Men-ya Wadachi - Gion — Restaurant in Kyoto

yes, oh gen-z or even worse millennial reader, I know that "food in japan" evokes pictures of fancy sushi restaurants with solemn cooks wearing tall hats or bands around their heads, yelling guttural sounds as they chop raw fish skillfully.

but the truth, oh young friend, is that the heart & soul of japan dwells here. In the tiny blue-collar restaurants, beer and ramen, fried chicken.

would you find this place on a tourist guide? would your fancy hotel concierge recommend it? never. Should you eat here? always.

eat like the locals do, feel the vibe, see the low income population and high school students come and slurp their meal away. embrace a genuine experience.

ps: owners of this establishment, if you read this - sorry I shattered one of your spoons after one beer too many....

Great food. awesome sake selection. and very nice and attentive staff.

Felt essentially like a japanese style tapas bar. lots of small shareable plates.

I had the sandfish, kyoto duck, fried chicken, fried oysters, crab spinach side, and the fried tofu.

kyoto duck is a must. nearly everything else was still good but the duck stood out. the tofu was not as deep fried as expected so was quite mushy. I'm not a fan of mushy tofu.

The recommendations for sake were great by the staff and they have a sake book with English and japanese descriptions and dryness levels that was helpful in deciding as well.

place is pretty tight as most places in the area. but could fit a couple small groups.

price is reasonable. around 400 to 600 yen for each dish and 500 to 600 yen for most...

Wow! What a find. This place had excellent small plates, and great service. They also have a huge sake selection that is reasonably priced. For food, we tried the duck, fried tofu, chicken neck, and pickles. The duck and chicken neck were both amazing—the neck was fatty and not overly tough or chewy, and had great flavor. The duck was cooked perfectly. Pickles were really good too, they were more of a fresh/new pickle, so they’re crunchy and had good acidity. My table mate raved about the fried tofu, but I didn’t try it (it looked like a soft tofu though, lightly greased and fried).

The staff was also really willing to recommend different sakes and help us choose some we would like. I’d definitely recommend this place for a few...