Near the taxi stand down the slope from Kiyomizu-dera Temple, there is a quaint restaurant called "Soba Restaurant Saka." Looking at the menu outside the restaurant, the prices seem quite reasonable for a tourist spot. The menu includes dishes like Oroshi Soba for 900 yen, Sanpo Soba for 950 yen, Tempura Zaru Udon for 1100 yen, Zaru Udon for 650 yen, Tempura Zaru Soba for 1200 yen, Zaru Soba for 800 yen, Tempura Udon for 1100 yen, Kitsune Udon for 680 yen, Sansai Soba for 800 yen, and Kitsune Soba for 800 yen. All dishes come with chirimen sansho rice and pickles. I chose the Tempura Zaru Soba for 1200 yen and enjoyed it in the quiet raised tatami seating area. The tempura was crispy and delicious, including shrimp, pumpkin, green pepper, and lotus root. I dipped it in matcha salt, but it was also tasty with soba dipping sauce. The soba noodles were hand-made and had a firm texture, very delicious. The chirimen sansho rice was so good that I wanted seconds. Priced at 1200 yen, the quality and portion size make it quite reasonable for a tourist spot in Kyoto. The pickled radish was also delicious, maybe because it's Kyoto. Thank you for the meal!

It was a small and cozy shop typical of Kyoto. The wait time (about 40 minutes for a group of 2) was a bit long, and it took around 30 minutes from entering to placing an order. It was around 2 pm. The soba and rice were delicious, but it's better to go when you have plenty of time. I thought we were the only ones delayed due to timing, but it seemed like others also had a similar wait time. The prices were reasonable for this area.

This was my first visit. It is located near Kiyomizu Temple. Perhaps because it was a weekday, I was able to enter without waiting. The staff's service was also polite. I had the tempura with small fish on rice. The soba noodles were also delicious. I think it is a reasonably priced and easy-to-enter restaurant.

Heavenly Monkey Soba (with seasoned rice) ¥1,200 (tax included)

After visiting Kiyomizu-dera, I stopped by a soba restaurant and had their tempura soba. It wasn't particularly delicious - the taste was mediocre, the rice was hard, and the noodles seemed like they were made by an amateur. The broth didn't complement the noodles well, so it was just okay. The atmosphere seemed more geared towards foreigners looking to enjoy a traditional soba experience. It's a place more for people who just want to fill their stomachs.

This is a soba restaurant located across from the Kiyomizu Temple tourist parking lot. I visited for lunch before a new client visit. It is located next to the lovely cafe CAFE OTOWA where I had lunch last time. The restaurant has 6 tables for 2 people each and a raised tatami seating area in the back. It was almost full, but luckily there was one table available near the entrance. Several groups came in after me, and some had to leave or wait due to it being full. There were quite a few foreign tourists, not only from Asia but also from Europe and America. I chose the Tempura Soba for 1,100 yen (tax included). You can choose either small dried fish rice or shiso rice, so I chose the small dried fish rice. The tempura included shrimp, shishito pepper, carrot, sweet potato, and pumpkin. It was crispy and tasted great with the green tea salt, which is typical of Kyoto. The soba noodles were hand-made and had a nice texture and flavor. I added condiments and slurped them down. The small dried fish rice was just the right amount for me, but it might be too small for younger people. Oh, they call it small dried fish rice here, but it's actually rice topped with shredded mountain pepper. The slightly spicy flavor goes well with the rice. The soba was delicious, but I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty the tempura was. It's a bit pricey at 1,100 yen for a tourist area, but I was satisfied with the quality. The service was also very good, with free refills of tea and attentive service to foreign tourists. July 18, 2017.

The soba noodles are freshly made every morning, and the tempura is fried one by one after receiving orders! The tempura soba costs 1100 yen, which is the most expensive item on the menu. This price is quite cheap for a tourist spot. Plus, it comes with rice! The soba noodles are only served cold, but they are undeniably delicious! The dipping sauce is slightly sweet and goes well with the soba noodles, showing their attention to detail. The crispy and flavorful green onions were fresh. It was delicious. I would like to visit again.

When I visited Kyoto for sightseeing, I stumbled upon a small shop called Sakasan and decided to stop by. The interior was cozy with about 5 tatami seating in the back. I ordered what I think was mountain vegetable udon. I also had the option to choose between shiso rice and jacobi rice, so I went with the jacobi rice. The udon had a nice texture, not too thick or thin. It was delicious. The price was around 800 yen. The jacobi rice was also tasty. However, I noticed that there were quite a few order mistakes between the customers and the staff. Maybe it was because it was busy. Overall, I was satisfied with the taste of the food.

When I visited Kiyomizu-dera, I stopped by this soba restaurant. I ordered the tempura soba without hesitation. After a day of eating around, my partner and I shared it. The tempura was crispy and delicious. The soba was a bit chewy, but had a good texture and tasted decent. The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice, and the staff were friendly. The interior was a bit small, but the view from the back tatami room was very Kyoto-like. The cost performance was great. I would be very satisfied to be able to eat a tempura soba at this price.

This time, I would like to introduce a soba restaurant located on Sannenzaka at Kiyomizu-dera Temple. During lunchtime, while looking for a place to eat without any specific destination in mind, I came across a shop with a striking noren curtain that had a base color of matcha green and the five-story pagoda of Kiyomizu-dera Temple drawn on it. Impressed by this, I decided to enter the shop right away. As expected of a tourist spot in Kyoto, the inside of the shop was full and bustling. After a 5-minute wait, I was seated. I decided to order hand-made soba, in line with the shop's name. I ordered the Tempura Soba set. This set comes with Tempura, and you can choose either "Shredded Dried Bonito with Japanese Pepper" or "Shiso Leaf" for the rice. Without hesitation, I chose the Kyoto specialty, "Shredded Dried Bonito with Japanese Pepper." The price is around 1,000 yen, which is reasonable for a tourist spot. Due to the crowded shop, it took about 20 minutes for the food to be served. Surprisingly, it was served faster than expected. The Tempura in the Tempura Soba set was fried crisply with good oil drainage, and it was served on a paper with matcha salt, which I enjoyed with a refreshing and elegant taste along with beer. The soba was dipped in a sauce with grated daikon radish, grated wasabi, and chopped green onions. The flavor-rich hand-made soba was delicious. The Shredded Dried Bonito with Japanese Pepper was served on top of hot rice. The balance between the sweetness of mirin and the spiciness of real Japanese pepper was excellent. The taste when enjoyed in its home region is truly exceptional. Due to its location, there were many foreigners, and it was a dish that allowed me to appreciate the greatness of Japanese food culture once again. However, the interior of this shop is very small, and it may feel cramped when visiting with a large group, so it is best to visit with around two people. I enjoyed the Tempura Soba and Shredded Dried Bonito with Japanese Pepper rice. Thank you for the meal.

After visiting Kiyomizu-dera, I was worried about getting stuck due to the approaching typhoon, so I decided to have a meal around the area. I randomly entered a soba restaurant called Saka-san. The small restaurant was crowded with about 20 people. I had no expectations, but I ordered dishes priced around 1,000 yen, such as tempura soba and a set of three types of soba. The set came with rice, and I chose the chirimen rice. The tempura was crispy and delicious. Surprisingly, the soba had a fragrant and delicious taste. It was to my liking. Usually in tourist areas, prices are high and the food is not good, but here the prices were reasonable and the soba was quite tasty. However, it was a bit uncomfortable as there were six of us and the seating was tight.

After embarking on a long hike starting from a smart coffee shop in Teramachi Sanjo, passing through Higashiyama Sanjo, Jingumichi, visiting Atago Shrine, Shoren-in Monzeki, and Maruyama Park, climbing the slope of Choraku-ji, passing by the grave of Rai San'yō up to Shogun-zuka, then descending and climbing back up Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka, crossing the pass of Nanazenya with a glance at Ajari Mochi, and descending Gonjozaka, visiting the Kaoru Kawakami Memorial Hall, we had a late lunch at this restaurant. It was tough. It's located on Gojozaka, so it's easy to understand why it's named "Zaka," and while it's straightforward, maybe they could have thought a bit more before naming it. Intrigued by the new soba poster, we decided to give it a try. We had the Oroshi Soba, a Kyoto-style dish with rice, and shredded mountain pepper on top. However, the grated daikon was not spicy, but ordinary daikon. It came with plenty of green onions, daikon sprouts, bonito flakes, and when mixed together, the fragrance was not strong, but the soba was quite delicious. The soba was served with soba sauce and grated daikon mixed well on top. In contrast, the rice was just average. The shredded mountain pepper on top was mild, which was disappointing. Shredded mountain pepper usually has a nice spicy kick to it, like at Yayoi.

I randomly found a soba restaurant near Kiyomizu Temple and decided to try it out. The word "handmade" caught my attention, so I went in. There was already one group of customers waiting in line. I waited for about 15 minutes before being seated in a relatively small dining area. The menu had a limited selection of soba dishes, with the most expensive being around 980 yen for "tempura soba." The meal also came with rice, making it a good value for the taste and price. Although there are other places I want to try, if I can't find them, I would come back here again. I think the quality is good enough to recommend to others.