Kotan

We had the 8,000yen kaiseki dinner course and it was so worth it! A mix of sashimi and cooked dishes, and the wait staff were all very welcoming. It's just a stop away from Kintetsu Nara Station (5 mins walk from Shin-Omiya) and you can book it via GuruNavi. There's a small bar and a couple of priva...te rooms foe small groups! Would go again!

Visited April 2019

We made a booking for this restaurant using the services of Gurunavi who arranged with the restaurant in advance which menu we wished to order (we went with the 8000¥ option. The restaurant has only 6 counter seats and two additional tatami rooms for larger groups. We had the counter to ourselves fr...om 5.30 until we left at 8pm. We had 9 courses (per the pictures) each featuring local and or seasonal ingredients. Dishes varied from the initial hors d'oeuvre that included smoked beef, chestnut and snail, to fish course, meat course, sashimi course, rice course, etc and ending with matcha sorbet. Each course was a delight to both the eye and the palate and was explained quite well in English by the two attentive and courteous servers. With two flasks of house recommended sake (from an extensive range) and an ume-shu our bill came to 18,400¥ or 141€, remarkable value for such a high-calibrate meal. Don't let the fact that little English is spoke by the staff put you off, or the fact that it is not in the downtown area (it's a 13 minute leisurely walk from the JR station where the yellow loop bus stops).

Visited October 2018

We had a superb kaiseki dinner at Kotan (in Omiyacho neighbourhood, near a Kintetsu train station). It offers superb kaiseki cuisine for the adventurous, that is if you are willing to make the effort. You will find your efforts rewarded by excellent Kaiseki at a decent price. Have a Japanese pers...on make the reservation for you. Use your mobile /GPS finding the exact location. Bring the name of the restaurant in Kanji, so you can compare this with the sign at the restaurant. It is at the ground floor at the end of a corridor right in front of you (sorry didn’t take a photo). Selecting your menu / set is the next challenge. I looked up what the price of the menu was in Kanji / hiragana looking at the number before the ,000. I choose 六 (six: 6,000 JPY) and we had a very nice dinner with all kinds of dishes (see photos), the sashimi was perfect (I guess it was very tender hirame). So you need not speak Japanese, ''totemo oishikatta desu'' will be sufficient after the meal or just ''oishikatta desu' after each course that you liked. It means that is was (very) nice.

Visited October 2016

I hope in the future they have an English menu and hire somebody that can speak English to represent them. At the end of the visit, the wife waited for us until we safely walk outside and gave us a pair of couple chopstick as a souvenir.

Visited October 2015