Junsei — Restaurant in Kyoto

My wife and I went to this place for dinner. After seeing all comments about this restaurant, we were very looking forward to dinning in this place. Our reservation was made by a well-known high end hotel, and we expected the check in process in Junsei would be quite smooth. However, upon arrival, there’s no clear guidance near the entrance, we wait for a bit and no one came to help. We then decided to walk in ourselves. On our half way, one of their doormen came and did one thing that I would never expect to happen in Japan - the person pointed me in my face without saying nothing, grabbed my arm, and then pushed me all the way back to the entrance point. After a few mins, another staff came out, questioned our reservation first, and then finally we got our table for this dinner. To be fair, overall the food was okay, not top tier but still interesting to try out the menu if you enjoy tofu and yuba (tofu skin) products. But 120% not worth an effort to travel all the way from far to get this funny services.

Would you recommend this place if you got...

Eat here when in Kyoto. The food is not the most amazing, but I had the most fun dinner here. First, when you arrive by taxi, the staff greets you at the car (with umbrellas if it's raining). Then, they walk you down a meandering path through a beautiful garden, which puts you in the right mood to enjoy your meal. We ordered the yuba kaiseki dinner, and it did not disappoint! I had never had yuba before coming to Japan (I had always tossed away the soy milk skin after heating soy milk!). They bring a wide and shallow pot to your table so you can make your own yuba. It's really fun, minimal work, but requires just enough concentration to keep you interested. The rest of the food is good as well. There's a lot of fish in addition to the yuba and tofu, so ours was not a vegetarian meal, and we left full. It was a unique and charming experience and the setting was just so nice. Also, a...

I think you have to be a tofu lover or a vegetarian to love this place.

I'm neither of these things.

The only dish that I think is worth mentioning is the sesame tofu because it's something that I've never had before, and it was interesting in a good way.

Other than that, the sashimi appetizer was by far the worst sushi I've had in Japan, and ranks among the worst even in the states.

Oh yeah, the main dish consists of big blocks of tofu in boiling water. There is some sort of soy sauce and a measly helping of green onions that you're supposed to pair with the tofu. This would be fine if the meal was the equivalent of 15 u.s. dollars. However it was the equivalent of 40 (4000 yen) which does include the aforementioned horrible sushi appetizer (1000 yen). Still, at 30 bucks for tofu, its the only dinner in Japan that borders on...