onwa — Restaurant in Nara

We rarely give 5 star for food and service ratings. The food here is exceptional and we were amazed on how the veg options tasted so good. The whole family enjoyed the foods. They were all beautifully presented which showed how much they cared about the quality and appearance of the dish.

The staff was nice and friendly. For those who drive, there are 2 parking spaces in front of the restaurant. The entrance of the restaurant is at the right corner with little signboard which shows “enter”. We were confused at first as we thought it was part of the fence but if looked carefully, it’s a tiny little entrance to the restaurant.

We would suggest reservations in advance as the spaces there is quite small for large group of people. We went there as walked in, fortunately, restaurant weren’t too busy that time and they could accommodate us immediately.

We rated 3 for the atmosphere as the place isn’t quite friendly for those with arthritis, elderly and pain management issues people. Upstairs seatings were all on the floor like the traditional Japanese style which doesn’t suit us.

Conclusion, it’s a must visit place for all walks of backgrounds, doesn’t matter whether you are vegetarian or non vegetarian or even Muslims! Great...

The customer service is great, and they speak good English which is a plus for foreigners. Everything is vegan and even gluten free so you can eat there without a worry. There is a upstairs and downstairs for sitting, the upstairs may be a better vibe depending on the person. If you sit downstairs, though, you can watch them as they cook your food. It seems to be mostly hand-made and only some things taken out pre-cooked from my observations. The karaage chicken is heavenly. It packs such a strong flavor compared to the other items. The hamburger is also quite good. The tacos are pretty good but I wouldn't reccomend the Taco set where they'd be the main course. They work better as a side dish as apart of the variety set.

If you have the money to spare I reccomend ordering both the variety set and the small karaage without rice (since rice comes with the variety set) If you are on a budget, the variety set alone does come with a small amount of karaage chicken so...

We waited our food ONE hour after driving from Nagoya for almost 2 hours and half, we were starving, but as we were waiting our friend there, we were patient, but one hour? When the food came we couldn’t believe that. The set was with hamburger, but the hamburger was too small, very small portion of rice, some vegetables, a salad with no tomato (???) and two pieces of fried soy chicken COLD, btw, all the hot dishes were cold, unbelievable, for ¥1800? For those who don’t like to seat on the floor I don’t recommend to go to upstairs, it’s uncomfortable, specially for old people. The cakes were good, but pricey! When I went to pay, the male staff asked sorry for the long wait but he didn't even give a discount for that. The male staff was friendly, the lady wasn’t friendly at all. Our lunch was very expensive and we left the restaurant hungry. I was following them on Instagram for years and I was so excited to go there to have their food, but it was a...