Gion Karyo

We had the kaiseki set for lunch, and the food was excellent! It was nice watching the chefs prepare food in front of us. However, there was some confusion with the drinks. At the start of the meal, we ordered oolong tea—staff didn’t ask if we preferred it hot or iced and served it iced. It was summer (albeit a rainy day in Kyoto). Later when we asked for a refill from the male chef, two more cups were brought to the table. Near the end of the meal, we were told that a drink was actually included with the set, and oolong tea was one of the options. It'd have been much better service if we were informed earlier. By then, we were full and couldn't take another sip. My hubby was upset that we were charged for four cups of tea. It could have been a perfect meal, but this left a bit of a sour note.

We came here for the lunch kaiseki and absolutely loved it. We were the first patrons at the counter at opening so all eyes were on our food as each came out. The chefs meticulously hand crafted each dish so the presentation and flavor were amazing. It was helpful having the chefs and servers explainin each item on our dish which added to our experience of savoring the delicious local flavors. We will definitely recommend to others!

Absolutely charming experience and the food was divine. It was fantastic to watch the dishes be prepared, and each one was true art. I would highly recommend the lunch sitting. It was a fantastic journey that we will remember forever.

Fantastic place to make unique memories. The restaurant itself offers a serene atmosphere and beautiful setting. The food was exquisite and carefully prepared by the chefs. Thank you for your warm welcome and amazing dinner.

Highly recommend! I was so impressed by their tempura, especially the oyster and cauliflower. The deep-fried oyster is the best I’ve ever had! It feels like they have a secret batter recipe—perfectly coating the oyster with a slightly sweet, crispy, and non-greasy texture. The batter locks in the juicy and tender oyster inside (I was so eager to enjoy it that I forgot to take a picture!). The rest of the dishes were fantastic as well

This was a phenomenal kaiseki experience, and my favorite meal in Kyoto. The food was fresh and beautifully presented, with chefs carefully explaining each dish. The service was impeccable and attentive. The interior of the restaurant was sleek and modern, with a spotless and well-organized kitchen. I look forward to visiting again the next time I’m in the area!

A wonderful and memorable experience from start to finish. Every dish was well executed - the simmered eel was a delicate start and beef was so tender but not overpowering. You get to choose from a variety of clay pot rice and we picked salmon, which was in season. A very satisfying end to an awesome meal.

Must experience place!! The food is divine and really expands your taste buds. We went for the 10 course option and it was the perfect amount of food.

For $160/person, it is not worth your money. You can find something better for a lower priced. A family of four took 3 hours to finish the courses.

It's among one of the most sophisticated Kaiseki I've ever had so far. Super friendly chefs and waitresses, and the food is amazing. It takes about two hours to finish ten course meal. Both the presentation and freshness of the food are extraordinary. Sakizuke - ***** appetizer, summer vegetables and tiger shrimp's jelly Wanmono - **** Japanese soup, red snapper, pumpkin tofu Mukozuke - *** sashimi, fresh catch of the day Oshinogi - *** small dish, sweet fish sushi Yakimono - ***** grilled fish, so crunchy and fresh, my favorite! Hassu - **** assorted dishes, corn soup, egg cake, pike conger with onion, potato, ficus carica fruit with red wine, sesame of pumpkin Konabe - **** small pot, pike conger, yuba, lotus root Shiizakana - **** side dish, eggplant, sea urchin, Japanese beef Gohan - **** hearth-cooked rice, scallops and burdock, Japanese pickles, miso soup Dessert - *** Gion Karyo's original dessert

An amazing kaiseki meal for 10,000 yen, with excellent service, creative preparations that still let the food shine. When we were seated, the chef served us a welcome drink. We were instructed to cup an inverted rice bowl lid in our hands, while they poured a splash of sake into it. Already, we were off to a fun start. During our whole meal, we had a copy of the menu in English with us, so we knew what to expect (and what to be excited for). Some of my favorite elements were a slightly warmed oyster (so plump and saline!), creamy and salty cod milt, duck, fried minnow wrapped in seaweed, and lastly, a manju with dried persimmon in it. Despite the communication barrier, a couple of the chefs attempted to make conversation with us and make us feel welcome. I felt like an appreciated guest here, and had a really lovely experience. 10/10 would recommend!

For $150/person - everything was shockingly bad: especially the service and food. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation started and there was no one to greet us. The pacing of the meal was both slow and fast, the next course not coming for a while or two dishes coming at the same time. We had 4(?) Different waiters throughout the 2 hour meal. Our main waitress was rushing so much that she just pointed at the menu without explaining any of the dishes. At one point she ran away with a full dish without even asking if we were done. I'll ignore poor service if the food is good. Unfortunately all of the dishes had little to no flavour, sashimi was chewy and fishy, matcha ice cream had bits of ice in it. Even the plating was poorly executed. Finally there was no attention to detail. We got mismatching drink glasses for the same drink, one of the dishes was served on a plastic plate, and they couldn't even be bothered to provide chopstick rests. Highly recommend against it wasting your money here.

I have to agree with some other Yelpers about my experience here at Gion Karyo. This ended up being our most disappointing meal in our two-week trip across Japan. We wanted to try kaiseki and opted for the mid-tier dinner set, which was about USD 180pp if I remembered correctly. When we were seated at prime dinner time, there were only 2 other couples there, and they were all tourists too, which was not a great sign... We were served about 10 assorted dishes and out of those 10, I probably enjoyed 3 (including the matcha ice cream). The majority of the courses were just not palatable. I understand the Western palate is different but I loved everything else I had in all of Japan, and I myself grew up eating Asian food at home, so I'm not sure what it was. Just wasn't my thing. The service was okay, and the chefs would try to give us a short explanation to what was being served to us. But at the end, it's hard to swallow a $300+ pill that we both didn't enjoy in the slightest.

I was looking for a Kaiseki place to eat at in Kyoto but a lot of the places were closed. American Express was able to secure a reservation for us on Coming if Age Day, a holiday in the country. The entrance was very unassuming but elegant. When we sat down it was spacious with a quiet atmosphere. The service was impeccable. My Japanese is not the greatest but the staff was able to meet me halfway with English. The food was amazing, the rice dishes were my favorite along with the strawberry dessert! After eating that meal I felt satisfied but not stuffed to the point where you'd get sick. An excellent feeling! The cost was surprising, for such quality I thought it was going to be $120 but it ended up being closer to less than $90. This was one of my favorite places in my trip to Japan.

Easily, the best dining experience I had in my 2 week trip in Japan. Gion is a relaxing and clean neighborhood. Inside here, the staff placed considerable detail in everything from the food, the seating, lighting and interior design. Personally, I prefer strong flavors. Here, everything has very light flavoring, but the freshness and presentation of dishes are inspiring. Their house cold sake was the best sake I've ever tasted. The soups are super hot and the fixed menu was a story that described the freshness of early autumn in Kyoto. My pictures of the food are all I have. The experience is relaxing, fresh, and perfect from presentation to palette.

We didn't have reservations here so I hesitantly walked into the restaurant and passed through its long corridor. It didn't seem like much from the outside, but the inside was actually quite nice. I got a peek at the bar where you can watch the chefs prepare your meal. There wasn't a reception/greeting area and there weren't any servers around so I just yelled out, "sumimasen!" (excuse me). Someone came by shortly after and with my basic Japanese, I asked if they had seats available for the 6 of us. Luckily, they did! I was so surprised because you usually need reservations for kaiseki. They seated us upstairs in one of their private rooms and our server presented us with an English menu of their kaiseki course for the day. It was an 8 course meal and ¥5000 per person for lunch. Here's a brief menu of what we had: 1. Sakizuke - Appetizer: pike conger, prawn, stem of taro, okra, green soybeans, corn 2. Wakamono - Japanese Soup: pike conger, green beans, winter melon, citron 3. Mukozuke - Sashimi: sea bream, scallop 4. Oshinogi - Small Dish: eggplant, sea urchin, soymilk skin, lotus root, ginger 5. Yakihassun - Assorted Dishes: sea bass, sweet plum, sweetfish, fried corn, walnut tofu, egg cake, water shield 6. Takiawase - Steamed Dish: eggplant, duck, wintermelon, red pepper, citron 7. Gohan - Hearth-cooked rice: 2 flavours 8. Dessert - Gion Karyo's Original Dessert: Mango Cheesecake, Raspberry Sorbet The whole dining experience was incredible. This was the first time I felt that my whole meal from start to finish was so carefully thought out and executed. Each dish was like a present and I was excited to open up the lids to find out what was inside. It gave me a cozy feeling eating these simple ingredients that made up such refined dishes. I could tell that the chefs put a lot of thought into preparing the food and making sure that the natural flavours of the ingredients stood out. If you haven't tried kaiseki dining yet or you're still on the fence about it, I definitely recommend doing it if you ever get the chance to go to Japan. There were some mixed reviews of Gion Karyo on TripAdvisor but based on my experience here, I have no complaints at all. It was truly spectacular and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I hope to have a kaiseki meal again in the future!

Kyoto is the more traditional Japanese city and Kaiseki style dining is very well advertised as you walk around the downtown and Gion area. Lots of restaurants would have Kaiseki menu which is the traditional multi-course Japanese meals. If you stay in a Ryokan (Japanese guest house) you would usually have the opportunity to experience Kaiseki style dining, but since we weren't going to stay in a Ryokan, I searched for a good "reasonably priced" Kaiseki restaurants and found Gion Karyo!!!!! Most people seemed to recommend making a reservation, however, I did not want to commit to a certain time slot as when you're travelling by yourself, you don't really know what time you'll be in a particular area. I was nervous that I was not going to get to dine here since it was Friday night but decided to pop in to the restaurant anyway and to our surprise, they took us in!!! The hostess showed us the menu for that day (there is only ONE pre-fix menu) and asked if we had any food allergy based on what would be served for dinner (we didn't have any allergy, woohoo!!!) and that the meal would be 10,000 JPY per person (close to 100 USD with the current exchange rate). Since it was only the two of us, we got seated at the chef counter area and since we got there around 6pm (early dinner time), we were seated in what I would say the "VIP" counter section where we get the view of the entire kitchen (some seats have obstructed views of part of the kitchen). The place certainly screams "fine dining," very nicely decorated and service was very polite. We did not order anything to drink (we asked for just ice water) since we're not much of a drinker anyway and we wanted to save our yen for something else! Afterall, we were there for the food!!! and the experience :). Each course was BEAUTIFULLY presented (ck out my photos) and I will say all of them were delicious, though the dishes that we would say spectacular that night was: - From the "hassun"/assorted dishes course: the Pumpkin soup: creamy, sweet, savory, rich, hubby said - he could drink a whole pot of it!), and crab-taro stem with apricot sauce. - From the Sashimi course: Bonito with sesame sauce that was so well prepared that even my non-fish-lover husband said...delicate and delicious! - From the Oshinogi/small dish course: Conger Eel, lotus dumpling with wasabi in laver sauce. This dish is very creative, yet flavorful, delicate and everything was just a great combination (sweetness from the eel and lotus, savoriness of the sauce and that extra kick from the wasabi, WOW) - From Takiawase/simmerred dish: I've had herrings and usually not much of a fan of the fish since it's tiny, bony and fishy!!!! The way they prepared this dish was in a way that omg, I would eat this again and again and again!!!!!! For the meal that we got and how they were individually crafted, I will say 10,000 yen price tag is VERY CHEAP!!!! It's a lot of labor and artistic work, and plus.... when you left, the hostess would kneel on the ground with her head touching the ground, bowing down at you until you're gone gone gone out the door!!! It's probably a part of the culture but man, that was something! The chef also came out to meet us outside to thank us (though at that point, I felt that we should be the one thanking him for such a wonderful experience!). If you have the budget for it, I certainly recommend dining here!! They closed on Wednesday!! and there is NO english name but the restaurant is right across the street from Gion corner and has only "TWO japanese/chinese characters" on a white sign on top of the entrance. There is walkway with lights to get to the actual front door from the entrance (sorry, I forgot to take photo of the store-front but you should be able to see how it looks like from TripAdvisor). ps: we went in wearing T-shirt and jeans... some other foreigners/tourists did too..only the locals seemed to dress up, so don't get discouraged if you're still wearing your traveling clothes!

Kaiseki is the Japanese equivalent to haute cuisine, a multi-course meal with a theme using seasonal and local ingredients. Served at ryokans or upscale restaurants this is the most traditional Japanese cuisine one can undertake. Unless you're staying in a ryokan getting kaiseki reservations as tourists is somewhat difficult unless a local Japanese person makes the reservation. The No1DP and I were introduced via our tour guide who suggested this place based on tastes and budget - luckily this introduction (and that we were dining 2 hours to close) precluded a reservation. The big perk is that it's widely considered by guidebooks and blogs as a good and reasonably priced introduction to kaiseki, about 1万円/person for a 10 course meal (~$100). Once shoes are taken off you are led into the bar or in more intimate sunk-in tables with attached door. Staff will go over the menu and ask for drinks as needed. OPENING - Sakizuke: Appetizer (Pike conger, scallop pressed with kelp, cherry tomato, green soybeans, okra, shisho sprouts, white taro stem topped with corn and tofu skin sauce). Equivalent to the amuse bouche, it was a combination of fish and veggies meant to stimulate appetite. Sauce is similar to corn potage. - Wanmono: Japanese soup (Toasted Japanese sea bass, eggplant, green beans, burdock, yuzu). An integral course to whet the appetite consisting of a clear-broth soup and a minimalistic approach to ingredients. I wished there was less starchy ingredients. MAINS: Each course highlighted a particular cooking style. - Mukozuke: sashimi (Fresh catch of the day). The presentation was simplistic yet showcased the fresh fish. - Oshinogi: small dish (sweet fish sushi, ginger root, water pepper, lotus root). The boiled/simmered vegetable dish is omitted in lieu of a more simple presentation of fish and vegetables. Served cold and refreshing and served as first palate cleanser to the heavier dishes ahead. - Yakihassun: grilled dishes (Grilled grunt with Japanese pepper, noodles from yam with sillago, deep-fried freshwater shrimp, octopus, tofu from walnut, mountain jelly vegetable, green plum). The "hassun" (combination of finger foods on a plate) that serves as the backdrop to the rest of the meal. This was the most "foreign" part of the meal to me as I had to get used to tastes and textures not normally encountered in US dishes; namely the small shrimp bones that irritate teeth, a more sour than sweet plum and more pickled seafood and vegetables. - Takiawase: simmered dish (Kamo eggplant, winter melon, snow pea, manganji green pepper, conger eel, sesame sauce, sprinkled yuzu). The mushimono (steamed dish) is in the form of a cold chawanmushi. Having the egg component cold allowed me to taste the individual components - delicate, citrusy and somewhat mushy. It comes in the lid to preserve the veggies from the air. - Kawarizara: plate dish (Tomato with high sugar content, water shield, abalone, yam, cucumber, shisho flower, mixture of vinegar). Their sunomono, equivalent of vegetables and seafood soaked in vinegar, meant to serve as a palate cleanser. Tomato was quite sweet and that sweetness countered the vinegar mixture. Abalone became soft from the vinegar (it usually tastes like a more firm mussel). - Aburamono: fried fish (Deep-fried tilefish and small taro, asparagus dressed with starchy sauce, ginger, Japanese ginger, negi). The agemono (deep fried dish) is fried tempura-style and usually served towards the end before the shokuji. The fish is light and fluffy and the taro is somewhat sticky. The sauce is thicker than soy and takes away the starchy aftertaste. CLOSERS - Shokuji: A set consisting of mixed rice from a communal pot (scallops and ginger), miso soup, assorted pickles and tea. Considered the "closing dish", this is carb-heavy though the No1DP and I enjoyed the little scallops sprinkled with our rice. - Mizumono: dessert. Generally light it included a sorbet and pastry that would be ideal with tea. Mine was glutinous and topped with azuki. Sorbet helped reduced the glutinous aftertaste. This ranks easily in my top 10 list of foodie experiences; this is the closest I have experienced a meal as an art form. Every ingredient was thoughtfully placed in the dish and it felt like each course had a purpose within the entire meal. With their foreigner-friendly approach I can recommend this as a way for foodies to be introduced to kaiseki. If diners are open to new flavors and textures kaiseki can certainly be an eye-opening experience. Many thanks to the No1DP for taking me here.

Fantastic. Even my girlfriend enjoyed the sea cucumber. Not. Presentation, dining experience, service and flavors were worthy of haute cuisine European. An exceptional value and sure to get you laid.

This was the first Kaiseki meal my wife and I had, and we were not disappointed. As other reviews have pointed out, the food was very fresh, and the presentation was excellent. The staff was also very friendly, especially the chefs. They took time to explain each course that was served, and not just the ingredients but also the cultural themes. Because we came in September, many of the dishes revolved around the theme of Tsukimi (Autumn moon festival). Quick note: as one reviewer pointed out, if you reserve through a concierge service, there will be an additional fee per person. My wife booked the reservation directly with the restaurant, so we got the standard per person price.

We dined here on recommendations of our friends who had eaten here on one of their previous trips. We went with the first prix fixe / Kaseiki option of 10,000 yen per person ($85 U.S.) for a 10 course meal; drinks are am additional charge, though reasonably priced. The meal did not disappoint, with the first five or six courses being delicious, and the latter half of the courses being good but not on par with the first half half (at least as far as our taste buds are concerned). The playing/presentation of every single course was very pleasing to the eye, and very varied. The service was excellent, with a lady in a kimono always a few feet away and watching every table to see if a customer wanted a drink or s plate cleared... I've honestly never had such good service, and this with a language barrier to boot. We were seated at the kitchen bar, and it was impressive to watch the for chefs work in front of this. They were basically silent throughout hours of work, something so atypical for a kitchen that it really blew out minds to see it.

I wanted to try the Kaiseki style of Japanese cuisine while I was Kyoto. The area is known for this. This manner of cooking and preparation of food dates from long ago and is considered a very artful way of presentation done very intricately and delicately with only seasonal ingredients. All of the dishes were very delicate looking and appeared like a pieces of art. It was a price fix menu consisting of several distinct dishes all having their different characters of flavors. Each component balanced or complimented perfectly the other components on a dish. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal here. The service here was excellent. When I was trying to find the restaurant, my smartphone gps failed me and was not directing me to the location. I called the restaurant and they were kind enough to send someone out to meet me at a nearby location who brought me to the restaurant. That was very gracious. Such graciousness is typical of the Japanese people. I was very impressed by Japanese people and Japanese culture.

Entertaining chefs, lively meal. Would I ever return? Probably not. Heard they lost their Michelin star- wonder why? Our kaiseki meal at our ryokan the following evening was a cut above our dinner at Gion Karyo.

We decided to step up our game and try what they call as 'haute cuisine,' and I found this place as it was highly rated in several blog posts. This is a ten course meal and it averages about $85 USD per person. It's conveniently located from the subway with about a 2-3 block walk, however, it will definitely help if you had access to Google maps because there's no English sign of the restaurant. When you see a row of lights inside the hallway, then jackpot! Once inside, we were asked to remove our shoes. Also, if you don't have reservations, then I recommend coming at an earlier time. We arrived at the restaurant at 5:30pm and were seated immediately. I won't go into details of each dish, but I can tell you that each dish gradually increases in portion and majority of the dish includes fish. The appetizer opens up with a small soup spoon of crab inside a one inch cutout inside a persimmon. The persimmon acted as a bowl and was meant only for display, however, I felt it was a waste and decided to eat my persimmon. Why not? Then the following dishes came out that included fish miso soup, sashimi, steamed fish, grilled beef, and then grilled fish, etc...We were pretty much fished out by the end of the night. It was interesting to see all the variety of fish dishes, but I would've liked to see a blended menu more with seafood. Overall, each dish was prepared and displayed elegantly, the way they showcased the food was like looking at art, they really don't disappoint in the visual department. I can't say that I enjoyed each dish, some tasted bland, some tasted like I could've steamed the fish myself, but some were extremely flavorful. It was definitely worth the experience. I also suggest asking for ginger ale when dessert comes (only if you like ginger), and a scoop of ice cream was also served.

Hands down. Service, food, quality, interior - EXCELLENT. My family came here as a walk-in about an hr before closing time. We were lucky to be served because this place normally requires at least 3 days in advance reservation (at least with private dining rooms for sure). I think the waitress was hesitant at first to accept us or not since this would mean delaying their closing time for lunch, but the chef gave the ok and let us in. This is the place to really experience the Japanese service style. It's really quiet inside, which made us a bit self conscious, but we tried to be courteous and followed along with the silent dining. The menu is comprised of one course meal, which changes depending on the season (not sure how frequently they change the menu). It is a course of 8 meals. Each plate may look small, but trust me, at the end you will be really full. Because the course meal won't be the same, I will generally explain the impressions I had with the food. Very delicate, yet there can also be explosion in flavor because the combination of the ingredients were chosen to bring out the highlight of each dishes. The plating is stunning, just see them for yourself at the photos I post here. Love the flowers and the dishwares. I also used the restroom after I had the meal and the sink was covered in pine tree branches with leaves. Totally unexpected with these details they incorporate. Oh, and yes they do have the menu in English so you'll know what's in each course meal. TIP: For an expensive restaurant like this, it will save you half the price for dinner if you go for lunch.

We made reservations and pre-paid through their website and was looking forward to the kaiseki experience. Once we saw the menu, we quickly noticed that the price listed on the menu (30,000 yen) was a lot lower than the price we pre-paid (35, 000 yen). Any additional items or beverages were not included or part of the pre-paid amount and were extra. When asked about the extra 5,000 yen, they explained that 2,500 was for taxes, which I completely understand, but they couldn't really explain the other 2,500 (roughly 25 US dollars). The best explanation was that it was a booking fee. I felt completely taken advantage of and dishonored. The experience was not all that amazing either. It was pretty obvious why they lost their michelin star. There were 6-7 chefs working at once and service was still very slow. We had a better kaiseki experience at our hotel, including the food quality. I recommend calling to make a reservation and don't worry about them being booked up; there was 4 empty seats when we were there. 私たちは予約をしてウェブサイトを通じて前払いし、カイセキの経験を楽しみにしていました。 メニューを見たら、メニューに表示されている価格（30,000円）が先払いの価格（35,000円）よりもはるかに低いことに気付きました。 追加項目または飲料は、前払金額には含まれておらず、余分なものでした。 2,500円は税金で、大丈夫ですが、他の2,500円の最も良い説明は予約手数料だということでした。 私は完全に不満を感じた。 経験はそれほど素晴らしいものではありませんでした。 彼らがミシュランの星を失った理由はかなり明白でした。 一度に6-7名のシェフが働き、サービスはまだ非常に遅かった。 私たちは、食事の質を含めて、ホテルでより良い会食体験をしました。 あなたが予約をしたときに前払いしないで予約していることを心配しないでください。 私たちがそこにいたときに4つの空席があった。

The decor was gorgeous and staff were super attentive but the food was almost inedible for me. The presentation of their kaiseki dishes was beautiful but the food had ambiguous flavouring that I just couldn't get used to... The flavours were not distinctly umami or savoury or salty, just some strange mix of flavours that tasted like the chefs weren't sure which direction to go with their food. Not sure if this is the nature of Kyoto kaiseki cuisine or if it's just a problem with this restaurant.

An accessible kaiseki restaurant (Japanese haute cuisine). Excellent food and friendly service.

Great food and impeccable service. The portion sizes aren't huge, but the variety and food presentation make this restaurant very much worth the money.

Wow this meal was amazing. Definitely a bit pricey, but worth it especially if you are on vacation. Each of the table areas is pretty private, and you even have your own personal A/C unit for comfort! Every dish was beautifully prepared and plated, and I can honestly say I enjoyed all of them. My favorites were the spanish mackerel soup, cutlassfish sushi, beef on hot rock, and grilled barracuda. The tea served at the end was also really great. Service was spot on, and the decor of this place was beautiful. I definitely recommend coming here if you don't mind splurging a little bit.

Extremely delicious. You won't regret it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brand new life experience.

Had an exceptional dining experience from the moment my girlfriend and I stepped into the restaurant. The multi-course meal exceeded my expectations and left me extremely satisfied. The chefs prepared highly choice dishes that were flavourful and well balanced. I give this restaurant my highest recommendation if you are visiting Kyoto and want to experience Kaiseki cuisine.

The small entrance to this restaurant, with no English sign, can be easily overlooked. It's on a very attractive Edo era street in the Higashima district, in or near Gion. We had reservations, and no sooner did we venture onto the large-stone path that led inside a staffer appeared calling us by our family name. We had asked for the classic keiseki dinner, which turned out to be a procession of small portions of a large variety of foods, sitting in little pretty ceramic dishes. With an English language menu of the courses at our side, we could identify what we were eating even if the appearance was unfamiliar. Also, the combination of condiments offered unfamiliar tastes. But almost everything was a pleasant surprise, mostly delicious, sometimes very good. My daughter opted for sake as the accompanying drink; I tried hot yuzu, which turned out to be a supreme complement. From the menu I counted about thirty different items. But the size of portions, our chatting while eating, and pace of attentive yet unobtrusive service resulted in not feeling full at any time. I think it cost us, with the drinks refilled, $68 per person; very much worth this memorable experience that a visitor should have at least once in visiting Japan, and Gion Karyo is a fine place to have it.