Tempura Matsu

Tempura Matsu is one of those rare places where tradition meets warmth. The counter feels intimate, like being welcomed into someone’s home. Each piece of tempura is light, fragrant, and timed to perfection. But beyond technique, it’s the hospitality that stays with you—the quiet humor of the chef, the flow of conversation, the rhythm of Kyoto seasons. The menu changes, but the feeling doesn’t: calm, sincere, unforgettable. It’s a culinary memory you carry long after leaving the city.

One of the best meals we had in Japan. The chef is trained with Alain Ducasse, so you can feel the inspiration of French cooking, flavour and presentation with the food, but it is still true to its Japanese roots. I read all the poor reviews, and I don’t understand where they came from - maybe the experience was not as good a couple of years back? For me, right now, it is highly recommended! Hard to get a reservation for foreigners though, that is accurate.

Exceptional meal in a beautiful setting, overlooking the river. There's a tremendous variety here, we went for lunch and ordered the smallest menu in anticipation of a long dinner just a few hours later. This was still very filling, not a single miss from the 10 courses, we loved every dish which are very well thought out. One of our favorite new spots in town

Not sure what all the negative reviews are about - we had the omakese meal and it was amazing! Yes the restaurant aesthetics are a bit dated, but the chefs are meticulous in the preparation/presentation of your dishes and the flavours are amazing. We had fresh bamboo shoot as our main which was incredible. The hot mochi in brown sugar for dessert was delicious! Just be sure to bring cash to avoid having the run to an ATM at the end of your meal - omakese is around 30k yen per person.

Every dish wows you with flavor. Would suggest the more expensive set menu. The best dishes were the shrimp chawamushi, mackerel sashimi, fried fish and eggplant, and the crab starter. Presentation can be whimsical and fun but rarely that elaborate or pretty. Service is friendly and quick -- English friendly. Would come back for this more down to earth good food.

Best meal so far in our 2 week Japan trip. Exceptional vegetarian tempura omakase. Kindest staff and chef, genuinely loved their personalities and work. Food was beautifully made, presentation was fun, and pacing was great. This is an omakase! Means there's no menu, but rest assured they will do you well. Note; request dietary restrictions ahead of time, they accommodate well.

Delicious kappo meal with some fun creative dishes. Please note this is not a tempura restaurant despite its name. I was skeptical given the many negative reviews and allegations of foreigner discrimination, but I was relieved to find none of those reviews to be my experience. Highly recommend. Only downside was that it was a little pricey and expensive, even for a restaurant of this caliber. And it is cash only - make sure you have enough.

Definitely a must go. Do not believe all of the reviews related to discriminatory treatment towards foreigners. This does not exist. The place is exceptional to say the least, warm, charming and full of family and staff that has one goal, serve and share their creations. The food is so fresh that the delivery man delivers fish that is alive. We saw that. The plates kept on coming, one good one after the other. Of the many that we have offered, all were good but two left and would leave a long lasting impression, the first was the urchin rice topped with tuna and the other was shrimp soup. You can’t imagine the refined cooking style and attention to details while preparing those in front of you. That evening was just amazing with all of the staff running to provide plates that were cooked to the point and immediately placed on ones table. This was and will remain one of the best meals we had. Thanks tempura Matsu and thanks Kyoto

Best meal and dining experience I've ever had. Money well spent to an intimate, satisfying, and incredible meal. My favorite was the pufferfish. I love eating things I've never had, and this blew my mind. I got the coursed meal for 150¥ and it lasted for 2 hours (2 hours of well portioned, thoughtful dishes). Presentation was amazing and tempura was perfect. Coming back again.

SIMPLY AMAZING ! It was my last meal at Kyoto and simple the best meal since I got here in Kyoto. Each dish was perfectly prepared and taste was of course amazing. I can really feel that how much energy they have put into every dish. Chef's Tempura was so crispy, crunch! He basically peels shrimp skin right before he fries. Wasabi was freshly grind prepared by the staff for each dish. Definitely coming back if I come back to Kyoto. . . . .

Special. What a fabulous experience. Toshio treated us so well. Food was so different from usual sushi restaurant. Giant oyster to frozen block with Udon noodles to wagyu to Uni to tempura to fatty toro etc. predation was exquisite. Worth the price.

I'm seeing so many super positive reviews, I want to share our experience in case others might want to know these things before going. My two stars is an average of 4ish for food and 1 for experience. Food - very good, with some standouts, but meal was very expensive and I left feeling like it wasn't worth the $$$. Around Japan I have had food just as delicious and interesting (maybe even more so) but for MUCH less money. Experience - this is where I was very disappointed, and I expected much different for that price point. First, making the reservation was a PAIN. The multiple times we called, speaking Japanese, to make a reservation we were told they were full. Full. Full. Reading online I discover that they want a hotel to make the reservation to cut back on no-shows, so when we were able to we had out hotel call and book for us. Spot available at 5:30. Note, when we walked in we were the only ones there. In fact, the whole night they only served a small handful of other groups. Service was awkward - they first sat us at a table...no one came up to us to offer anything to drink for a while...when someone did come up to us it was to ask us to move to the bar. Remember, this meal is costing us $150 each. There was no menu, I believe you just had the option for an additional, premium, course if you wished. The strange thing was that I was seeing all these other delicious courses being plated and given to the people next to us, locals, and we never saw them. It was like there was a totally different set menu for tourists. That was disappointing because some of those things looked delicious! So, between the annoyance of making a booking (I don't know how you'd do it if you weren't staying at a hotel), the awkward/uncomfortable feeling of the initial walk in - being moved - no waitstaff attending to us, seeing different food options going out to different people, and knowing that this was going to be the most expensive meal of our entire trip, I can't honestly recommend it nor do I want to go back.

Exceptional course kaiseki style meal. The family was so warm and welcoming. The care that went into each dish's preparation was amazing and perfected from father to son. The price was well worth it, and if you're American, this is much better than anything you can have in the USA. A MUST TASTE! Their restaurant had been featured in a book by American chef, Mark Goulding. "Rice, Noodle, Fish".

Amazing is one way to describe this meal. Life-changing is another. My first kaisaki meal at Matsu was expertly crafted and cooked with passion. It felt like coming into a loving family's home and being embraced by their love for food. From the yuzu scented water, to the deep fried octopus tempura, to the mackerel that was grilled over charcoal right in front of us, to the wagyu beef simmered in egg batter and baked to perfection under a blanket of chives, to the black tea ice cream, everything was attention to detail, Michelin quality food. Go here for the definitive kaisaki experience. Either way, just go here. I promise you it will be worth every bite. Disclaimer: the restaurant does not take credit cards so bring cash! And a large appetite. I think we had about ten courses total. I'm salivating just thinking about it. Happy eating!

とても美味しいです。 It is delicious! I recently travelled to Japan and this was hands down the best meal I had there on that trip. And it is definitely near the top of the list for meals I've eaten in Japan, and I have eaten MANY meals over there. It was recommended to me by a fellow foodaholic and when I arrived in Kyoto one of the first things I did was ask our hotel concierge to call and book a spot for my husband and I. We decided to go for lunch so we could visit Arashiyama afterwards for Hanatouro (the Lantern Festival/Illumination of the bamboo forest). Tempura Matsu is located a short walking distance across a bridge from Matsuo train station (one stop before Arashiyama on the Hankyu-Arashiyama Line). But don't let the name fool you, Tempura Matsu offers omakase-style dining (chef's selection) with an elaborate parade of dishes. Leave yourself plenty of time to take everything in. We were presented with a "menu" which was explained to us as having the same number of courses for each set, but just different grades of ingredients, depending on how much you want to spend. My husband and I went for the top grade course, we were on holiday after all. I think it was about AUD $130 to $150 per person. Each dish was carefully prepared in front of us. For one dish the chef (the son or grandson of the proprietor of this family run food haven) placed a log of smoldering charcoal in front of us. He held some plump cuts of fish and after a quick explanation of what we would be eating lightly seared each side of the fish directly on the charcoal. He swiftly plated up various ingredients and sauces on a plate and topped it with our fish morsels. Oishii! We think that it's our favourite, until the next dish, and then the next. Sometimes they explain to us that a plate or a shell our food is sitting on is 100 years old and we wonder why we are eating off such precious vessels, what happens if they break? We enjoyed watching people who started their meal after us react to their food, silently understanding their amazement as we experienced it too a short while ago. We would hear impressed exclamations as one of the chefs walked out with a live eel to show another customer what he had ahead of him. Both the food and the experience were ones I will always remember. They even asked who had told us about Tempura Matsu and when we described our friend they remembered and brought us a bamboo bottle of sake as a gift to drink with our meal. I hope you get to enjoy and love this place as much as I have. Hot tip: Try to book the bench seats so you can watch the chefs at work front of you. You also get the added advantage of being able to chat with them as the meal progresses and a lovely view through the window.

A friend in Tokyo strongly recommended Tempura Matsu. So did the concierge at the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto. Mariko works the door and she is the loveliest person we met in Japan. Her brother is the chef and their Mother makes sure everything is perfect. Sake is served from a fresh bamboo decanter. We recommend sitting at the bar to watch the cooks and take in the view during the day. We had many innovative, delicious, small dishes . Don't be fooled by the name. Most of the dishes are not Tempura. Every aspect of our lunch exceeded our high expectations. I will recommend to all friends and I hope we can return

We all sat by the bar, which I highly recommend. You can see the chefs prep the food and it's really traditional at this place. Quality of the food was A+. Service was amazing, I left to the restroom for 3 minutes and the waiter took my soup they served back to the kitchen to keep it warm because they were not sure how long I was going to be in the restroom. Every dish had a distinct flavor and presentation to it. Love the kobe beef.

Don't go to this restaurant unless you are Japanese or locals are bringing you. It's a complete waste of time and money otherwise. I am sure it is great for locals but if you are a foreigner don't bother.