Kikunoi Main store

Just an amazing experience. The greeting and service were wonderful and the food was a trip into the great. I will say that the focus is perhaps on the more traditional side of the kitchen but was just brilliant and came away happy, with new flavours and thankful for the wonderful evening.

Visited January 2024

The food is amazing and the setting is beautiful. Each guest/group gets a private room and the service is exceptional. If you are looking for a super whimsical Michelin 3 star then this is not for you, but if you want to experience quintessential Japanese hospitality with beautiful and culturally ri...ch food then I think this will exceed expectations.

Visited February 2024

I am saddened to write this review. After months of planning my trip to Kyoto the expectations for 3 starred Kikonoi Honten were high to say the least. This was undoubtedly the worst meal I’ve had in my life, even worse than the baloney sandwich that I had in the Travis County Jail back in my colleg...e days (not sarcasm). Let me start by saying that our server was incredible, she really cared about our experience and tended to us hand over foot. The appetizer was essentially plastic, while it looked beautiful there was nothing edible about it. The next course “Steamed mochi rice with roe bearing crab” had absolutely no taste. Bland would be an understatement. This continued to be the theme throughout the meal from the chewy and seemingly old sashimi to the hotpot of quail that smelled of an old socks. I lost it when the “Grilled spiny lobster” came out. This dish was not cooked, my partner and I did not know what to do. As to not offend our lovely server I wrapped both of our uncooked rubber in my towelette and went to the restroom to flush it down. My stomach nor appetite has yet to recover from this dish. Being in hospitality and having worked with world renowned chefs I truly do not understand how this place could even remotely be considered to be a fine dining establishment. I am working steadfastly to have this placed stripped of all status that it has. It does not deserve even the slightest acknowledgement of being considered one of the worlds best restaurants. Please stay far away from here. Safe yourself the money, time and heartache and go to Sushi Dokoroman for a delicious meal.

Visited October 2023

My partner and I were so excited to come here based on the reviews and the 3-star rating. If you want to dine at a place with very kind service and cute Japanese decore this is it! But if you want to eat great food stay far away. I would say the food at its best is bland. After bland, some of the fo...od is inedible. It was so sad after all the anticipation. We had to laugh it off and pretend we were too jet lagged to finish each dish. I wish I could say differently, but save yourself the time and money.

Visited November 2023

When in Kyoto, you must have a kaiseki dinner. Google and Tableall listed this as a top kaiseki place with 3 Michelin stars. We booked for their premium dinner. Total was about CAN$1000 prepaid. I have had kaiseki dinners in North America but never Japan. My ratings: Service 10/10 (very attentive, l...arge private room, waterfall garden in the backyard, personal server); Food 9/10 (the idea is to let the fresh ingredients speak for themselves, minimal salt, super fresh, abalone, uni, muscat grapes, are some highlights); Ambiance 10/10 (dine like royalty); more in my photos

Visited September 2023