Torikiku — Restaurant in Uji

This little out of the way shop was a delightful find. I went for lunch in February with the weather being clear skies, no wind and a temperate of 5C. The shop is in a back alley on the way to the world famous 'Byodoin' (Phoenix Hall) in Kyoto. There are two reasons to go to this restaurant. Firstly, the food is authentic hand made Kyoto style. The second is the décor. Let's do the décor first. The exterior is nothing special. It looks like a house that has been turned into a store front. Upon sliding open the front door you will be transported back in time. The interior is straight out of a Showa era TV drama. Antiques cover the shop everywhere. It's a true marvel to behold. One example is the black rotary dial phone hanging on the wall. My guess would be it is circa 1950s. The main seating is at the kitchen facing counter, which holds about 8 people. There are also two small rooms with tatami straw mat for seating 4~6 people each. After taking a seat at the counter, the elderly women welcomed me warming and gave me a cup of green tea, a warm hand towel and a pot of green tea. The menu has pictures, so non-Japanese speakers can point to order. I ordered the lunch set of the day. I can with 3 sushi, salmon, octopus and what I think was mackerel. There were two types of vegetable side dishes. A plate of assorted tempura. And the main bowl of soba noodles. All of them are absolutely delicious. When visiting Byodoin, this is the place you must...

Arrived here today 10am half hour before opening and I was first in line. The store is easy to miss but good that there are photos outside the restaurant. Ordered a soba tempura sushi set and an udon tempura onigiri set. The complementary pickles, daikon and spicy veggies were delicious and so was the green tea that one of the older gentlemen offered to us. We watched as our freshly fried tempura was attentively prepared. The other gentleman was busy prepping the noodles (udon and soba) while the elderly lady meticously brought out the sushi and small bowls to plate the individual platters. She even came by to serve us matcha salt, explaining that it was for the tempura. The three of them worked endlessly to prepare the meal for us, which we truly enjoyed. There was a small table with small and larger glass jars of their homemade matcha salt for sale. We bought the small one and told one of the gentlemen to add to our bill. He quickly called out the woman. She pulled out 2 hand sewn fabric pouches for me to choose from and she carefully put the jar of matcha salt inside. Such sincere hospitality! This cosy little hidden gem is definitely a must visit if...

Our lunch experience at Torikiku was truly phenomenal! Firstly, the restaurant is conveniently located within 10 minutes walk of the JR Uji station making it a great meal spot if you’ve just come from somewhere else (there is also a taxi rank at the station which emphasises the convenience). Upon arriving at the restaurant, depending on what time you arrive, you may have to queue up for a short while. Personally, I arrived around 11:15AM for lunch and the queue was reasonable. Next, the service provided was amazing. All the staff were very friendly and helpful, and the meal preparation time was very reasonable. The restaurant also has various amenities like complimentary Uji green tea and local condiments for your meal. The atmosphere of the restaurant is clean and generally modern, making it a desirable place to enjoy a great meal. Lastly, all the food was divine! I enjoyed every part of the meal from the tea to the sushi side dish. My personal favourites from the meal were the matcha soba and matcha salt tempura. Overall, I very highly recommend trying out this spot if you’re in Uji for great Japanese food with various elements of Uji incorporated...