Today I was working in Higashiyama, Kyoto. I consulted with my partner on where to have lunch, and we decided on Chinatown restaurant Shokunogen. However, there were so many tourists and school groups in Yasaka that everywhere was crowded. There weren't many dining options either. Shokunogen is located near the Yasaka Pagoda. It seems to be run by a couple, and the interior has a Chinese restaurant feel rather than a diner. We ordered their recommended mapo tofu served in a bowl, with soup and pickles on the side. The mapo tofu was spicy and flavorful, with just the right amount of Sichuan pepper. The soup had a lot of celery and vegetables, and tasted good, although it was a bit lukewarm. The staff spoke Chinese and the customers were a mix of Southeast Asians, Japanese, and school groups, creating a chaotic atmosphere. The owner mentioned that their hot pot is delicious, so I would like to come back and try it sometime. Thank you for the meal!

I went to Kyoto to visit Nishi-Otani-san at Gojozaka and on the way to Yasaka Shrine, I found this restaurant. It was around 11:50 am on a Sunday and there were no other customers, probably due to the state of emergency. I ordered the mapo tofu lunch set, which was priced around 700-800 yen. The fried chicken served as a side dish was okay, but the mapo tofu was too spicy and seemed to have a lot of artificial seasoning. I ended up sweating while eating it. Even the almond jelly dessert lacked sweetness. Overall, the food was okay, but not impressive. The restaurant seemed to offer more authentic dishes based on their menu, but my experience today was somewhat disappointing.

The taste is just average Chinese food, but the service is at a minimum level. There was no menu written on the wall, and the staff had a bad attitude after using the restroom. I will never go back.

We went with our family on the last day of Golden Week for lunch. Among the many lunch sets around 700 yen, we ordered the green pepper pork set. It came with green pepper pork, fried chicken, fresh vegetables, soup, rice, almond jelly, and pickles. The green pepper pork had a surprisingly generous portion and a light seasoning without any bitterness from the green peppers, making it very delicious. The fried chicken was a bit fatty but tasty. The vegetables were cabbage, carrots, and others with a light dressing. The soup had carrots, seaweed, and egg, and was refreshing. There were about 15 customers including us, and various dishes were ordered, but the food came out surprisingly quickly. I tried a bit of the ramen soup my daughter ordered, and it was also delicious.

We visited this restaurant on our way back from seeing the light-up at Kiyomizu Temple with our family. It seems to be run by a couple and their son. They offer several affordable set menus even at night. We ordered the sweet and sour pork set, ramen and fried rice set, and some dumplings. The sweet and sour pork was light and delicious with well-cooked vegetables. The ramen tasted similar to my favorite Ryuto restaurant in Kawaramachi, and it was delicious. The fried rice was also tasty. The dumplings didn't look very appealing, but they had a subtle ginger flavor and a light taste, making them one of the best dumplings I've had. This restaurant has a simple, old-fashioned Chinese diner atmosphere where you can relax and enjoy your meal. We will definitely visit again.

Visited for the first time in 2014. Stopped by this restaurant in Higashiyama Ward on my way home from work. While the street was lined with Chinese restaurants, I had been searching for my favorite sour and spicy soup noodles and happened to stumble upon it here. It was an old-fashioned Chinese restaurant located a bit east from the main street. It seemed to be run by Chinese people. The staff were efficient. I actually wanted the sour and spicy soup noodles with plenty of chili oil and cilantro, but the menu here was for sour and spicy noodles. A first for me! Perhaps this is the original form in China. From the colors and such, it seemed like Cantonese cuisine? The taste was very mild with a rich Chinese soup base, giving it a feel of Chinese-style ramen. The noodles were straight and thin. The notable feature was the abundance of vegetables and ingredients. There was hardly any meat, but plenty of vegetables. Personally, I was happy to find enoki mushrooms in it. It was a restaurant where I learned a new taste.

Visited on February 12, 2012 (Sunday) around 11:25 AM. There were 2 customers before me and 6 customers after me. The kitchen is located on the right side of the entrance, with a counter seating for 9 people in front of it. On the left side of the entrance, there is a table for 6 people and 3 tables for 4 people. There is also a raised tatami seating for 4 people at the back on the left side. I did not confirm the details of the seating arrangements. The lunch menu outside the restaurant includes Mapo Tofu set for 700 yen, Sweet and Sour Pork set for 800 yen, and Ramen set for 700 yen. There are also lunch menus for students starting from 560 yen with a 20% discount. I ordered the Ramen set for 700 yen, which was the same as what I had for lunch yesterday. The restaurant is run by young Chinese staff. The Ramen set includes ramen, mini fried rice, one piece of fried chicken, fresh vegetables, and pickles. It arrived in 7 minutes. The soup is a soy sauce-based chicken broth, and the noodles are thin straight noodles. It comes with slices of pork, bamboo shoots, and vegetables, making it a good deal. There are also two small seasoned fried tofu pieces included, which I was not familiar with. I should have asked, but I got busy when more customers came in, and I forgot to inquire. The pork slices were thick and had a traditional dry texture, providing a good chew. The fried chicken was lightly seasoned and could use a bit more salt. The fried rice lacked the typical fluffy texture and was easy to eat with chopsticks directly from the small bowl. It contained carrots, green peas, and corn, which seemed to be the famous frozen vegetables you can find at home. The restaurant, which opened in June 2011, had a clean and well-maintained interior. You can see the entire cooking process from the counter and table seats, which is interesting. The prices for alcohol seemed a bit high, but the a la carte dishes were reasonably priced. The seasoning might cater more to Chinese tastes rather than Japanese. They offer course meals for 2980 yen and 4980 yen per person, starting from 4 people. I would like to revisit for drinks at night, especially for my favorite dish, "Stir-fried Chinese cabbage with salt flavor." The entrance to the restaurant has a small step and is not wheelchair accessible.

I heard from an acquaintance that this place is delicious, so we decided to try it out. Since it's cold and not the tourist season, we had the whole place to ourselves (haha). The restaurant is run by a couple, with the mother handling the customer service. Although her Japanese isn't perfect, we were able to communicate well, and she was cheerful and energetic! We ordered stir-fried greens, mapo tofu, boiled snails with leeks, shrimp tempura, and more, and everything was delicious! The menu is very extensive, with high-end items like braised sea cucumber in soy sauce and fish maw. I was tempted by dishes like sea cucumber donburi or oyster sauce stew (which were over 1200 yen), but I didn't have the courage to try them (haha). The walls were covered with menus, and there was a poster saying "We now serve chilled noodles!" with pictures of various dishes and prices ranging from 600 yen to 2500 yen. Some of the Japanese on the menu was a bit off, giving me the feeling of being in a restaurant run by Japan-loving people in Taiwan or Hong Kong. If you like a relaxed atmosphere, I recommend this place! We ate to our heart's content, and with my partner having two bottled beers and one shochu highball, the total came to 5500 yen for the two of us, so the cost performance was good! I'm thinking of trying their lunch next time! Oh, and they also have a menu called "Evening Set Meal" (^m^) By the way, we usually say "lunch set" or "lunch special," but not "evening," so it was quite unique (haha).

Table 6, 7 tables, about 10 counter seats, a spacious restaurant that gives off a Chinese vibe rather than a ramen shop. From the lined-up alcohol to the wall decorations, you can feel the Chinese atmosphere in the interior. It's only natural to want to order the boiled dumplings, which are a bit thick and have a smooth skin that, when bitten into, releases a juicy mix of pork and vegetables. Just when your excitement peaks, the boiled pork spine arrives. What?! This is China?! The pork spine is piled high on the plate in a hearty manner. It's as delicious as tuna's chu-toro. There's no way boiled pork spine isn't delicious! It's skillfully cooked and the atmosphere is straight out of Water Margin! I think it was around 600 yen, but if you're not lazy, there's a high chance you'll get hooked!!

This is a Chinese restaurant located at the entrance of Kiyomizuzaka. I visited without any prior information because I had some business at Kiyomizu-dera. It was after 12 o'clock but there was only one other customer. The menu had very cheap prices that didn't seem like typical tourist area restaurants. I didn't have high expectations for the food, so I ordered the cheapest mapo don set (550 yen). The mapo tofu part was not very tasty, but it was edible. However, the rice underneath was unbelievably bad. It was clumped together like seaweed, lukewarm, and had a strange smell. Despite the large portion, it was impossible to eat. The soup was also not good, so I managed to pour some water over the soup and half of the mapo tofu on top of the rice before leaving.