Yakitori Kushikura Honten — Restaurant in Kyoto

Easily accessible from the Tozai Line, in an unassuming block of residential and office buildings is a structure which does not look like it belongs in this century. Complete with wooden doors, windows which appear to be made of paper (but are not), and clay-tile roofing, is this out-of-place yakitori joint.

Matching its exterior appearance, the interior decor of Yakitori Kushikura Honten is equally extraordinary. Complete with traditional floor seating and an interior garden.

Unfortunately, consistent with some of the other reviews, beyond the decor and atmosphere is where this yakitori joint starts to suffer. Service left a bit to be desired. After being seated and given a menu it took our waiter almost 30 minutes before they came back to take our order.

Overall experience improved again after our order was placed, as food came out fairly promptly and as they were ready. Overall I think all our food arrived within a 10 minute window.

Food itself was good, although some have said it was a bit bland, I would argue that everything was well seasoned enough to not be overpowering, while also highlighting the quality of the ingredients. You could definitely taste the charcoal flavor of everything that was grilled.

After finishing our food, it took another 10-15 minutes before we were able to flag down a waiter to provide a bill.

Overall, food and decor was exceptional, but service left a lot to be desired. Pricing was also probably a bit on the higher end, but still worth it if you ignored...

STAY AWAY!! STAY AWAY! Stay FAR AWAY

I have to tell you that Kushikura is by far the WORST restaurant we have ever been to in our entire lives. We we’re treated so poorly and they were so rude to us that I am sitting while at the restaurant emailing you how bad this was.

First they rush us and tell us we can only order the lowest level course option they have. Okay we agree. Then they tell us they ran out of white rice. Okay we agree. So I order my son a ramen soup that they forgot about and I had to remind them and it comes out at 8:42, we got here and ordered at 8:05. Almost 40 minutes for my son to get his food!

Then the waitress comes to us and tells us it is last call so I ordered a Pepsi. Another 10 minutes go by and a guy that works here tells us that he cannot give us the Pepsi because now it is past the ordering time, even though we ordered it long ago. How can he refuse to give me a drink when his own waitress forgot about it???? They are so rude. I ask if they have anything spicy the guy ignores us.

I have never in my life experienced this kind of service. I have been treated better...

This. This place was amazing. I had spent a total of 2 weeks in Japan as a first time traveler and was not disappointed. This place’s Oyakodon (chicken/egg/rice dish)was by far my most favorite meal the whole trip, and I sampled quite a few things. The staff was very nice and accommodating to both locals and tourists alike, though this seemed more of a place for locals at least from what I could see. At the time I saw no other tourists, aside from my friends and I. But that’s when you know the food is going to be REALLY good I think! My friends said their yakitori (meat skewers) were also really good. We all agreed we didn’t particularly like the tea here, but to each their own. All and all, we were very happy with the food and service. When I next come back to Japan, I am definitely coming back...