Rokudenya Pontocho — Restaurant in Kyoto

I’m not sure why this place gets so many bad reviews.

My wife and I went here two nights in a row, on a busy Friday and Saturday. We are both American and do not speak any Japanese. On both nights we were promptly seated upstairs (without having to ask) in the order in which we came in behind other people. No preference was given to anyone over us. The staff who speak English do so quite well and there were no misunderstandings. Our orders were taken immediately and the food came out without delay. Overall the food is fantastic and we will come back here next time we are in Kyoto.

As for the complaints about being charged double for hotpot, it clearly states on the menu in English and Japanese that hotpot orders are for TWO. We didn’t even order hotpot either night and I still saw that.

Regarding the supposed bad attitude from the staff, my opinion is that the people who are complaining about this have a bad attitude themselves and are projecting. For the people who complain about not getting a “good night” from staff when they leave, this place is very busy and they might not have time to look up and say goodbye. That does not mean they are being unfriendly.

I highly...

Loved this place so much we went twice!! Located in Pontocho Alley, this restaurant seats between 10-12 people downstairs so finding an empty seat can be hard to come by (there was also an upstairs area although we didn’t see how big that was). That said, the seats turn over quickly and in no time we were seated and ordering our meals. On the first night we had the Shrimp Wonton Soup Noodles and on the second night we had the Handmade Pan fried Gyoza, the Shrimp Wonton Dumplings, the Deep Fried Chicken and the Deep Fried Shrimp (to share). On both occasions the food was really delicious but the Soup Noodles were a particular stand out. As mentioned the service is quick and some people could confuse that with being rude. We had a great experience both nights. The staff were super nice and were getting on with the job at hand. We loved the energy here and would hands down go back if we were ever in Kyoto again!

Note: payment can be made by...

if you are a foreigner do not go to this restaurant, you will certainly not be treated well. the owner of the restaurant has a despicable attitude towards tourists, he is not even able to say a “good night”, he will only let you go to the second floor if you insist a lot. on the other hand, the Japanese are received with politeness and they are promptly served while tourists have to wait long time to receive the order. the owner of the restaurant clearly tries to segregate tourists on the first floor, while Japanese people are invited to sit on the second floor. in addition, orders are delivered rudely, without announcement and 3 times I was given the wrong order, when I went to notify them of the error I was treated rudely. when paying the bill they gave me the wrong change twice. ...