In Kyoto, an Old-Fashioned Eatery that's Popular with the Public: Kyo-Ichi Honten
In Kyoto, there is Kyo-Ichi Honten, a cafeteria established in 1948.
With the motto of Umai, Hayai, Yasui, or "tasty, fast and cheap", this working-class eatery has been loved by the locals for many years.
Here, you can eat noodles and rice bowl dishes for around ¥700.
It's conveniently located near Omiya and Shijo-Omiya stations.
By the way, although the name says Honten, or "main store", there are no branches of this restaurant.
There's also a pachinko parlor named Kyo-Ichi, but no connection exists between the two.
In front of the restaurant, you'll find a display window.
With plastic food samples, it's easy to see what kind of food they offer. It's exciting just to look at what they have!
With its good, old-fashioned ambience that doesn't put on airs, this place is irresistible.
The menu features a variety of noodles, rice bowl dishes, and desserts.
Many people order Chuka (Chinese noodles) or a curried version of this dish.
It was really fast!
The dish was served within 5 minutes of ordering!
It came with picked daikon radish.
I ordered the most popular Curried Chinese Noodles, called Kare-Chuka in Japanese.
This dish matches a curry-flavored soup with ramen-like Chinese noodles.
The aroma of the curry whetted my appetite. What's more, it was such a big serving!
The soup is entwined in the noodles.
The noodles were thick and straight. They were also a little soft.
The thick, viscous soup securely entwined itself around the noodles.
The sweetness of the onions blended perfectly with the spiciness of the curry. Gradually, the curry's spiciness took effect.
It was so good! I wanted white rice to go with it.
It was full of beef with an outstanding texture!
Since they also had Kitsune-don, a dish I often used to eat, I went ahead and ordered it, too.
This is a Kyoto homestyle rice bowl topped with tofu simmered in a sweet and spicy soup, stewed with eggs and Welsh onion slices.
When I bit into the tofu, my mouth filled with the gentle, elegant flavor of the dashi soup stock.
Just as I thought, the dashi used in Kyoto cuisine is so delicious!
The pickled daikon offers a nice accent in the middle of the meal.
I was planning to eat dessert, but I was already full...
For those wanting to try an old-fashioned Japanese cafeteria, I highly recommend this place!
Basic information on Kyo-Ichi Honten
- Address
- 1 Mibubojocho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto
- Access
- 1 minute on foot from Omiya Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line or 1 minute on foot from Shijo-Omiya Station on the Keifuku Arashiyama Main Line
- Tel
- 075-842-0385
- Business Hours
- 11:00 am - 9:30 pm
- Closed
- Every Thursday
- URL(Japanese)
- http://www.kyouichi.co.jp/
Author
Birth place: Osaka prefecture
Takoyakikun
Restaurant reviewer dedicated to visiting all highly talked about restaurants in the Osaka City area and passing that information on to our readers!