Yosiya — Restaurant in Kyoto

STAY AWAY. For halal food I do NOT recommend this place. While the food may be halal, the attitude of the staff is VERY poor and totally destroys the joy of eating. There were 3 incidents:

1- We have 2 children who do not eat shrimp. So I asked the waitress (young foreign girl with a hijab, probably a university student working part time) whether they could replace the shrimp with something else. This is a very innocent request in Japan. The waitress refused flat out, saying “As you can imagine this is not possible.” Even if the request itself were irrational (and it was not!), such language is never used against customers.

2- After ordering, my wife asked to use the prayer room and was flatly rejected by another waitress (middle aged tallish Japanese lady), saying she had to finish her meal before using the prayer room! End result: we lost some of our sightseeing time, and my wife, her joy for the food!

3- We finally finished our meal and this time I asked a foreign waiter (white haired middle aged man) to use the prayer room. And was told that the prayer room is made available only after paying the check! It looks like everyone in the restaurant has different ideas about what the criteria for using the prayer room are! By then the prayer time was almost past…

The food itself was acceptable. Not bad, but not the best Japanese food I have eaten either (and I have been in Japan for 20+ years and know what Japanese food tastes like).

The attitude was anything but acceptable! Kyoto people are said to be condescending towards people from other parts of Japan, not to mention foreigners. I felt that they are even more arrogant towards Muslims.

I visit Kyoto from time to time, but Yosiya is one place I will certainly not be...

Really happy that there's halal options. However, this place is overpriced. You're basically paying above $100 for two thin pieces of meat (the expensive kind), which are dipped into sauces for a variety of tastes and experiences. These sauces aren't the expensive kind: sesame sauce, ponzu, and sweet chilli sauce. The vegetables are also cheap types, so the hefty price is mostly for the meat.

Customer service is average and not deserving of us paying over $300; I had to ask on how to cook as there were no instructions, and heard some customers complain on not knowing how to properly cook and eat (as they also want to learn the Japanese method of eating, like how to enjoy shabu shabu). Some staff were nice, but the front staff didn't seem to have enough space in mind and heart to give proper service in welcoming customers warmly without rushing (especially during peak hours). Understandably the place was busy, however, staff need to learn to calm down and give good explanation and hence good experience to those who managed to get a seat after a long wait.

I wanted to pray, but a kind staff informed me that we can access the prayer room after eating our lunch and paying for it. So if you're in a rush to pray, the prayer room won't be easily accessible and you're better off praying on a grass area somewhere. Making wudu in toilet is off limits in this restaurant (again, understandably as it can become wet).

Overall, don't expect a 4 star restaurant experience. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to try a halal shabu...

Finally!!! I eat the halal unagi bento in Japan. Wish checked! Hahaha silly but yeah, it's on my wishlist.

I don't know how to spell the restaurant's name tbh, but I love them. They're soo muslim friendly. They have halal certificate and they have musholla (prayer room) in the building, just ask the staff and they will guide you how to use it.

We were lucky to meet fellow Indonesian who worked as their waitress so we have no difficulties in ordering food.

I ordered unagi bento, but my friend ordered an interesting menu. They had soup served in a bowl that made from paper that cannot burnt. Fascinating experience.

I'm just so glad that finally I had experience to eat in authentic Japan restaurant with no worries after consuming sushi and onigiri from the convenience store since the first day...