax but this wasn’t offered to us on arrival. We were shown their standard Ala carte menu when we were there. There’s only one waitress at that time and she told us they only had 1 portion of ala carte salmon sashimi available. So do check properly before paying for reservations with service fees. Waitress was helpful. She can speak English but every time she approaches she speaks...

I did not appreciate the manga/anime because it detracted from the history of the place but, Go here, honestly, it's the scene of such an important part of Japanese history. The Shinsengumi Corps 新撰組 were the last Samurai to protect Japan against the uprising of the Ronin during the Meiji restoration, the original building no longer stands, but it's no less magical. You'll see some history, as well as order some good food. Pictures of Kondō Isami 近藤勇 and Hijikata Toshizō 土方歳三 can be seen on the wall as well as many illustrations, Mannequins...