Jurakuan — Restaurant in Kyoto

I visited this restaurant yesterday around 13:45 with two friends. Google Maps showed the place was open until 4 PM. It was an extremely hot day (about 39°C), and there was no sign at the entrance indicating that it was closed. We approached the entrance, but did not go inside, when an elderly woman inside suddenly started yelling and gestured (arms crossed) that they were done for the day.

I speak Japanese, but my two friends do not. I explained to them that we should look for another place. We sat down briefly on the bench in front of the restaurant, just to rest and check our phones for nearby options, as it was extremely hot.

A moment later, the same woman came outside and began yelling at us again, this time even more aggressively. I politely explained in Japanese that we were just taking a moment to rest in the shade while we searched for another restaurant, and that we had already understood they were closed. Still, she continued yelling in an extremely hostile manner, and we were left shocked and uncomfortable by how we were treated.

As a long-term foreign resident in Kyoto, I’ve had many positive experiences in Japan, but unfortunately, incidents like this—where people are treated poorly for not appearing Japanese—happen far too often in Kyoto. After reading other reviews, it seems we are not the first people to experience this kind of treatment here.

We chose not to respond out of respect for her age, but that does not excuse such rude and aggressive behavior. I'm open to removing or changing this review if the owner is willing to have a respectful conversation. Until then, I absolutely cannot...

Visiting this place feels like coming back to your grandma’s house. The 80yo lady owner will greet you warmly, even though she’s not speaking english and we dont speak japanese; you can really feel her kindness. We ordered and communicated mostly using translation app, she even told us that this shop used to be Matcha House and it’s 165 years old!

Please, be patience since the food might be serve not as fast as other restaurants. It took us around 15-20 minutes until served, since the grandma handled everything by herself.

The foods was great. At first, my partner wanted cold soba, but, the grandma insisted that we need to eat something hot in this cold weather (really reminds me with my late grandma lol) So, at the end, we ordered Nabe Udon and Nishin soba(hot soba with simmered herring).

Her Nabe Udon was good, but, Nishi Soba was best i’ve ever eaten! Soba was chewy yet soft at the same time, sweetness of simmered herring complimented the hot and full of umami broth. Don’t worry about the bones, the herring’s bones was so soft that you can eat it straight aways with its meat. It was fantastic!

Would love to come here again when visiting...

The dry herring soba (nishin Soba) was literally so good that I wish I had space for a second serving. You MUST try it, the stock is 3 dimensiona if there is so a description, it changes when you first sip it, it changes again when you let it stay in my mouth briefly and then you swallow, left a lingering pleasant after taste and it was refreshing when you were baked under 35 degree sun for past 30mins. I thought she must have used some flavouring additives but I can vouched there was none. Don’t expect fancy cutleries and furnitures, she lets the food to speak for itself. It really does not require anymore introduction, try it and you will know exactly what I meant. We tidied up ourselves as we didn’t want the elderly proprietor to work any...