Yakitori Ichiban Gojo Omiya — Restaurant in Kyoto

The restaurant that greeted us in our first meal upon arriving in Kyoto. The staff/ owners are very hands on. Love the menu, enjoyed the sweet peppers (reminds me of the Spanish padron roasted pimentos with a japanese yakitori bonito flakes twist), shiitake mushroom, asparagus wrapped in bacon, chicken tail, scallop and rice bowl series #84. Perfect match with an Asahi daft beer and soda water and spirit. Just heads up, it’s a yakitori restaurant so expect to have smoke from the grilling in the kitchen lingering into your clothes. They close at 1am so for those looking for a nice place to eat and drink, this...

I'd check the Japanese prices against the "foreign menu" prices first. The staff are nice enough, but the main grill had long finger nails which looked dirty (black underneath). A group next to us had their beers poured all over them by the waiter. The reason for the low star rating includes, poor personal hygiene in the kitchen (instead of utensils staff use their fingers to plate food items and garnish, then handle money, long fingernails etc). The double-standard pricing. The food was not very tasty, greasy and hit and miss. They serve huge glasses of draft beer though so that's 1 star up...

We are picky American and Vietnamese expats who moved to Kyoto at the beginning of this year. Our first few months were spent trying every Yakitori place in a 5 mile radius and this place is our hands-down favorite. It's run by a very friendly family who speak good English but more importantly-- they make great Yakitori, have a menu with some unique items, and everything is delicious. There is both bar and table seating and English and Japanese menus. Be sure to be friendly to them, they work hard and put a lot of heart into...