Sake Bar Yoramu — Restaurant in Kyoto

I came to Yoramu's sake bar looking to drink some sake and to receive a rudimentary education in sake. What I got was all of that, plus some delicious side dishes and some engaging conversation with the worldly proprietor himself, Yoramu. In addition to offering his insights on Japan, life in an adopted country, and life in general, Yoramu was very accommoding with regards to my budget - I told him how much I was looking to spend, and he updated me as I neared my stated threshold. As for the sake, Yoramu stocks a wide variety - from the unpasteurized and unaged to sakes that have been aging in the bottle for over twenty years, from the bitter and acidic to sweet desert sakes, all high quality and free of any additives. Yoramu communicates with patrons to find the right sake for them, and he explains the how and the why in terms that any sake neophyte can understand and appreciate, without any judgement or suggestion as to what kind of sake one should like. My girlfriend and I agree that our night at Yoramu's bar was one of the most memorable experiences from our one-week Kansai vacation. I know I'll be back through these parts again sooner rather than later, and I'll certainly be stopping by...

Judging off the Sake, it is a 5 star experience. No question.

Judging off the atmosphere and attitude of the owner, it’s a negative 5 star experience. One of the most uncomfortable experiences I have ever had in a restaurant/bar. He seemed to warm up as the night went on, and luckily others came in to kinda soften the blow of the extremely strange vibe.

My wife and I walked in, and were the only out ones there. He simply stared at us, and so I said “how’s it going?”. He said “could be worse.” He then said “what do you want?”. Well, it’s pretty clear I am a tourist and don’t speak the language, so you tell me? He did guide me through choices and we had amazing sake. But this guy is intense and he has very specific rules about trying the sake, for example. He said very sternly DO NOT SHOOT IT LIKE A SHOT. Lol, I honestly felt like I was in grade school and was being reprimanded. I wanted to jokingly ask if I could do a sake bomb but I think his head might have exploded.

As the night went on, he warmed up and seemed to even slightly enjoy our company. Still, I felt like I was walking on egg shells. To be honest, I don’t think he wants tourists in here.

Strange experience,...

The good: sake was excellent, the bartender gave us great choices which fit the description we were looking for.

The bad: probably the most unwelcoming vibe to a bar I have experienced in my life. The way the bartender made my group feel was as if we were too ignorant to even sit at the bar and drink sake. We were the only people in there and he talked to us in a very condescending way. He also sent us sour faces, creepy glances, and made it feel like we couldn’t even talk or taste one another’s drinks.

Did he treat us like this because we were foreigners, ignorant in the knowledge of sake? Or does he treat everyone who comes in like this? ¯(ツ)/¯ I guess we will never know. The reviews here are high, so perhaps he judged only us before giving us a chance.

Overall it’s a shame, as with some changes to the attitude it could be an amazing experience. We would have stayed longer and tried more but we quickly paid and left and got the hell out of there.

We left to another bar who treated hs well, where they wrote on a chalkboard: “not sure what to order? Ask our friendly staff for suggestions!”. What a...