Kyoto, Japan｜Ichizen

We had a nice dinner at Ichizen (Food & Wine) last night. We'd had a hard time finding an izakaya with seats available for dinner Thursday night, so we walked around the neighborhood near our hotel (close to Kyoto Central Station) and came across Ichizen. We were able to get seats at the counter and ordered an assortment of small plates, including cucumber with miso, sashimi (kanpachi, maguro, and tai), a wonderful small bite of tempura nori topped with a generous portion of ikura (salmon roe), a tempura salmon with "uni sauce", tempura shishito peppers, tempura conger eel (a fish that is in season now), tempura scallops, and a bowl of rice with seared salmon and ikura. The staff was friendly and accommodating, and the restaurant has a nice atmosphere - we got there on the early side and it was filling up with locals as we left. Definitely worth a visit!

I love the freshly grated wasabi. The food is amazing. :D

Great food, great service. Felt like an authentic atmosphere.