Izugen

The place is lovely and located in a quiet street just a few minutes walk from Nishiki Market. My husband and I always wanted to try good sushi and this place is hands down one of the best we have tried while in Japan. We initially asked the hotel reception to book us a place but the owner said it’s alright for us to walk in and when we arrived at around 11am we were the only two people. The waiter that time was really nice and attentive and recommended the Nigiri and Kyoto sets which we tried. They were indeed the best! My only regret was not getting another Nigiri set for myself but we managed to order another Kyoto set for takeaway which they especially advised we should eat the same day. Every attention to each roll was just beautiful and I think this restaurant really exemplifies Japanese culture in their food.

We stopped in for a quick, early dinner and were pleasantly surprised by the flavorful tuna chirashi bowls. The rice was absolutely perfect! We also tried the inari, which was a satisfying addition. Just keep in mind that they close early, with the last seating at 6:30 PM.

I followed the restaurant on instagram because you need to make reservations with them through it. But I saw that they would be closed exceptionally on the day I planned to go, so I had to give it a miss. Then, as we were returning to Kyoto after a morning climbing Mounts Kurama and Kibune, I saw that we might just make it there before their 2pm last order. So I contacted the owner via instagram and to my surprise he actually answered me quickly and it was a bit stressful, but we made it to the restaurant before 2pm and he kindly waited for us to order. I do not eat raw fish, but they had a nice cooked seafood chirashi with delicately shredded omelette and my husband who loves sushi ordered their sushi platter. He would have loved some sashimi, but it didn’t look like any was on the menu. It was just a bit unfortunate that we had to gobble down our lunch, but it was nice to be able to taste the offering of this reputable family-run establishment during our short stay in November.

The staff were so friendly and the food was delicious! Amazing quality for a good price. Beautiful space and very clean. You can only pay in cash so make sure to bring some with you!

This place has truly fantastic food. The chirashi bowl was surprisingly good, the ginger is made in house, wasabi is grated, the seafood does indeed taste better than other places, but the price does hurt. Wanted to add one chutoro onigiri but I was not about to drop 900 yen for one singular piece... Update: they also charged us for an extra salmon roll.... (Had to eventually dispute but like still)