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Kibune Club
The exposed wooden beams and open, airy feel of this rustic café make it a great spot for a cuppa while exploring Kibune. In the winter, the staff sometimes crank up the wood stove, which makes the place rather cosy. It's easy to spot.
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Komichi
This friendly little teahouse is perfectly located along the Arashiyama tourist trail. In addition to hot and cold tea and coffee, it serves uji kintoki in summer and a variety of light noodle dishes year-round. The picture menu helps with ordering. The sign is green and black on a white background.
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Kōsendō-Sumi
For a pleasant lunch downtown, try this unpretentious little restaurant located in an old Japanese house. The daily lunch special, which is usually simple and healthy Japanese fare, is always displayed out front for your inspection. It's near the Museum of Kyoto, next to a small parking lot.
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Kushi Hachi
Kushi Hachi, part of a popular Kyoto chain, is a fun spot to sample kushikatsu, a fried dish that is well suited to Western tastes. We enjoy sitting at the counter and watching as the frenetic chefs work the grills and deep-fryers. With a picture/English menu, ordering is a snap. Look for the garish lantern out front.
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Kyō-Hayashiya
If you need a change from large American coffee chains and want to try some good Japanese green tea - and enjoy a nice view over the mountains while you're at it - this is the place for it. Kyō-hayashiya also has a handy picture menu.
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Le Bouchon
This reliable French place serves tasty lunch and dinner sets and has a pleasant, casual atmosphere. The kitchen does great work with fish, salads and desserts, and the pommes frites (French fries) are excellent. The owner speaks English, French and Japanese and will make you feel right at home. The set dinner, which includes an appetiser, main and dessert, is great value. Lunch sets cost less than ¥1000 . It's near the corner; look for the blackboard out the front displaying the day's specials.
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Limura
Try this classic little restaurant for its ever-changing set lunch - usually simple Japanese home-style cooking. Dishes might include a bit of fish or meat and the usual accompaniments of rice, miso soup and pickles. It's in a traditional Japanese house set back a bit from the street, alongside a new five-storey building (look for the black-and-white sign).
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Linden Baum
This pleasant hideaway near the Kyoto Imperial Palace serves what it describes as 'European cooking', which often involves pasta and fish. It's usually quiet and relaxing, and has lovely long wooden tables. The set lunch is generally a very good deal. Linden Baum is down a narrow alley; look for the English sign.
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Lugol
For a quick cuppa or a snack in groovy surroundings, this cosy coffee shop on the west side of Downtown Kyoto is a very nice choice. We go there for decorating ideas as much as for the drinks.
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Machapuchare
This organic vegetarian restaurant serves a sublime vegetarian obanzai set. The post and beam construction of the place and the friendly owner are added attractions. The problem is that the restaurant keeps somewhat irregular hours and the obanzai is not always available. Get a Japanese-speaker to call and check before trekking here. It's opposite Shōmen-yu sento (public bath).
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Manzara Honten
Located in a converted machiya (traditional Japanese town house), Manzara represents a pleasing fusion of traditional and modern Japanese culture. The fare here is creative modern Japanese and the surroundings are decidedly stylish. The omakase (chef's recommendation) course is good value, with eight dishes for around ¥4000 , and à la carte dishes are available from ¥500 . Last orders are at .
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Merry Island Café
This popular restaurant strives to create the atmosphere of a tropical resort. The menu is mukokuseki (without nationality) and most of what is on offer is pretty tasty. It does a good risotto and occasionally offers a nice piece of Japanese steak. In warm weather the front doors are opened and the place takes on the air of a sidewalk café (it doesn't hurt that it's located on one of the prettiest streets in Kyoto). There are English menus and an English sign.
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Mikatzuki
There are several shokudō on the main drag in Arashiyama and this is one of them. The thing that distinguishes this place is its English menu and the fact that it is a little more spacious than the others. Dishes include the typical shokudō noodle and rice classics. The tempura teishoku around ¥1600 gives value for money and should power you through a few hours of Arashiyama sightseeing. The sign is in Japanese; it's black-and-white and one of the Japanese characters looks like a bullseye.
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Minokō
This classic Gion restaurant serves a lunch bentō for around ¥4500 and kaiseki dinners starting at around ¥13,000 . The décor is classic old Kyoto, the service is excellent and the food is of high quality. There is no English sign; it's across from a parking lot - look for the metal lantern out front.
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Mishima-Tei
This is an inexpensive place to sample sukiyaki. The quality of the meat here is very high - hardly surprising when you consider there is a butcher right downstairs. There is an English menu and a discount for foreign travellers! It's in the intersection of the Sanjō and Teramachi Covered Arcades.
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Misoka-An Kawamichi-Ya
For a taste of some of Kyoto's best soba in traditional surroundings, head to this place, where noodles have been made by hand for 300 years. Try a simple bowl of nishin (fish-topped) soba, or the more elaborate nabe dishes (cooked in a special cast-iron pot). There is a small English sign.
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Momiji-An
Located in a rustic old-Kyoto house overlooking Maruyama-kōen, this is a great spot for a rest while touring the Higashiyama area. Ask for the usucha (thin green tea; around ¥600 ) and the staff will do the rest. It's just to the right of a traffic mirror, up a flight of steps.
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Morita-Ya
This is Kyoto's most famous beef restaurant. It serves excellent sukiyaki and shabu-shabu in traditional tatami rooms, some overlooking the Kamo-gawa. The meat comes from the restaurant's own farm. Reservations are essential.
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Mukade-Ya
Mukade-ya is an atmospheric restaurant located in an exquisite machiya west of Karasuma-dōri. For lunch try the special bentō: two rounds (five small dishes each) of delectable obanzai (Kyoto-style home cooking) fare. Kaiseki courses start at around ¥5000 .
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Musashi Sushi
If you've never tried kaiten-zushi , don't miss this place - all the dishes are around a mere ¥130 . It's not the best sushi in the world, but it's a heckuva lot better than most 'sushi trains' outside of Japan. Needless to say, it's easy to eat here: you just grab what you want off the conveyor belt. If you can't find what you want on the belt, there's also an English menu. Musashi is just outside the entrance to the Sanjō Covered Arcade; look for the miniature sushi conveyor belt in the window.
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Nakayoshi
One of the more reasonably priced restaurants in the area, Nakayoshi serves a lunch bentō for ¥3500 . It has some lovely dining platforms over the river and the food is well prepared.
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Okariba
For an experience you won't soon forget, try Okariba, near Hotel Heian no Mori Kyoto. If it crawls, walks or swims, it's probably on the menu. The inoshishi (wild boar) barbecue is a good start. Those who don't eat meat can try the fresh ayu (Japanese trout). Look for the sign of the hunting pig out front.
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Okutan
Just outside the precincts of Nanzen-ji, you'll find Okutan, a restaurant inside the luxurious garden of Chōshō-in. This is a popular place that has specialised in vegetarian temple food for hundreds of years. Try a course of yudōfu together with vegetable side dishes (around ¥3000 ). It can get crowded here in the cherry-blossom and autumn-foliage seasons.
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Omen
This elegant noodle shop is named after the thick white noodles that are served in a hot broth with a selection of seven fresh vegetables. Just say 'omen' and you'll be given your choice of hot or cold noodles, a bowl of soup to dip them in and a plate of vegetables (you put these into the soup along with some sesame seeds). It's a great bowl of noodles but that's not the end of the story: everything on the frequently changing menu is delicious.
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Omen Nippon
This is one of two Downtown branches of the famous Ginkaku-ji noodle restaurant. It serves a variety of healthy set meals, including a good lunch set for around ¥1900 that includes noodles and a few sides. It's a small, calm place that's a nice oasis amid the Downtown mayhem, good for a light lunch while out shopping, and it has an English menu to boot. Look for the word 'Nippon' on the sign.
