Manzara

If you want authentic this is the place. Mostly locals eat here which is a good sign. Nothing fancy about the restaurant but the food is great. Don't go for the wine, there is only one white and one red, and both are quite ordinary. If you order by the glass, expect very small portions.

Visited July 2024

The food was excellent and the service was very good, but as a visitor fluent in spoken Japanese, I was disappointed that my party was seated in an upstairs room where all the guests were parties of foreigners. It definitely diminished my pleasure in the meal and the experience.

Visited May 2024

in this place you will feel the real Kyoto! original and hidden atmosphere of the restaurant has excellent food and wine selection. A big advantage is the ability to make a reservation online

Visited April 2024

Was pretty awful. We had a reservation through our hotel. The hostess was seating us at our table but when the chef saw we were tourists he told the hostess to move us upstairs. This space was poorly assembled walls and a futon with a table. The menu was completely different and the food we did orde...r was poorly cooked from a separate kitchen. I think they were microwaving the food because there were odd mixes in temperature. It’s a shame because the downstairs restaurant looked like a very cool spot.

Visited April 2024

Had already made a reservation when I read the previous reviews dating back some time ago. While we hesitated, we went anyway. Pleased to report we had an enjoyable time! Far from being difficult to find, it is few short steps off the Main Street in Gion. In fact, our taxi took us directly to th...e front door. All the places in the historic Gion area are in old tea houses with colorful lanterns, not big signs announcing their names. Just look at the posted menu and your iPhone map and no problem. We were warmly greeted and seated on the main floor at the counter with the locals even though we are from the USA. Others not local were also seated. We ordered off the menu and had a real variety of meat, seafood, tempura and so on. The staff were all polite and helpful. At this peak time of year it is nearly impossible to just walk in to any restaurant from the smallest to the fancier ones without a reservation. Walk ins this time of year are not possible. We witnessed that at each of the three places where we ate in Kyoto. Do yourself a favor and book Gion Manzara in advance, learn how to say good evening in Japanese (easy to do on You Tube) and you will enjoy the experience.

Visited April 2024