Kyōtomi — Restaurant in Kyoto

Terrible service!! Extremely unfriendly to foreigners!!

This was one of the WORST dining experiences we’ve ever had in Japan. Seriously, what happened here??

We had just finished visiting a museum and found this restaurant nearby with good reviews. There was a line outside, people were queuing, so we thought it must be okay. It was lunchtime and everywhere had lines, so we decided to stay and waited at the END of the line like everyone else.

BUT it was 12pm, the sun was absolutely burning, no shade at all, no umbrellas, NOTHING. The door was shut tight and not a single staff member came out to check on us. Nobody said a word to anyone waiting outside. We were just left standing there, roasting in the sun.

After 15 minutes, two customers came out. Then after 10 more minutes, FINALLY someone from the staff showed up. She spoke super quickly and quietly to the people at the very front (ONLY them) and took them in. The rest of us had NO IDEA what was going on. We just slowly moved forward because others did. No communication. No explanation.

We waited another 30 minutes in the heat, HUNGRY and TIRED, and finally it was supposed to be our turn. But then this same staff lady came out again with a clipboard, mumbled something in Japanese, pointed at some names and asked if any were ours. We said no, and she just waved us OFF and told us to step aside. What??? Then she called in some local people who were BEHIND us in line. And not just us. The Australian couple behind us were also ignored and skipped.

She called those people in, then went back inside and shut the door. THAT’S IT. No explanation, no apologies, NOTHING. We were just left standing there, completely ignored. Unbelievable.

We’ve been to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, even small islands like Setouchi. Never had anything like this happen. Japan is famous for its hospitality and service, but THIS place?? Total disappointment. Rude, disorganized, and clearly did not care about foreign customers at all.

And guess what? After wasting all that time standing in the sun with no food and no service, nearby restaurants had already CLOSED. We ended up eating at a convenience store. What a joke.

NEVER again. Totally ruined our day....

We arrived at the restaurant but there was a very long line so we had to put our name on a waiting list. A while after we had put our name down, the staff took the waiting list and put up the closed sign, because they wouldn’t take anymore guests. We waited for over an hour and we looked at the staff to make sure they knew we were still there. After having waited for an hour, the staff just says: “Oh we are closed come back in the evening”. We thought that this was weird since we did put our name on the waiting list before she took it away, so that means she still allowed us to eat there. If she knew that we couldn’t eat there before closing time, she should’ve told us in advance, so we wouldn’t have to waste our time waiting in the burning sun. Also, when we tried to explain to the staff that we did put our name down, she didn’t even listen to us and just told us to leave. So i thought that that was quite rude. Won’t be coming back here in...

Small, nice tempura restaurant. We went for lunch and had sets, including conger eel. We paid around 2000 per person for the more expensive sets (besides tempura, rice, pickles, miso soup, and omelette). The place was spacious (a lot of room between tables, for such a small eatery). Everything was very clean. Taste was subtle but good. The set even came with a small dessert (and free...