Gion Nishikawa

An unforgettable experience. We had the lunch course at a private room, which was not heavy but incredibly delicate and thoughtfully composed. Every dish highlighted the superb flavor of each fresh ingredient, nothing was overpowering, just a beautiful balance of taste and presentation. The service was also outstanding; warm, attentive, and professional. Highly recommend for anyone looking for refined Kyoto cuisine in an intimate setting.

Sat at counter , and all tourists on that seating. Course flow is polished and not too slow or rushed with sake pairing . Owner chef doesn't speak English thou he tries , quite lively and takes his time to engage with each customer. Food is too "safe" for me thou he incorporates ingredients like caviar into his appetizers , also had matsuba crab and bear meat from Niigata. Didn't really have a memorable dish. Price was decent

Terrible terrible experience from this Michelin 2 Star, how did they even get awarded with it? Once we step into the restaurant there was no reception awaiting us or showing us the table. We had to wait a few minutes before we were brought to the table. The food is super average, and super expensive. Literally not worth the money that you spend. Basically it’s like paying to get a suffering. Simply arrogance and bad service from the staff. No introduction whatsoever, no service as well. The staff did not even bother to ask us what we wanted to drink. We only got served water towards the fifth course, after we asked for it. We had 4 empty cups on the table and the staff didn’t even bother asking whether we wanted another order. It was there for 3 dishes and we had to ask to get it refilled.

Ate lunch here, what an experience! It's all about the process, enjoy the moment and details from this experience. Due to the budget and price, I can still feel the chef and staff put a lot of efforts to make the lunch set an enjoyable memory and experience, I asked for just a glass of wine for pairing since it's a casual lunch, I got a 1er cru Chablis to match this light and delicate kaiseiki lunch, which was spot on. Great experience and memory!

Most of the ingredients are fresh, and the octopus can't chew them. Not a great experience. But my first taste of kaiseki cuisine was quite novel.

This place is true gastronomic tasting place. The Kaiseki meal set by the chef is truly amazing. Each plate is meticulously prepared and tastes delicious. The platting is visually stunning. The ambiance is very cozy and the Chef at the counter engages with the customers. Note that photos/videos are not allowed but if only photos of the dishes, Chef said ok. This places deserves likes 3 ⭐️!

I'm posting a picture of a fish that was served on A PLANE! Maybe they will learn something out of this. I got there and there was no one to greet us, I had to do some searching to find someone to sit us at the table. Old furniture, everything looks old and worn out. Service was slow, food was bad. I could barely eat any of the dishes. Worst experience ever, not even at a least recommend place one could be so disappointed. But hey, I'm short of $500+....

Awesome kaiseki experience. Every fish was delicious. My favorites were the cod roe soup, grilled fish and a bowl of simple white rice (despite the fact that I normally dislike rice).

While I've tried a few 1 star Michelin restaurants in my life, I've never been to a 2 star Michelin restaurant. There are a few 2 Michelin star restaurants in Los Angeles, but it's very hard to get a reservation into these restaurants. I looked up some 2 star Michelin restaurants in Kyoto, and found this restaurant. So I booked a reservation for Gion Nishikawa. We were seated in a tatami room. The service was amazing, and the wait staff were very accommodating. We had a menu that we could use to review everything we ate. The first dish was actually a drink, yuzu sake. I can't drink, so they served yuzu juice to me. It was quite refreshing on a cool autumn day. The next course was a soft roe risotto. It was definitely a Japanese take on a risotto, not as buttery, but still quite tasty. The next course was a taro and radish and vegetable soup with white miso and Japanese mustard. It was one of my favorite dishes of the meal. The soup with white miso and Japanese mustard was an amazing combination. The next course was sashimi with chives and yuzu. We were asked to wrap the fish around the chives and make a pseudo maki. It was pretty good. Next dish was roast duck with magao, a type of bitter Taiwanese pepper. The duck was quite juicy and tender, but I'm not sure how I felt about the bitter pepper with the duck. Next dish was a variety of seasonal dishes: mackerel pressed sushi, salmon roe, eel. The eel was amazing and perfect. The mackerel sushi was quite juicy and had a hint of wasabi. It was also amazing. Next was steamed turnip with tilefish. Also solid. Second to last course was rice with mushrooms, and red miso soup. It was filling, and decent. Finally we had some sorbet, warabi mochi, and matcha. A solid finish to the meal. The chef did come out during the meal and talked to us. He was super nice and spoke basic English. Definitely a solid experience. I'm not a Michelin expert, but the food was on point.

Every dish was excellently prepared. I especially loved the mackerel sushi, butterfish with shiitake mushroom/persimmon sauce, sesame noodles, and the fruit dessert course. I didn't particularly like the texture of the daggertooth conger eel course, but the preparation was good. Mackerel sushi: mackerel was absolutely delicious and tasted very fresh. Sushi rice was a little underwhelming, though Butterfish: the fish and mushrooms were amazing, and complemented well by the persimmon sauce. Sesame noodles: sesame sauce was SO good. And so was the texture of the noodles. So something was off about the texture of the ingredients suspended in the sauce, but that's more my personal preference Fruit dessert course: best almond tofu I've ever had. So custardy. And the grape and fig were delicious. Pear was good. blueberry was average. Service was excellent. The chefs didn't speak much English, but tried their very best to make conversation with us and to explain every dish. The ambiance was very peaceful and relaxing. There is piano music playing in the background. The chefs are laid-back and treat you as a friend. The kitchen sounds so quiet. The chefs make their jobs look so easy! Usually I hear the clanging of pans or furious chopping noises coming from the kitchen, but at Nishikawa it was so quiet. It made us feel relaxed as well! This restaurant definitely seems worthy of its 2 Michelin stars. However, to be completely honest, I don't think it was worth the price tag.

Lovely lunch at a solid price point for a 2 Michelin star restaurant. We ate at the counter and enjoyed interacting with the chef - who's both a master at food and at entertainment. All the dishes were delicious, inventive while traditional, and anchored to the most seasonal ingredients. Visually stunning too. Will return when I can.

My boyfriend's parents came here years ago during one of their trips to Kyoto, and they loved it. However, when we visited Gion Nishikawa earlier this year, it had deteriorated. With 2 michelin stars and having to make a reservation weeks in advanced, we expected the food to be amazing, but it was not. Even though they used high quality ingredients, the preparation was lacking. Some of the courses were pretty good, but for the rest, the flavors were either off or bland. The quality of the ingredients saved it from being bad. Because it's kaiseki, the menu can be different each time. For us, the first course they served was puffer fish, which I thought was a pretty bold move (if not prepared properly, you can die from the poison). Other courses were more ordinary, like mochi, but even if it was special, we wouldn't have known because the chefs didn't speak english. You don't get a written menu either, so sometimes, we didn't really know what we were eating... It was incredibly filling though. Both me and my boyfriend were not able to finish every course. After the third or fourth course, I was only able to take a bite of each one. The dining experience and everything else made it an enjoyable experience. Service was great, and the restaurant itself was classic and elegant. It was pretty hard to find, since it was dark out and had no signs. There was just a subtle gate off the streets and a walkway that led to the entrance that you would probably think was someone's house. Even our taxi driver had a hard time finding it. I think for the ambiance, service, ingredients, and michelin stars, the price was worth it, but we probably won't be coming back. There are many other restaurants in Kyoto that are like this but with better flavors and preparation, though they may not have any michelin stars.

Really wanted a nice authentic kaiseki meal while in Kyoto and our hotel concierge was able to come through and get us reservations for two at the sushi bar for our last night in town. Like many higher end restaurants in Japan, it is indiscreetly located and there is no big sign outside screaming the restaurants name. But once we found the location we were quickly seated and served. Turns out English was very limited with the chefs and wait staff which made conversation hard. We just talked amongst ourselves and enjoyed the meal. Turns out our only sighting of the chef for the night was his preparation of our first dish which was amazing and he was never to be seen again for the duration of our meal. Every dish was prepared with meticulous thought and precision. My most favorite dish was the fresh torigai which was so sweet and tender. This was my first time eating torigai raw and it was just amazing! And of all things, the steam white rice was just as phenomenal. I can still remember the smell and texture of that rice. My wife isn't a big fan of rice but she asked for additional scoops twice! So that was some white rice! We left with full bellies and a satisfying grin on our face. Gion Nishikawa is well deserving of its 2 michelin stars!

Chef's table lunch Phenomenal restaurant: Terrifically friendly chef (who walked us out and waited for our taxi to pick us up), beautifully plated food that was also delish, and great value at lunch price (50-60 CAD pp). We were also excited by the fact they had a female apprentice chef training along with lads......not a common sight in top restos, at least based on our experience in Jpn n elsewhere. We picked this place on its Tabelog award through our hotel. Repeat: Yes!

Two star Michelin star restaurant - Kaiseki (Japanese fine dining) style. Expensive but worth the moolah (Yen). It was an amazing experience to sit at the counter being served directly by the chefs. The owner - Nishikawa also interacted with us and served us a couple dishes and also made us matcha. It's a small place and they speak limited English, so it's best to ask your hotel concierge to call for reservation. We were really lucky to get two spots with reservation made only a few days in advanced. P/S: they take credit card

Okay- they are really nice people and the service was pretty good, dining environment was also great, but unfortunately we didn't like the food that much, and tbh 300 dollars for a very plain traditional Japanese dinner is a bit pricey... but overall a pleasant experience

2 Michelin Stars. Amazing, incredible, memorable food. 15+ courses, each one more delightful and surprising than the last. Personal, friendly and outstanding service. Definitely need a reservation. Hard to find, so budget a bit of extra time to locate the place. We were the only foreigners in the place, but one of the chefs spoke enough english to help us understand what we were eating.