Kawa Bar — Restaurant in Kyoto

Edit:

I’m writing again in English because it seems you didn’t understand a thing.

Apparently, in addition to being rude and inappropriate, this man has serious reading comprehension issues. In his response to our review, he insulted us gratuitously, saying I looked like “a cow in heat” (a strange thing to say to a young guy who was clearly cleaner and in better shape than him), and accused me of having “questionable hygiene” — especially ironic considering that, when he served us, the smell of his armpits filled our nostrils. This isn’t just offensive — it perfectly reflects the level of professionalism at this establishment. And all of it simply for pointing out the obvious: the service was terrible, and the product even worse.

He claims that in “civilized countries” gin is served with tonic. Well, we were served ours with SPRITE, not tonic, and it was already mixed behind the bar — not at the table, as is done in any genuinely civilized place. The wine was cheap, harsh, and truly awful — served in a warm glass, no less. Honestly, you might want to step down from that moral high horse, because your restaurant is anything but “civilized.” Also, you might want to keep the stray cats away from the restaurant.

As for the terrace: he told us there were no available riverfront tables (when in fact there were), and when another became free, he changed the excuse, saying it was only for dinner guests. So despite the “stunning views” he brags about, we weren’t allowed to enjoy them — not because we couldn’t, but because he chose not to let us. Yet he still charged us the terrace fee (a common practice in many countries, fair enough), but all we got was a view of the backs of the only other couple sitting there.

Regarding the “racism” he accuses us of: that’s just a pathetic victim card, used to deflect attention from a legitimate complaint. No racist comments were made whatsoever — but he did respond with personal, sexist, fatphobic, and xenophobic insults. What a disgrace.

This place is an embarrassment — to Japanese culture, for its total lack of manners, customer respect, and basic humility; and to French culture, for the awful wine it dares to serve. If you’re reading this review, I strongly advise you not to go. There are plenty of much better places in Kyoto where you’ll be treated with basic respect — and won’t have to witness such a grotesque spectacle

Original. El que parece el dueño es un impresentable, muy desagradable, te cobran el suplemento de terraza y habiendo sitios libres en las sillas enfrente del río nos puso excusas para ello. El vino malísimo y peleón, nos pedimos un par de copas y alcohol malísimo y de tubo con todo hielo, y el gin tonic era un gin sprite. Nada recomendable. Si algún español lo lee le recomiendo que no entre....

DO NOT GO HERE! As per other reviews, the male owner is threatening, aggressive and completely irrational towards his customers.

We were a group of 4 enjoying a drink on the terrace when one of the chairs we were sitting on broke through no fault of our own. It was no big deal and the female waitress came over to apologise, said it was an old chair and swapped it without any issue.

Some time later, the male owner came out and aggressively said “we have a problem”. We thought he was joking at first but he went on to demand that we pay 10,000 yen for the broken chair. He did not ask us politely or calmly, he wanted to pick a fight. We were very confused by the request and frankly shocked by his behaviour. Within a matter of seconds he started shouting at us and threatening to call the police if we did not pay. He said under Japanese law we were liable to pay for any damage, which is just not true.

During his string of verbal abuse and threats, he also accused us of being ignorant tourists and said it’s no wonder the Japanese don’t like us (btw he’s European, not Japanese). We have been in Japan for over a month, we are very aware of local customs and have been treated with kindness and respect everywhere else we have been. If this guy hates tourists so much, why does he own a cafe in a touristy area??

The whole restaurant witnessed this behaviour and were equally shocked. Thank you to the lady who very kindly offered to pay the money on our behalf and also left the cafe immediately with us.

No doubt he will reply to this review with an insulting and false account of what happened (as he has done to other people), which just further goes to show why you...

Avoid like the plague - the worst experience I have ever had in a public place.

As per all of the other negative reviews here, the level of aggresion shown by the owner can only be explained that he is perhaps on the verge of a mental breakdown.

One of our group accidentally broke the end of chair leg just by sitting on the chair and then fell to the floor - I get it, wear and tear happens to outdoor furniture. The French owner then appeared, not to ask if he was okay or hurt, but to demand payment of 10,000 yen for the broken chair.

When we tried to voice our concerns that perhaps the chair was old and rotten, he immediately threatened to call the police to enforce the payment of the chair. He then proceeded to use derogatory names and hurl insults at us.

How this man is still in business is frankly beyond me - an embarrassment to the Kyoto...