hanamakiya

it was about lunch time after we went to kinkakuji. there were some dining places recommendation around kinkakuji area, but the one that i wanted to try was closed. so we decided to try the other one, which is hanamakiya. it was a soba/udon place. it was pretty close to kinkakuji. when we checked the maps, it was only two crossroads from kinkakuji. so from kinkakuji, you should walk straight until you passed two crossroads. then you should keep walking straight for couple more steps and you could see the tiny place, it had this white curtain with the restaurant logo. and there was this little sign on the right that said "hanamakiya".

the door

when we arrived, the restaurant was just open. the opening time was 11.30 am. since it's just open, it was not crowded. but the place was small, so braced yourself for waiting if the place was crowded. anyway, you can wait in the waiting area which is just after the door, but it only had 3 seats. then you could see the cashier and on the right side were tables with seats. there were about 4 tables ranging from 2 seats, 3 and 4 seats per table. at the back was the japanese style seating. from where i sat, i could see about 3 tables. according to the website, total capacity was 30 people. if you wanted to see the menu, you could see it here. but don't worry, there was english menu there. the waiter could understand english, but they spoke very poorly.

another sign on the side
made sure you saw the door and this sign before entering

we got the table with chairs, and we got seated on 4 seats table. the japanese menu was always on the table, so they handed us the english menu. we got free cold ocha, but somehow all ochas in kyoto were tasted like half tea half coffee. and since we didn't like coffee, we asked for water and luckily they would serve us water. if you're seated in the japanese style seating, you should take off your shoes at the entrance and walk barefoot. they said it's children friendly, but i didn't see any child seats, so perhaps if you brought little kids, japanese style is more suitable. but they should keep their voice low since it was very quiet there. and arrived early since the waiting area was limited. if the place was crowded, you should write down your name and phone number and waited to be called out.

my tempura soba

we both ordered a hot tempura soba and a tendon set. we both ordered hot menu, and it was pretty hot since it was still early autumn, and the waiter seemed did not approve of our orders. that's understandable since cold noodles were favorite during summer days. so when we ordered hot noodles in hot day, it's understandably that they didn't agree with our choices. but for us, we always eat hot noodles at home. we're not accustomed to cold noodles. but if you're interested in trying cold soba, you should give it a go.

his tendon set

anyway, after waiting for about 10 minutes, our orders arrived. both of us got big bowl of hot soba and i got a small plates of tempura consisted of shrimp and some vegetables. husband got a small bowl of tendon rice. they gave us big spoon to eat the soba. it was ridiculously big since spoon that big was used to serve back in our home, not for eating. anyway.. the soup had light broth taste and it was warm and comforting. the soba was okay.. i didn't know how to rate soba.. they said that it was handmade, but since i couldn't say the difference, all i can say that it was delicious, not too hard not too soft. the portion was enough for us without getting too full. the tempura was also delicious. the batter was crispy and not too oily. unfortunately, they also gave vegetables tempura and one of them seemed to be jalapeno, and i didn't like jalapeno, so we left it. i didn't try husband's tendon rice, but he said it was good. the rice was delicious as usual.. there was something about their rice. it always cooked perfectly.. but his soba didn't have any meat, only seaweed in it. so he ate it with one of my vegetables tempura since he's used to eating noodles with meat or something else, and not plain noodles.

anyway, both of us agreed that everything was delicious. we got warm and full stomach after eating here. however, some people complained about the price. i do notice that the price was a bit expensive considering that this is just a small shop, but the price was comparable to restaurants we found in the mall. especially if you ordered the one that had meat or seafood. the plain options or vegetarian options were definitely cheaper. but if you asked me whether it was worth it or not, i would say it was worth it. so i guess you could try stopping by at this shop after going to kinkakuji. oh, and if you're wonder whether this is a tourist trap, i didn't think so. i've seen a lot of japanese people and students eating here aside from tourist, so i think it's not a tourist trap.