Kameyamaya — Restaurant in Kyoto

After you're done jostling amongst the other tourists in Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, head through Arashiyama Park towards the Katsura River and you'll find this humble-looking riverside restaurant called Kameyamaya.

For just 1,500 yen, you can get their Nishin (i.e herring) Teishoku; an absolutely amazing set meal with a lots of interesting little side dishes curated to complement a good slab of grilled herring.

Everything was well-chosen and put-together and eating around the set was such a joy, discovering and combining different tastes and textures together in oft surprising ways.

The herring itself was firm, tasty and without any fishy taste. Its bones were also so soft that they were completely edible (at least I hope they were cos I ate everything😬😂). I'm normally not a fish kind of guy, usually opting for the meat option when available, but this herring was something else. Nishin also happens to be a famous dish in Kyoto.

Ended the meal with another famous Kyoto dish that is often eaten in the summer: Kuzukiri. These are transparent, jelly-like noodles made from arrow-root starch. Very similar to Konjac. This place served them in a chilled, fruit-cocktail like concoction, making it a light, refreshing dessert to end the meal before getting back out there into that unrelenting summer sun.

*this place is cash-only so do make sure to bring...

We felt like we had to try Kameyamaya because Google Maps categorizes it as “Kyoto-style Japanese cuisine,” not to mention it has good reviews, as well as inexpensive food in an expensive touristy area. We got a nishin sugatani (Pacific herring cooked in a sauce with predictable Japanese flavors—soy sauce, mirin, sake, etc.). We actually wanted their teishoku (set lunch), but they weren’t serving it that day so I asked if I could have the nishin with a side order of rice, which I thought our server might say was not possible, but to my surprise he was perfectly fine with it. I knew it wasn’t going to fill me up so I got a Kyoto beer (they had Kolsch style), which not only tasted great, but surprisingly matched well with the food. We also got an oyako donburi (chicken and egg in a bowl of rice). Both dishes came with some tsukemono pickles, which complimented the main dishes and rice quite well. The nishin was cooked perfectly, but the oyako donburi was just okay.

I’d go back again and hope they have teishoku back on the menu. Besides the food and beer, seating is outdoors fronting the promenade and overlooking the river where you can view the scenery and dozens of tourists enjoying themselves on boats. I’d rather eat in this kind of atmosphere instead of...

Kameyameya's a great restaurant to visit if you just came out of Arashiyama park!

Food 🍜: 9/10⭐ I ordered the herring set menu. What I loved most about this was the amount of dishes there were. There was a large variety of dishes to try on this big tray of food. Every single one I enjoyed, and the mussels didn't give me that fishy taste at all!

My recommendations: Herring set menu 🐟 Tempura 🍤 Tanin donburi (beef, egg and rice bowl) 🍳

Service ♥️: 8.75/10⭐ The waitress was polite. One thing I would ask for is them to check up on you.

Atmosphere 🏞️: 9/10⭐ Kameyameya's location is perfect for hungry people who just went through the bamboo forest. After the walk in the forest, we were exhausted. Conveniently for us, Kameyameya was extremely close to the exit of the forest, so we decided to go there. We were seated on the second floor, so the view of the river and mountain was breathtaking. It was very entertaining to watch people rowing boats on the river and birds flying about while eating. However, since this restaurant is located near a river, there may be a few ants and beetles while you eat.

Summary 📝: Kameyameya has exceptional food good service, but it would be better if they asked if we were okay in a very...