Oryori Menami

The food is art on a plate. We recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for an authentic experience. We recommend using Google lens to translate the Japanese menu to get a much fuller experience. They offer more advanced dishes such as gizzard and fish head. Service is excellent, friendly, and fast. We recommend reservations, but if you get lucky take advantage of the opportunity to have a meal here. We ate at the countertop. Watching the chef prepare the food was a great experience on its own 10/10 will return

We can enjoy Kyoto Obanzai food here Staff are friendly and explain their recommendations menus so that we have enjoyed Obanzai in Kyoto

This restaurant does NOT charge extra for tourists: My partner and I went to eat at this restaurant the other day. We are both non-Japanese tourists. Despite us having no reservation, we got lucky and were seated at the counter. We ordered around different 12 dishes; including two miso soups and two portions of rice. The staff was friendly and the food was good. I might even have discovered my all-time favorite dish: Their tempura corn. A couple of days later, I found the bill and decided to take a closer look. Apart from a cover charge, we were also charged for two „外人さんご飯セット“ („Meal for foreign people“). Being unsure what that dish meant and if I translated it correctly, I resorted to Reddit for a quick response. I was especially alarmed because „外人“ is the derogatory term for „foreigner“. But most of all, I had no idea how to make sense of that charge, because we didn’t order any specialty for foreigners. For this reason, I was under the impression, we received a surcharge simply for being foreign. After closer consideration, I remember that we were handed an English menu. I now believe, we ordered a combination from that menu that wasn’t listed in the Japanese menu (maybe the miso soup and rice),- hence, perhaps, the term “meal for foreigners”. I no longer believe, this restaurant consciously discriminates against tourists or adds extra charges to their orders. My suggestion would be however, to reevaluate the harsh term „外人さんご飯セット“ in order to avoid any confusion in the future. I apologize for any negative implications my Reddit post might have caused.

Great little restaurant with authentic Kyoto dishes. This place is NOT easy to find from the street if you're a tourist, with no English signs, you have to walk into a doorway, past an elevator, and open a sliding door. Check my picture for clarification. Don't be discouraged if the place looks full, they have an upstairs as well. When we arrived it was all locals, the staff didn't speak great English, but there is an English meny available, check my picture. We spent 8,500 yen, including two drinks. The chicken and the spring rolls were great, but some of the other dishes (particularly appetizers) were a bit bland, hence removing 1 star on the food.

Loved their variety of food!! My personal favourite was the Yakitori with Sansho Pepper. Their Hojicha was also very nice and strong! The Yuba Harumaki were also very great!! Recommend ordering their 5 Sorts of Obanzai, seasonal appetizers. The taste overall is very soft, for me all a bit too less salt. Rice was a bit overcooked. You can easily spend around 5000Yen per Person here since the plates are quite small.

I stopped by this restaurant as my Kyoto expert friend recommended. Obanzai is basically a Kyoto style tapas restaurant and this is it. They got wide variety of different dishes and each of them were very good. Especially the beef tail stew was something I would order twice. Perfect place for dinner with great Sake.

I wait for a dish about 50 minutes... I order 1800; the first 2 dishes are served within 15 minutes. Then, I waited until 1835, told the staff that I have one more dish not yet to come, he said please wait a second, then served the others, time to 1850, I told the staff I can’t wait anymore, I would like to cancel it, one minute later, he gave me the dish… I don’t believe that one deep-fired dish takes 50 minutes for cooking... When I would like to pay the bills, also takes me 5-10 more minutes… The staff have to handle the phone more than 5 mins… Terrible experience !!! Can’t believe still have customers waiting for a meal. The food was so-so. But SASHIMI fresh enough.

There is a 400 yen table charge that isn’t explicitly made clear upon sitting down. They offer an English menu (ignore it) and a Japanese one (use google translate) with more vegetable items I like to eat and other dishes. I wasn’t aware that ordering off the English menu would be so different even for the same thing (assorted appy plate) and that the serving could actually be made for one (the Japanese lady next to me had requested it). Knowing that I would’ve preferred a single serving to be able to try more things on their menu. Otherwise food delightful and service expedient.

Kyoto, Nakajimacho. March 2024. Kyobanzai is small dishes produced with products from Kyoto and respecting the 24 seasons. The general term is obanzai, encompassing Kansai produced food. Oryori Menami does oryori that is perfect for locals dropping in for a few dishes or visitors to Kyoto, like me, seeking an expanded meal. They are located on Kiyamachi-dori, near the Sanjo Ohashi, a bridge crossing the Kamo River leading into Gion. There is a clear, peaceful, small, shallow canal running along the street. paralleling the Kamo River. The neighborhood is peaceful and green. The third generation owner runs a low key shop named after her grandmother. From the time you walk in and get seated until the time you depart she will be there to personally overlook everything put in front of you. They open early, from 4:00pm, and by 4:30pm you can expect to be surrounded by locals who come for obanzai comfort food and something to drink. There is a limited English menu of things most Westerners can eat. The Japanese menu is more specific to what is seasonal. On the counter in front of you will be bowls of what is best today. Looking and selecting with your eyes works well here. Locals will simply ask for for things not on any menu, simply indulging their desire for something specific or in season. This is like Midnight Diner on Netflix, they will make anything if they have the ingredients. Just go with whatever catches your eye on the counter or what you see others eat. The attention and service is great. Show appreciation for what is put in front of you. This is very good kyobanzai.

Japanese food is more than Sushi and Ramen... One of the reason for travelling is to experience local food and if you are in Kyoto, Menami is not to be missed. Thanks Naoko, my Yelp Kyoto's friend for making our reservation for us. She was even kind enough to ask the hostess to help us with our order and made us feel like a VIP. There is no English Menu here and their menu is seasonal and changes daily. So photos on internet is not going to help you. I suggest to order a few dishes of combination of hot/cold, meat/vegetables to try out. And of course hopefully that English speaking hostess would be around to guide you. Menami serves Obanzai (おばんざい) which is a traditional style of Japanese cuisine native to Kyoto. In order for food to be considered obanzai, at least half of its ingredients must be produced or processed in Kyoto.Ingredients in obanzai cooking must also be in season.Obanzai cooking heavily relies on vegetables and seafood, prepared simply. Consistent with the concept of mottainai (a sense of regret concerning waste), another characteristic of obanzai is the incorporation of ingredients which are usually discarded as garbage. * (from wikipedia) We enjoyed all the dish we ordered. A more delicate and subtle taste. The presentation is homey but still artistic. Highly recommend if you are visiting Kyoto.

Sat in a tatami room - yuba was good and bamboo root with miso pepper was an interesting taste, but overall nothing too memorable