6 restaurants Updated 16 September 2026

Restaurants in Kyoto

Counters that publish their hours, and what a meal really costs

6 restaurants in Kyoto, with the ones that publish their hours separated from the ones that do not.

The most famous kaiseki room in Kyoto. The price is real, the booking is difficult, and lunch is two-thirds cheaper than dinner.

Not to be missed

A Gion counter that has been pressing mackerel and kombu onto vinegared rice since 1781. The hours are published. The prices are not.

Not to be missed

Home-style Kyoto cooking at a counter that understands people eating alone. It also lets people smoke, everywhere, all evening.

Not to be missed

Buddhist temple cooking, served in stacking lacquer bowls in a sub-temple garden. Open every day of the year except the last four of December.

Not to be missed

A soba house by the Minamiza theatre that put dried herring on buckwheat noodles in 1882 and has been doing it ever since.

Not to be missed

Simmering tofu in an earthenware pot, in a garden a few minutes below the busiest temple in Kyoto. Bring patience and check it is open.

Not to be missed

The rest of Kyoto

Every other collection in the city guide, with what is in it.