Hello pivote,
Just a quick reply.
Sukiyaki:
Iroha (いろは) in Ponto-cho, on the south end near Shijo Street is my favorite place for sukiyaki. They use Omi Beef (from neighboring Shiga Prefecture) and do their sukiyaki Kansai-style which is fairly sweet. Kanto-style is salty. (Kansai is Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe and Kanto is modern day Tokyo) Iroha has two restaurants within a one minute walk of one another, I go to the one farther in Ponto-cho from Shijo. I think that one is the ‘North’ restaurant. The interior is great. It is very traditional Japanese architecture with minimalist hand colored paper screens, it always looks to me like oil pastel. I understand that the owner is a professor of art. Be sure to check out the male and female icons on the restroom doors.
The sake selection is horrible (which is usual for nice restaurants and ryokan) so I always just stick with beer.
website: (no English) http://www.sukiyaki-iroha.com
You can see all the funky ‘modern Japanese’ paper screens here:
http://www.sukiyaki-iroha.com/structure/gallery/
Menu and Prices
http://www.sukiyaki-iroha.com/structure/menu/
*5,000 yen for sukiyaki in Kyoto is about average. You can find cheaper places but it is probably not ‘wagyu’ (Japanese beef)
tel: 075-221-0403
Closed Thurs
Mishima-tei
Mishima-tei is crap. (While the over-priced beef is fine quality, you can get similar beef in Kyoto at countless restaurants.) Mishima-tei’s reputation has gone to it’s head in a very large way. (This is common with about half the famous old restaurants and shops in Kyoto, that is why we started this site.)
The worst ‘good’ meal that I have ever had in my life was at Mishima-tei. It is the pinnacle of the stingy and arrogant service the Kyoto is known for in other regions of Japan. This was when I was in graduate school here, my girlfriend and I wanted to have a nice New Year’s dinner at Mishima-tei. She called and asked asked about the prices and then asked if they had a table charge. They said no. At dinner we asked for more tare (sukiyaki shoyu sauce) — and they said that they charge extra for it!! Can you believe that? Charging extra for soy sauce at a Japanese restaurant!?! Unbelievable. Then we wanted more eggs which they charge for. OK, maybe. How much? I think it was 700 yen for a single egg! That is a complete ripe off! 200 or 300 yen is kind of expensive, but if they are good eggs at an exclusive restaurant, fine. The worst was yet to come. The bill. The bill had an additional 7000 yen on it and we were like, ah, what is this? The wait staff says, oh, that is the service charge. We protested, my girlfriend said she called and asked if they have a table charge. They reply, that is a service charge. If we are in a court of law, fine, we lose. But come on, we call and are trying to find out how much it is going to cost. The point is not semantics! Sh’eesh! The service was less than friendly as well. This all made Mishima-tei a horrible experience for me. With all that unpleasantness, their famous sukiyaki doesn’t even taste good.
I have eaten at Mishima-tei since and sometimes bought their beef for Japanese New Year’s sukiyaki. The service was cold and the beef overpriced.
I have been to Iroha countless times and never experienced anything unpleasant. I doubt that Meishima-tei really tastes any better than Iroha. Also, inside, Mishima-tei is pretty rundown. So, I recommend Iroha for dinner and recommend Mishima-tei for the Hall of Shame.
Teppanyaki: Sou
I very rarely eat teppanyaki. Teppanyaki isn’t real Japanese food in my book and I hate getting covered in cooking oil while I wait for them to cook my dinner.
I did discover this teppanyaki restaurant in Gion called, Sou, that is very, very nice. Excellent food and excellent service. My friend has been teaching the manager English for a year now, so foreign visitors should have an easy time communicating. Though in Gion, the cost performance is quite good too.
Kyoto Gion Wagyu Teppanyaki Kappo Sou
(Wait for Miwa to tell you about Yuba)
