WASHOKU TOKU — Restaurant in Kyoto

Had an absolutely amazing experience here! The food, the service and the ambience were all incredible. The staff were friendly and helped me order even though I could not read the menu. I had the 8 course tasting menu. It was an amazing experience start to finish. Each dish felt very intentional in its plating, appearance, flavors, and order. This made the meal feel like a story that the chef wanted to tell. Some highlights were

Pickled Anchovy: Had a salty and sour balance with a nice crunch to it. Was served with a fatty piece of duck that went really well on the same plate

Tuna sashimi: The flavor and texture of this was incredible. Clearly very high quality fish.

Oysters in dashi: These were cooked to perfection! The texture was perfect and the flavor of the dashi and the oyster together really made the dish special.

Conger eel tempura: This was incredibly crispy and delicious. The eel was fatty and meaty and with a bit of the yuzu and salt on top it was exceptional. On the same plate was a piece of sweet potato tempura that was heavenly and added a nice contrast to the eel.

The menu finished with a course of rice and miso soup and then a dessert of strawberry ice cream. All of which were excellent and really ended the meal in a nice way.

I also had the hot sake and the yuzu liquor and both were very nice to have through the meal.

Cannot recommend this place enough want to take all my...

I'm not sure if I'm missing something here, or if the staff were just having a bad night, but this was disappointing to say the least. This place charges around 20 000 yen per person and is mentioned in the Michelin Guide (no star but still) and the food was mediocre at best. Beautiful presentation but little no flavour with the exception of the grilled wagyu and barracuda. The sashimi was good but I've had better on tasting menus that were half the price or less. The rest of the menu was, as I mentioned, bland and mediocre. You'll get more flavour at a hole-in-the-wall ramen shack or a conveyor belt sushi for a fraction...

If you’re a foreigner, know they give you a menu with higher prices and fewer drink options. If you ask for a Japanese menu, they get really upset. They also put us in a back room away from the counter even though we reserved spots at the counter. We called them out on price discrepancies but they fought until the end and we ended up just paying extra for made up fees.

Since we were already paying $100+ per person, you would think they would need to up charge drinks for foreigners. Would...