Rokujuan — Restaurant in Kyoto

PSA YOU NEED A RESERVATION!!

This was honestly a terrible experience for a few reasons especially as first time visitors.

There is no where listed on the website that a reservation was “recommended” or needed.

We traveled 45 minutes for the sole purpose of coming here to dine to be turned away and told it was stated on the instagram page.

The person handling our situation did not handle it well (coming from someone in the customer service industry)

Our experience, better yet the lack of one was due to us not booking a reservation ahead of time. Despite nowhere on google even suggesting to make a reservation. The lead and manager kept reiterating that instagram contained the information. Call me old (im 20) but to only have information available only on Instagram was ridiculous and they could not see why. Most people do not use instagram so limiting information for only a select handful of people is very poor business practices considering how we found the restaurant through googles and other reviews were also made through google etc.

My mom said, “We do not have time to waste so of course if we knew we needed to make reservations we would have done so to avoid this hassle.” To which the male shift lead responded, “We’ve turned away other super busy people as well.” Again completely missing the point of what we were trying to say.

We just wanted to bring up this information to make sure they know that it feels a bit unfair to us and i am sure others may feel the same if it happens to them.

Unfortunately this went back n forth for a bit more. I will preface this by saying I don’t believe anyone is ever 100% at fault and everyone should take some accountability including us. We could have handled some things better and I admit fault to it; however, saying this does not negate everything they have done in reaction.

You can potentially fault us for this but we said we were going to write a review based off of our experienced here which he responded “You are so rude” and saying “SURE go ahead and write it.” Mentioning something about “Japanese Rules (rules or rude idk)’ which is very very weird considering not once have we ever brought up race/ nationality. I hate to insinuate anything but i personally would never pull the race card in a disagreement. We are southeast asian from the U.S if you think that matters. Almost chasing after my mom to say that. I was stunned honestly but I stood my ground to make sure they understood the issues and to calmly let him know while my mom did not have the best choice of words he should not have went after her and yelled at her and it was wrong of him to do that which he finally apologized for after a few minutes. The damage was already done and it left a weird feeling in my heart.

Very saddened by this experience and not to be dramatic kind of dampened my last few days in Japan. I hope everyone else’s experience is better than ours :(

Edit (Response):

We understand how reservations work—that was never the issue. We respect that reservations take priority and never expected special treatment. Our frustration was with the lack of clear communication online about the need for reservations. There was no urgency conveyed on platforms like Google, and when we inquired, we were directed to Instagram, which isn’t accessible to everyone. If reservations are essential, this should be clearer on widely used platforms.

We felt unheard, which made the situation more frustrating. Instead of acknowledging our actual concern, we were repeatedly told how the reservation system works—something we already understood. We weren’t asking for exceptions, just suggesting clearer communication to prevent future confusion. It was frustrating to feel dismissed when we were only trying to provide feedback.

We left on our own, so it’s disappointing to see the situation misrepresented. No one asked us to leave—we decided to after realizing the conversation was going nowhere. At that point, no one was at the host stand except us and staff. While we...

TL;DR I do not recommend this place. We were disappointed with the overall experience. The food was small, not tasty, and not nutritious. The website and Instagram created misleading expectations about dishes, portion sizes, and ingredients. Staff did not speak English (or spoke very poorly) and were unwilling to help. The excursion through the 100-year-old house was stressful as the guide was super nervous and could not answer any questions and struggled with English (so I felt bad for her and did not want to bother her, but also wanted to know the story and guide was not able to answer questions as she did not know answers or she did not know the answer) . The reservation system was unclear, and we ended up sitting in a dark corner despite booking in advance. The menu was handwritten, without pictures, and dishes had to be chosen outside of the cafe at the very entrance. Overall, it did not feel welcoming or guest-friendly.

Detailed Feedback

Excursion & Service

If you offer a tour, it would be nice if the guide could speak more confidently in English, especially about the house and the artist mentioned. For example, when asked about an imperial award, the guide could not answer properly why the artist has received it, which made the whole situation awkward. Instead of feeling inspired, I felt sorry for the guide, as she was visibly stressed by simple questions in English.

If you advertise to foreigners on Instagram and have an English-language website, please ensure that at least basic communication in English is possible. At the entrance, the staff was not able to answer questions, speaking only in Japaneseand was visibly annoyed by our questions. Only after we used Google Translate they started to respond. This creates a very low level of service for international visitors.

The reservation process was unclear. We booked in advance but were never told we needed a separate request to sit in the Japanese-style room or next to the window. Because of this, we were seated in the middle of a dark room, away from the window, just because of some internal order of bookings which we have never been aware of. I believe, this information should be clearly stated on the website.

Choosing food outside the café, with handwritten notes and no explanations, felt unwelcoming. A menu with pictures and descriptions would make the process much easier and we would ask way less questions.

Food Breakfast options were very limited: rice with duck, a waffle, or jelly made of water and fried flour. This was not nutritious and felt more like a joke than a real breakfast. Only later did we realize that more balanced options (fish, egg, etc.) were available only for dinner. Please make this clearer on your Instagram and website.

If you want to serve minimalist, “conceptual” dishes (water with agar agar, flour, syrup), then storytelling is essential. Without explanation, it just feels a bit disappointing.

Place

The house itself is beautiful. It’s a unique, authentic space. But the current service and food do not match the charm of the location.

Staff

Do not speak English, or speak poorly, stressed/annoyed by questions.

Not willing to help, even with simple requests.

Do not think about guest convenience (e.g., no extra cutlery was offered).

Suggestions for Improvement

Clarify booking rules (especially about rooms and seating).

Improve communication for foreign visitors: either train staff in basic English or provide clear menus with photos and translations. Or you can target Japanese people only?

Add storytelling to the food concept so guests understand what they are eating and why. Otherwise looks overpriced for what it is

Prepare guides for excursions with key facts, simple English phrases, and less stress.

Wish...

TLDR Social media worthy experience; no more no less.

Overall Impressions If you are here for the aesthetics, for quiet contemplation, for slowly sipping tea, and for posting on social media, this place is it. This is a curated experience with only two items on the menu (duck porridge and hanawarabi) in a beautiful traditional building with zashiki rooms and gardens. If you are here only to eat a filling meal and for good value for your food, look elsewhere. Reservations strongly recommended.

Dishes Ordered Duck porridge Duck 4/5 The duck was placed on a separate tray and delicately arranged with small, picked items, half an egg, and dipping salts/spices. The presentation is beautiful, and the flavor of all items are quite good. However, the quantity of duck is not quite proportional to the price.

Porridge 3/5 The porridge is simmered in a light flavored duck broth and generally fine-tasting. However, as with most porridge served in restaurants, the porridge feels slightly overcooked with rice grains splitting in half and becoming too mushy. The consistency is also not quite right—slightly too thick and lacking the perfectly smooth consistency of truly well-cooked porridge.

Hanawarabi 4/5 9 pieces of hanawarabi. The presentation is absolutely beautiful with different flowers sitting at the center of the translucent hanawarabi. Comes with kinako powder and syrup for dipping. The taste is very delicate, and the flowers have a slight sweetness.

Ambiance/Vibe 5/5 This is the true highlight of the restaurant. This was one of the most beautiful establishments I’ve been to and a great way to spend some time in quiet reflection in a peaceful space. The traditional Japanese-style rooms overlook several gardens. One of the gardens is accessible to visit during/after your meal.

Service 5/5 Another highlight of the experience. The service was exemplary and befitting Kyoto-style manners and hospitality. The server led us on a tour of the building before being seated and explained features of the building. Food service was prompt, careful, and generally solicitous.

Bathroom 3/5 Bathroom was adequate, rather small.

Things to note English menus available. Servers speak English.

Rating Scale 1: truly awful, 2: below average, 3: average, 4: above average, 5:...