KINOHACHI — Restaurant in Kyoto

Amazing. Kinohachi is one of those places where you are conflicted because while you want to share your experience with other people, you also want to protect this gem of a place exactly as it is.

This beautiful spot is a little difficult to find because it’s on the second floor in a building. Even with a beautiful, bright elevator, which opens up right to the entry of this restaurant, you could very easily walk past this spot. It would be your loss. The first thing you notice when you walk in are the extraordinary aromas of garlic, citrus, umami, and warm bread. Owner Daiki and chef Satoshi busily tend to each guest. Yet, you feel like you’re the only customer in the place as they interact with you.

Service is punctual and attentive. Most importantly, as you review the menu and hear about all the options you definitely get a sense that you’re in the special place. There is a real pride about what they are serving on their menu. I recommend the premium menu as it offers multiple courses, including your choice of a very small production venison as its main course.

They offer a premium wine du jour selection, and they’re happy to walk you through those options. As the appetizer courses are served and the additional courses unfold, you enjoy really complex flavors and novel combinations of foods. For example, I had never considered that walnuts should always accompany venison. The rich oils of the walnuts mingle with the depth of the venison and soften the flavors of both elements. Yes! This is a foodie haven in a town filled with so many traditional and wonderful restaurants, and yet this restaurant dares to be bold and different.

There’s a reason that this Japanese-European fusion wine bar restaurant has such extraordinary Google ratings. While it’s not a huge restaurant - it has maybe 40 seats; the atmosphere is warm and inviting. Kinohachi wine bar is a hidden secret right next to the Kyoto...

The hypocrisy of refusing to serve white foreigners at an Italian style restaurant in a hotel district full of tourists near Kyoto station. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Japanese people expect acceptance when they travel to other countries but choose this racist approach at home

Edit Based upon the restaurant owner/management’s response, they seem to not be taking responsibility.

We showed up when the restaurant was half full.

There was not a single foreign customer inside.

As soon as we stepped inside the restaurant, the male bartender immediately stared at us and put his arms up in an “X sign”. How did he know that we did not have a reservation?? We continued to stand there and he just shook his head while making an “X sign” with his arms. The hostess approached us and said in English “sorry we can not serve you”.

Foreigners are only allowed a data plan/not a local number when visiting Japan, therefore calling to make a reservation as an individual is challenging.

The irony of basing your whole theme upon another culture’s cuisine yet being xenophobic toward foreign visitors and only catering to...

My wife and I had a great time and a great meal at Kinohachi. There was a bit of confusion at first as the ground floor of the building that houses Kinohachi is a pizza and beer joint. Kinohachi is on the second floor – take the elevator to the right of the pizza joint to 2. Once inside you will find a quite small but charming place – a couple of tables for larger groups (4 to 6) and counter seating for singles and couples. We were happy at the counter and had a delicious set meal consisting of a salad and yummy pasta. There are other menu choices as well. The wines were very good and well-priced. Service was excellent – the dishes were prepared right in front of us (just on the far side of the counter) and came quickly, and the staff was available to answer all our questions – in good English. Credit cards OK. Highly...