taruhinotsuki — Restaurant in Kyoto

We were in Japan for two weeks and traveled to many places. This restaurant was the best Japanese cuisine we had during our trip. It is primarily a restaurant for locals but “foreigner” friendly.

The portions are modest - by design. Almost a “tapas” type of experience. First, the creativity of the menu separates it from everything else we had. Secondly, the quality of the fish, poultry and produce was fantastic. Third, the level of friendliness and hospitality we experienced was superlative.

The establishment is run by a husband and wife duo. The husband is the chef and the wife is the front-of-house and her warmth makes the overall experience noteworthy. We liked the overall experience so much, we went back again for our last meal in Japan before leaving the country. Could not recommend it...

We chose this place because it was walking distance to our accommodation. When we got there, there was not a single customer, possibly a red flag. But we went in and it was absolutely the right decision. The chef and the waitress greeted us warmly. I had Tori kaage (deep fried chicken) which was juicy and perfectly crispy and delicious. I also hade miso infused grilled salmon. (Pictured) Both dishes were superb. We also had azuki (sweetened red bean) ice cream and sweet potato ice cream. At approximately 7000 JPY, including a couple of beers and appetizers, you could not get better value. Highly recommended. PS. It might have been empty because the Jidai Matsuri parade had been held earlier in the day and it was an unofficial...

Really delicious food and great service. The appetisers were great - I loved the lemon jelly and the smokey aubergine. They gave me vegetarian appetisers, and my partner meat. For mains, my favourite plate was the duo miso aubergine - it was really special. Drinks wise, we loved the cinnamon umeshu (note: it was on the Japanese menu, we couldn’t find it on English).

The individual dishes are mostly 500- 1000 yen, but the idea is to order a few. E.g I had three + appetisers + dessert.

Overall: welcoming service and well crafted food (beautifully...