When I visited near Kiyomizu Temple, I decided to have lunch at this place. Inside the restaurant, there were table seats and tatami seats, and I chose a table seat. The two groups of customers before me were seated in the tatami area. I hesitated between ordering the "Green Tea Soba" and the "Soba Set Meal (with herring)", but ended up ordering the latter. After a while, my meal was served, and I tried the herring which was sweet and salty, it went really well with the soba, so delicious! The rice with small dried fish was also tasty. If I have the chance to visit this area again, I would definitely come back to this place.

When you come to Gion, be sure to have some soba first. So, while exploring, I found Futaba and had lunch there. Although their tea soba is famous, I had the regular tempura soba. It was delicious with a flavorful broth. The mountain vegetable soba and tea soba also looked very tasty...

I was craving for tea soba noodles, so I was looking around and found this place with just the right price. Luckily, they had the last two servings of tea soba noodles, so we were happy about that. We chose to sit on the tatami mat instead of the tables. The portion size was just right, not too much, which was perfect because we were planning to have some dango afterwards. The flavor was better than regular soba noodles, with a nice fragrance, and I don't usually eat green noodles so it was a nice change. Also, the tea here was delicious (lol). Thank you for the meal!

On the last New Year's of the Heisei era in 2019, my partner and I went to Kyoto for Hatsumode and visited Kiyomizudera Temple on Mount Otowa. After that, we went to Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka in the vicinity. There were many tourists due to the season. We didn't have any plans to buy anything, so we just walked with the flow of people. As we walked, we started to feel a bit hungry. So, we decided to eat soba. My partner had the fresh yuba soba. He likes warm broth soba, and particularly enjoys the taste of dashi. He said it was even better than the soba he had on New Year's Eve and was very satisfied. I had the kitsune soba, which had thinly sliced fried tofu reminiscent of Kansai. It was delicious with a good texture and tasty broth, just like my partner's soba. The fresh yuba soba came with two pieces of fu manju, so we shared and enjoyed them. Sometimes there are exceptions, but food eaten while traveling always tastes delicious. This time, we had a satisfying meal and filled our stomachs. Soba Hirakura: Nifuyu and Shumi Hirakura: Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka, Chawan-zaka. This is a record of the New Year trip in 2019, the last New Year of the Heisei era, to Kyoto.

The staff at the restaurant were very nice, and the soba noodles and broth were delicious. The tempura was crispy.

Tea soba for 950 yen. It was my first time trying tea soba so I wasn't sure about the taste, but it was actually delicious! The atmosphere of the restaurant was good too!

There is a delicious restaurant located on the way to Ninen-zaka called Nishin Soba. The interior of the restaurant has a very traditional Japanese feel, making you feel like you are truly in Kyoto. The soba tasted great, especially when sprinkled with black shichimi pepper for an extra kick.

Friendly owner, delicious tempura, sweet dipping sauce.

In the morning, I had a nice amount of tea soba. I found this shop while walking up a slope from Higashiyama in Kyoto. The small shop had two seats at the back, a table in the middle, and a tatami seat for two at the front. Right after I arrived, they served me roasted green tea in a cute cup. The tea soba I ordered was just the right amount and cost 700 yen. The sweet broth with wasabi was a great combination. The soba soup they served at the end had a gentle flavor and was very delicious.

It's been a while since I took a solo trip to Kyoto. I strolled around the south side of Kyoto Station in the morning, visited Toji Temple, Rokusonno Shrine, Fushimi Inari, and Tofukuji Temple. I'm really into collecting Goshuin stamps, so I'm feeling good. Now it's time for lunch, so I decided to walk along the Kamo River and ended up descending from the Shomen Bridge at Nijo on the river. The breeze along the river is very pleasant. I decided to walk towards Kiyomizu Temple after reaching Shijo Bridge. As I walked from Shijo Street to Yasaka Shrine and Kodaiji Temple towards Kiyomizu Temple, I came across Futaba-san on Ninen-zaka, where samples of herring soba caught my eye. This area is always crowded with tourists, so I usually don't eat here. But because it's Kyoto, I was curious about the herring soba and decided to try it. I ordered the herring soba and was pleasantly surprised by the quiet and peaceful atmosphere inside the restaurant, away from the hustle and bustle of the tourists outside. The herring soba had a delicious broth that wasn't too salty, with a nice aroma. The generous amount of sansho pepper added a slightly strong flavor. The sweet and savory herring was so tender and tasty. The soba noodles were just right, not too soft or too firm. Adding the local shichimi chili pepper halfway through enhanced the flavor even more. I usually finish every last drop of soup when I eat delicious soba or ramen, and this time was no exception. I used to think that restaurants in tourist areas would get good reviews just because of the tourist traffic, but this experience has changed my perspective. There are indeed delicious places to eat even in touristy spots. I often visit the popular area around Kiyomizu Temple, so I'm looking forward to discovering more great restaurants there.

After visiting the graves of Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro at Reizan Gokoku Shrine, I walked down the hill and on the left, there was a lively and stylish alleyway. Tourists were walking around and there were souvenir shops and various stores lined up further inside. Feeling drawn in, I walked for a while until I came across several sweet shops. Feeling sweaty from the intense heat, I decided to take a break and choose a shop to enter. Among them, one shop had an exterior that exuded a sense of tradition. So, I decided to enter Fubata, a soba shop and sweet shop. The interior was just as I imagined, with a pure Japanese style decor. It definitely had the smell of a long-established shop. The narrow interior had no other customers. A refined proprietress immediately appeared and greeted me warmly, offering me cold roasted green tea and a fan, saying "Welcome, please make yourself at home." It felt like Kyoto all of a sudden. I placed my order, "I'll have the Uji shaved ice, please." She went back to the kitchen, and after a short while, the sound of ice being shaved could be heard. It was a pleasant sound. After about 5 minutes, the Uji shaved ice was served, and I started to enjoy it. The texture of the ice was crisp and fine. The matcha syrup was quite rich, maybe they used powder? The red bean paste was surprisingly light and not too sweet. The vanilla ice cream on top was also delicious. I'm not a fan of sweet things, but I do enjoy cold desserts like ice cream, so I really enjoyed it. Another customer arrived, a single man who ordered the Nishin soba. That looked delicious too. With the pleasant words of the proprietress, "Thank you very much," I left the shop. I thoroughly enjoyed the delicious Uji shaved ice, the traditional Kyoto building, and the refined Kyoto dialect of the proprietress. It was a delightful experience. Thank you for the meal.

On November 26, 2012, I ate at a small restaurant in Kyoto on my way from Kiyomizu Temple to Kiyomizu Shrine. The shop was selling freshly baked mitarashi dango outside, and the inside had about 18 seats in a cozy, homey setting. The menu offered kitsune udon with chopped fried tofu instead of sweet fried tofu, which was a nice touch. I tried kitsune soba and tori nanban soba, and while the broth was good, the noodles were disappointing. The area was full of food shops due to the autumn foliage viewing season, and many places were fully booked during the holiday weekend.

"Nifuya" is located near the stairs of Ninen-zaka. Whenever I visit the Kiyomizu area, I always make sure to stop by this soba restaurant. I highly recommend the "Herring Soba." The flavor and aroma of the soba broth are wonderful. The accent of sansho pepper is also great. It has a refreshing taste and aroma. The pickled herring is sweet and savory, a perfect match for the soba. Of course, the soba itself is delicious as well. I visited many places in search of delicious herring soba, but "Nifuya" suits my taste perfectly. On this day too, I felt satisfied and thought to myself, 'I'm glad I came.' Located in the lively Ninen-zaka, "Nifuya" has a quiet and charming atmosphere. Enjoying the "Herring Soba" in such an ambiance was truly exceptional.

On the way to Kiyomizu Temple, I was drawn to this cute little dumpling shop. The cozy interior had a calming atmosphere, and the complimentary tea was delicious. I ordered mitarashi and shoyu dumplings. The dumplings had a nice crispy texture with a not-too-sweet mitarashi sauce. The shoyu dumplings had a simple yet delicious flavor that really highlighted the dumplings themselves. It was a truly relaxing time enjoying the taste of Kyoto. The tea was so good that I had to get a refill! The atmosphere of the shop and the staff were lovely.

On April 18, 2010, I visited this restaurant for the first time while exploring places related to Ryoma Sakamoto in Kyoto. After visiting Ryoma and Shintaro Nakaoka's graves at Reizan Gokoku Shrine, I walked up a hill where many shops lined the street. It was lunchtime and everywhere was crowded. Among them, I found a charming shop with a white curtain at the entrance and decided to stop by. As I entered the shop, I found it to be small but full of a sense of tradition, which I really liked. While the street outside was bustling with tourists, the inside of the shop had a calm and peaceful atmosphere, allowing me to enjoy my meal quietly. The female staff running the shop were also very attentive and smooth in their service. They spoke in Kyoto dialect, which I found charming. Although the shop, called "Futaba," is known for its soba noodles, they also offer sweets, which I found interesting. I wanted to try their sweets, but I started with a meal first. I ordered tempura soba, zaru soba, and a beer. Despite its location in a tourist area, the shop seemed to have a long history and served delicious soba noodles. Although this time I only had a meal, the sweets served at nearby tables looked delicious, so I might stop by again if I have the chance to visit this area. Thank you for the meal.

Many places seem to open at 11 o'clock, so I decided to try this place since it opened earlier. It's a very small restaurant with two tables for 4 people pushed together, one table for 2 people, and two tables in a tatami room. The curtain said "famous soba," so I ordered the oyakodon assuming their soba broth would be good. When the oyakodon arrived, I noticed that you could see the rice underneath from the top.

After visiting Kiyomizu-dera, I was looking for a reasonably priced soba restaurant, but couldn't find one easily. Then, I stumbled upon a place while walking down Ninen-zaka. The entrance was small with a curtain, so I couldn't see inside very well, but it turned out to be a cute and cozy little shop. They had tatami seating for two people, but it was a bit cramped so we decided not to sit there. There were also tatami rooms in the back and tables across from them, so they had three seating options. Since it was a specific time, they told us they couldn't serve us donburi or tempura, but the staff were polite and the "ookini" they used was adorable. The soba menu was mostly written in kanji, so I couldn't really picture the dishes, but I ended up ordering the mountain vegetable soba that was displayed outside (890 yen). They also had tea soba, herring soba, and udon. The tea they served was cold and delicious, and the soba container had a unique taste and was cute. It was a random choice to enter this restaurant, but it had a Kyoto vibe which was nice. Thank you for the meal!