Jizake — Restaurant in Kyoto

After visiting the bamboo forest, we wandered away from the crowds and found Jizake—a cozy, family-run izakaya in Kyoto that completely blew us away. This place is owned and operated by a warm mother-and-son duo who make you feel more like a guest in their home than a customer.

The meal felt like a personalized journey through flavor. Each small plate—served tapas-style—was perfectly crafted, beautifully presented, and absolutely delicious. From the first bite to the last, every dish was balanced, thoughtful, and full of depth. Not a single miss.

The space is intimate, calm, and welcoming, and the hospitality made the whole experience feel incredibly personal and meaningful. It was the kind of dinner that stays with you long after the trip is over.

Truly the best meal I’ve had in Japan. If you’re in Kyoto, do not...

Decided to try this place and it outperformed all our expectations! Mother and son have been running this place since 2007. The food is homely and delicious, very very tasty. It's a wonder to watch the mother and son duo work like clockwork to get all the orders done in a timely manner. Had quite a feast for 2 people which cost us slightly less than 5000 yen. English menu is available if you tell them, they will provide a QR code to the website with English there. Will definitely stop by again next time we are in Kyoto!!

I'm not kidding when I say every single dish was an explosion of flavour. Dishes we tried included the fried chicken (karage), agedashi tofu, yellow fin, crab cream croquette, pork skewers,...

This place is comfy. With soft music and lighting. They don't have an English menu. But the owner/Chef was very helpful trying to understand us and figure out what we wanted.

We ended up ordering udon noodles and some chicken wings. The udon was great, but the chicken wings... the were the best chicken wings I've eaten in many years. He removed most of the bones and filled it with meat and litle vegetables. This was an ingenious way to serve chicken wings and I could recomended it highly.

For anyone that wants to find an small and nice resturant with splendid food, I would recomended...