Tairikitei — Restaurant in Kyoto

I loved the food but felt there was a mismatch at this place. It looks like it was once a high-end kaiseki or sushi restaurant that's been repurposed, and the new restaurant hasn't quite utilized the potential of the space. The furniture and the garden view are traditional Japanese and spectacular, however, it's now an A5 Wagyu restaurant that also serves a very ordinary (but good) udon. Not sure why they chose this combination, but the udon is affordable and makes it easy to dine here. The staff are all polite but don't engage. They feel more like a regular family restaurant than a high-end establishment. No one knows anything about the history of the building and gardens or even the food on the menu.

A few things also don't add up - you put on slippers when you enter and are immediately escorted through a tatami room with them on. This felt puzzling for a Japanese business. It is also a huge building with only 2-3 rooms used and a lot of "do not enter" signs in all the corridors, so it feels like it's not being fully utilized. There are a lot of Maiko fans and name stickers typical of some of the high-end kaiseki restaurants, but they don't have small, private rooms, which Maiko typically require to entertain, so it gives the impression that they were left over as decoration.

It is, however, a great opportunity to have an affordable udon lunch and sit in a nice dining room with a gorgeous garden view. Beyond that, I would temper expectations. Even the A5 course that the family next to us had seemed like they used good cuts of meat, but the presentation was straightforward (chunks of steak placed on a metal tray lined with small cabbage pieces) and without a lot of the side dishes or garnishes that other Japanese steak houses do for the same price. The menu advertises their main restaurant in Osaka, with a big photo and call-outs, again feeling more like a family restaurant than the atmosphere of the space exudes.

Unusual combination of space and type of restaurant. Worth it if you want a quiet place and a good, hot bowl of udon with...

The view and atmosphere here are absolutely stunning — truly five stars for the setting. It’s peaceful, beautifully designed, and perfectly matches the charm of Nanzen-ji.

However, the food was quite underwhelming for such a gorgeous location and price point. The dishes felt rather ordinary and could definitely be more thoughtfully prepared to match the scenery and overall experience.

Surprisingly, the kids’ udon — which we didn’t expect much from — turned out to be quite good: chewy noodles and generous portion. In contrast, the udon served with the sukiyaki was disappointing — there were literally just a few strands, not even enough for a child to enjoy.

Service could also be improved. We waited for over an hour to be seated, only to find many empty tables inside. It seemed they were short-staffed, which made the wait feel unnecessary.

This place has huge potential — if they could improve both the food and service, I’m sure visitors would gladly line up for the full experience. But as it stands now, if you’re coming just for the view, you might find even better scenery just around the corner inside the Nanzen-ji...

Alright, came at 3:30pm after much walking around Gion, Yasaka Shrine, and Kiyomizudera BUT took cab to Nazenji Temple when the family rebel on further temple hopping. In desperation I found this place and it.is.worth.it.

The folks ordered sukiyaki which was presented well and soft-textured meat. I got the cold niku udon which was amazing--by this time, they ran out of all the hot udon options. I would normally dock them points but the cold udon was pretty good. My only complaint is that the food could be a bit less salt.

Moving to the view, it leaves you in a tranquil, almost Zen state. After facing hordes tourist at the very commercialized Kiyomizudera, this was heaven for some solitude and a peaceful meal to recharge. Maybe I missed the lunch and dinner crowd but...