good small inexpensive cafes in kyoto

Hi, I tried looking on the forum and went back to 3rd Nov but could not find any posts on good restauranta or cafes. We want good food, this is our main priority fabulous service %26amp; decor doesn%26#39;t matter so much. Not looking for western stylke places or fast food but good little cafes. Staying at Matsubaya Ryokan so hopefully somewhere around here. Hope someone can help %26amp; no I do not speak any Japanese but in saying that would be willing to use sign language %26amp; be a bit adventurous if you know of a great place to recommend.

good small inexpensive cafes in kyoto

I would recommend you some cafes near Gion and Yasaka name Kagizen-Yoshifusa(mainly Japanese traditional sweet) or Tsujiri(most sweet makes with green tea). japanese HP only but you can see how they are.

http://www.kagizen.co.jp/infomation.htm

http://www.giontsujiri.co.jp/saryo/

Mizogi-gawa for dinner(English HP)

http://www.misogui.jp/eng/index.html

Mukade-ya(Japanese HP only)

http://www.a-dos.ne.jp/map/naka/mukadeya/

sorry I don%26#39;t know where Matsubaya ryokan area is. Just picked up my favorites above.

good small inexpensive cafes in kyoto

This post is probably not helpful at all - but I went to the best cafe in Kyoto. can%26#39;t remember the name! we went to Heian Shrine and then walked around the back to the big Traditional Buddhist Sports Centre (almost to the big Kyoto Trad Arts and Crafts Centre) and directly across the road from the entrance to the Sports centre was a great cafe - with tart tartin and a walnut cake.

The receipes come from a japanese woman (the owner%26#39;s mother) who trained and worked in Paris and they were displaying her gold medals and awards. The place also had a little art gallery display space attached and they were setting up a jewellery display. that whole area looked great for good quality food.

The other thing we noticed with cafes was that they tend to do just one or two cakes. if you want a great range to choose from a french boulangerie style place is the go.

We were recently in Kyoto and had some fabulous food. I am not going to be terribly helpful with the names but honestly it is impossible to have a bad meal in Japan - the place is just packed with great cafes.

Our most memorable meals were :

1. An Italian bistro about half way,upstairs on the left down Pontcho Lane. The best Italian food we have ever had !

2. The fried chicken street vendor on Ne-Ne no michi, outside Ryozen Kannon. We went back 3 times.

3. An Udon noodle soup place in the shops under Kyoto Station - sorry there are heaps so I cant be specific but just stick to the ones that are full of locals.

4. One of the best tips anyone gave us for all of Japan is about the food markets in the basements of most of the Department Stores. There is every type of food as far as you can see - all fresh %26amp; fabulous ! The cakes ! The seafood ! The Goyza !

None of these places had english speaking staff but it wasnt a problem anywhere. The language of gesturing works just fine.

Hey, Thanks so much for the great input. If I do not find anything that I like there something wrong with me. Appreciate your help. Looking forward to indulging

Hi There, We had my favourite meal on our last day of our trip in Kyoto. It was in a cafe in Nishiki food market. As you walk from one end of the market to the other, there are breaks for roads and the cafe is on the corner of one of these. It is very casual and has English menus. The food was fantastic and very reasonably priced. I can%26#39;t recall the name but it was opposite a little gift shop. We went mid-afternoon but as it is in the market, I wouldn%26#39;t be sure that it would be open in the evening. Enjoy!

%26gt;%26gt;3. An Udon noodle soup place in the shops under Kyoto Station - sorry there are heaps so I cant be specific but just stick to the ones that are full of locals.%26lt;%26lt;

This might not be the one you%26#39;re talking about, but my favorite udon shop there is called Kineya. They make their own udon at site and you can see the demonstration:

porta.co.jp/shop_guide/shop/080/index.html

Shubuyakka, that may well be it !

Although they do all look very similar but we have a receipt from a %26#39;Porta%26#39; so you may be onto something. It was full of locals, quick, cheap and delicious !

www.gimmond.co.jp/nanzen/english/e_index.html

lunch is 3400 yen

winter kaiseki plan 5500yen

hows here

it looks like cheap for the quality

Hi Blackcat2

Well you will not belive that I found the cafe you told me about and we were very impressed also. I have a photo of the restuarant if anyone wants to know about it. I coudl not read the name of the restaurant as it is Japanese but with the directions that blackcat2 gave me I found it and we went there for lunch and dinner. Try the japanese pancake, beautiful and the beef with onions was the BEST. I remember that the restaurant had a big sign out the front with Number written on it and then about 4 numbers written down the board. I cannot remember the numbers I am sorry but you will knwo it whenyou get there. there are pictures in the front window of the food and the cafe is long with the kitchen on the left and seating to the right and goes right down the back.

Thank you all for your help in this forum. We loved Kyoto and the markets were fabulous if you are a foodie like me.

If you%26#39;re adventurous, try Okariba, next door to the Heian-No-Mori Hotel. They serve wild boar, smoked goose, bees ( we didn%26#39;t try this ),etc. sake %26amp; beers. It%26#39;s a Izakaya style restaurant. Do a search in Google - eg. of what I found : http://blog.agentxray.com/2008/12/26/478/.

From memory ( Nov 07 ), meal for 4 adults, including beers was around 9,000 Yen.

Have fun !