Maikohan honten — Restaurant in Kyoto

We were graciously sat on the tatami mats even though we didn’t have a reservation, and we are forever grateful for it. They had an extremely useful english binder to explain everything from options to how to eat the tempura best. I got the dobin mushi, which I would happily drown in- it was seriously that good! My husband got the shabu shabu, which was also delicious, but we both agreed the dobin mushi was best. The selection was incredible, I loved every bite. We were also given salt on the way out. Seriously one of the best restaurants we have ever been to and worth...

Close to the tourist spot Yasaka Shrine (not far from Kiyomizu dera temple) We walked in and found this restaurant really tourist-friendly! (Menu in both English and Japanese and the waitress has good English communication skills) Mainly they serve set meals of tempura, very delicious, crispy outside and tender inside. Sweet potato and chicken top my list. The side dishes are novel to me but also really tasty! Really enjoyed the matcha pudding after meal, so so so good! Anyway,...

Nice servers but the worst meal we had on our 2 week Japan trip. Although the appetizers were okay, the tempura was extremely oily and the oil tasted old. My piece of shrimp was fishy :( The tourist trap gimmick of having colored toothpicks for the tempura placed into color coded vases didn’t appeal to our group either. Not sure how it’s so highly rated on Tabelog… they were also asking for us to leave them a good Google review in exchange for a free...