
[2025] Popular local restaurants! 21 recommended izakaya in Kyoto
Kyoto is full of unique restaurants, from machiya (traditional townhouses) where you can feel the historical atmosphere to hideouts tucked away in the back alleys. In this issue, we pick up our editor's recommended gourmet spots for lunch and dinner, including izakaya (Japanese-style pubs), sake bars, and bars that are conveniently located within a 10-minute walk from Kyoto Station! We introduce popular restaurants for stopping by before or after a train ride, for year-end and New Year's gatherings, and for selecting restaurants for the coming season. Why don't you enjoy delicious drinks with our exquisite menu while soaking up the comfortable atmosphere? (TEXT/Yurie Sugisaki, EDIT/Moe Sawamura)
A restaurant serving pickled vegetables that is attracting a lot of attention for opening the door to a new food scene. The vegetables from their own farm in Kyoto are pickled with wine, oil, miso paste, and other flexible ideas, and are highly valued as accompaniments to alcoholic drinks. The unique drinks, such as seasonal pickled vinegar sours and herb-soaked gin, are also not to be missed.
Three kinds of daily pickled vegetables are served from 2,000 yen and up, with the pickling method and combination of vegetables carefully selected to bring out the best flavor of the vegetables.
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Private room / No
Private parties/allowed
The signature item on the menu is the xiaolongbao! The skin is made to order and stretched to the thinnest possible thickness for a surprisingly light texture, and the filling, such as chicken broth simmered for seven hours, is also carefully selected. The steaming process, which takes place on the customer's table, is also a highlight. Enjoy the freshly prepared delicacies with a medicinal drink, Qingdao beer, or other exotic alcoholic beverages in hand.
Small basket truffle (4 pieces): 1,210 yen. Steamed on the table for 4 minutes. Add a dash of black vinegar if you like to taste.
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Private rooms available / Semi-private rooms available
Private parties/allowed
Twelve types of craft beer are on standby in the open-air atmosphere of the renovated 100-year-old machiya townhouse. Enjoy stylish dishes made with Kyoto ingredients as snacks. After dinner, you can enjoy coffee brewed by the barista and manager, and the homemade canele and other sweets are also popular. If you want to spend a stylish time, this is the place to go.
Hamo no Fish & Chips - Hamo no Tartar Sauce with Shibazuke (Japanese pickled garden eel) - 1600 yen, a limited time menu item. The moderate acidity of the Shibazuke pickles and the fried hamo go perfectly together!
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Private room / 1 room: Table seating (6-10 persons) x 1
Private parties/allowed
There is always a line in front of the restaurant waiting to get in. This is because this restaurant offers high quality meat at a reasonable price. Professionals who know Wagyu beef inside and out are the connoisseurs, and they keep costs down by buying only one head of beef. The all-you-can-drink course starts at 4,000 yen, and lunch, which can be ordered until 5:00 p.m., is also popular, as is the boatload of six different cuts of beef to compare.
In addition to the 3 types of yakiniku lunch that are determined by the arrival status of the day, beef tendon curry and stone-grilled hamburger lunch will appear, so you can enjoy the fun of choosing. Prices range from 850 yen to 1500 yen
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Private room / No
Private parties/not permitted
The bar offers a different menu for each province each month, so that you can enjoy a round-the-clock tour of Italian food in a year. Many repeat customers come back to discover new dishes each time they visit. There is a wide variety of alcoholic beverages, with more than 50 different types of wine available by the bottle alone. Pizza, meat, and fish dishes baked in a large stone oven are superb, with all their deliciousness locked in. Come and enjoy a wide variety of Italian cuisine.
Il Sole, which means the sun in Italian, is 1980 yen. Crispy & moist coexist in this thin Roman-style pizza.
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Private room / No
Private parties/allowed
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