We visited this restaurant for the first time in July 2024 and were really excited to return on our 2025 trip to Kyoto. I was disappointed to see online that the menu has changed quite a bit – now it’s just a set meal with no choice of starters (instead it’s two set appetisers), no choice of ice cream flavour for dessert, and just two ramens to choose between. Also, when you reserve your table, you have to specify which ramen each member of the party would like. It’s not super convenient to decide that a month in advance, but ultimately we were all happy with our choices.

The art, atmosphere, and service all remain unchanged, so it was still a really great experience (though personally I could live without the essential oil/meditation while you wait in the entrance hall to be seated). And the quality of the food was also unchanged, much to my delight.

A drink is served first, you can choose with or without alcohol. We all got the non-alcoholic version, which was a kombucha. It was pleasant enough, but I’m not a huge fan of kombucha (or fizzy vinegar, as Dr HH calls it). After that, we could choose a drink to accompany the meal. It’s quite a small selection. In our party, one person got a sake, one a kombucha, and one a tea. We all enjoyed our drinks.

The first appetiser was a kind of soft cheese on a cracker. It was small but mighty! The cracker was really crisp and had a perfect crunch. The cheese was delicious, you could really taste the miso. It was such a good appetiser.

The second appetiser was sushi that we assembled ourselves (it was not difficult to do so). It was sensational, really zingy, fresh, and flavoursome. Again, it looked quite unassuming but was really packed with savoury flavours.

Mother HH got the soy sauce ramen. She was worried it would be too salty and soy-heavy, but it was really well balanced and she loved it!

Dr HH and I both got the spicy miso ramen, which was a bit of a gamble for me as I like my food spiced, but not scorching hot. Sure enough, for me it was a touch spicier than my usual preference, but for Dr HH it was quite mild. It was a really rich and flavoursome broth, and we were thrilled that the noodles were quite flat. This dish looked a lot better in person than it did in the photo online! Both versions of the ramen were topped with a flavoursome grilled tomato and some juicy maitake mushrooms. Ours also had some onions and okra as well. It was really filling, so two light appetisers were a good match,

And for dessert, we were served kinako (roasted soy bean) ice cream. The ice cream was not very sweet, so it went nicely with the extremely sweet sauce. The kinako flour on top was very moreish. The overall taste was almost like black treacle to me. It was not my favourite ice cream ever, but it was fun to try.

We really enjoyed the overall experience and thought the food was amongst the most well-seasoned we’ve had in Japan. Even though we would have liked more choice like in the past, we weren’t really complaining about what we got, so I think they are getting it right.

It’s a small space, with just one big table in a dark room (big and dark enough that you do not feel like you’re dining closely with the other customers), and it’s quite popular, so reservations are definitely recommended. It’s quite different from the other dining experiences we had in Kyoto, so I highly recommend it.