Taiho Ramen - Kiyamachi — Restaurant in Kyoto

I personally love Japanese ramen. Over the past three years, I’ve visited Japan more than 15 times and explored over 50 different ramen shops whenever I had the chance. Most ramen shops in Japan are well-organized, clean, and consistently serve delicious food. Above all, their service mindset is usually highly professional.

However, this time I had the worst ramen shop experience ever. The high rating of 4.0 is unbelievable considering the mediocre taste, unclean environment, and above all, the terrible service.

Despite being in a global era with many foreign visitors, there was no English menu at all. When I asked questions in English, the staff understood but only gave half-hearted answers without any explanation.

Strangely, they impose an extra 10% tax only on foreigners, which felt discriminatory.

When I arrived, there were no customers. The staff greeted me loudly, but the moment I spoke in English, their expressions changed. The first thing they said to me was “Cash Only.”

I ordered a mini ramen (850 yen) and a draft beer. The total came to 1,700 yen, but when I asked for clarification about the price, the staff responded with an annoyed expression and tone, giving me a dismissive explanation.

During my entire visit, there were no other customers, and the staff kept chatting loudly among themselves, making the atmosphere uncomfortable.

I’ve visited many ramen shops across Japan and always appreciated the taste, cleanliness, and service. But this was the first time I encountered a place that was tasteless, dirty, and had such unprofessional service.

I strongly recommend avoiding this shop — it was such an unpleasant experience that I never want to go...

Had a weird experience here this evening - on the one hand the ramen was quite tasty, a welcome salt and umami bomb after a long day and some drinks. Personally shoyu broth isn’t usually my favorite, but it’s certainly executed well here, and the gyoza was good as well. The reason for this 1-star review is the unfriendly attitude of the staff, and the generally unwelcoming atmosphere in the restaurant. The place was busy, and the three of us were the only foreigners eating there, my girlfriend and her friend the only females, and it was hard to shake a feeling of not being welcome - conversations went quiet, there were lots of eyes on us, etc. We were acutely aware of not wanting to intrude on a hallowed local spot, we were courteous, kept to ourselves and used our basic japanese to its fullest extent to order ramen, gyoza a side of kimchi and three beers, but it didn’t seem to move the staff at all - we were greeted with a simple “menu there, japanese only” and dismissed after the meal with a curt “arigatou”. The icing on the cake is we’re fairly certain we were overcharged - 3 draft beers, 1 bowl of ramen, 6pcs gyoza and a side of kimchi ran us 4010 yen which didn’t match the prices on the menu. The place is an authentic hole in the wall, with a squat toilet and a thick layer of grease on the stove, and they make decent ramen. But it wasn’t worth the experience which I could best describe as...

April 13th, 2023:

Picture this: It's prime dinner time. We we're starving. Walking around Kyoto aimlessly. Not knowing where to go. Encountering lineup after lineup, full house after full house. And then low and behold, we were walking up this narrow alley-way. I hear murmurs, laughs, clinging of beers in close proximity. I look to my left and notice a dimly lit house. A yellow curtain draped in front of foggy sliding doors. The sliding door on the one side is ajar. I slide the curtain to the side and peak my head inside. Two tourists on the left, three Japanese suits on the right of this L-shaped counter, and a smile from the staff prompting us to enter. I poke my head back out, give the nod to my wife and we enter to try this ramen place.

"Seek and you shall find" was on my mind after this meal.

This ramen meal right here, hit the spot!!!. It was SOOO GOOD. This is exactly what we needed. I also had a delicious lager to accompany my meal. I almost wanted to order another. It's a very hearty ramen. I love how nestled and cozy this place is. Everybody minds their own business there. Staff are open to conversation but also know when to respect your privacy to indulge in their product.

I will be coming here on my next trip.

Don't listen to previous reviews. The staff here are friendly....