Kawaramachi bar hopping series, 2nd stop on June 2, 2020, at Nishi King, also known as harachi-. The night of bar hopping in Kawaramachi that started at Tatsumi, while walking through the back alleys, came across a kushikatsu (deep-fried skewers) restaurant. Decided to have a casual drink here, at Kushizuka Kawaramachi Takoyakushi store. Ordered the Cheers Set for ¥1090 excluding tax, which includes a drink, 5 kushikatsu skewers, and a choice of one item. Chose beer as the drink. The kushikatsu skewers were assorted with shrimp, pork belly, lotus root, squid, and red sausage. The choice item was cold tofu. Surprisingly, a vegetable salad was served as a service. Additional charge of ¥300 for the salad? The beer and salad arrived, and the first sip made me go "Phew!" Beer is cheap even when ordered separately! Is there such a casual drink set available in Kyoto? The cold tofu was quite large, need to consider the eating pace. As I was thinking about that, the kushikatsu arrived. Although it was an assorted set, the breading was quite thin. Fried in rice oil, the crispy texture and unique flavor of the breading were delicious. Usually, double-dipping in the sauce is not allowed, but due to COVID-19 measures, a special sauce was provided in a container for self-application. Not very appealing, but understandable... The food volume made me drink more beer, and I had a refill! Is this a strategy? When the stomach was full and it was time to move on, settled the bill. The salad was included in the calculation? Understandable if ordering drinks separately, but for casual drinking or cheers sets, this should be excluded, a bit disappointing after enjoying the drinks. Well, being an away game, better comply quietly... (laughs) Thank you for the meal... Kushizuka Kawaramachi Takoyakushi store, 309-6 Maebeshima-cho, Takoyakushi-dori Kawaramachi Higashi-iru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City. Couldn't read the restaurant name with so many kanji characters... (laughs) #Kushizuka #Kushikatsu #CheersSet #GreatDeal #CheapDrinks #ChargedForService #DeliciousThinBreading #FriedInRiceOil #COVID19Measures #harachi- #NishiKing #KawaramachiShijo #KyotoEntertainmentDistrict #KyotoBackAlleys #KyotoSeries

I stopped by a casual kushikatsu restaurant without high expectations, but overall it was good. The atmosphere was nice with the manager running the place alone, and the seasoning was well done. They had a wide variety of side dishes, and the white senmai was fresh and easy to eat. The horse meat yukhoe had a satisfying taste. While there was a set menu for kushikatsu, I preferred ordering individual items to enjoy the crispy texture with the sauce that doesn't allow double dipping. The nostalgic melon soda drink was delicious. A must-try item is the tamago kake gohan for the finishing meal. I wish they would stop the complimentary salad system. The fried chicken was tough and not juicy, which was disappointing. Overall, I would say it was a good restaurant experience. Thank you for the meal.

Located a little east of Kiyamachi Takoyakushi, this place is where I visited once with a friend shortly after it opened. I don't remember much from that visit as we were both pretty drunk at the time. I decided to check it out again recently around 2 pm on a Sunday. There were no other customers, and we were seated at a spacious table. We ordered the Cheers Set (choice of draft beer or a drink under 300 yen, 5 assorted kushikatsu, and one dish of your choice from edamame, hiyayakko, tako wasabi, or changja) for 1090 yen (excluding tax) each. The price of 1090 yen seemed a bit odd. We went with edamame and hiyayakko for the additional dish. As soon as we ordered, a Japanese-style dressed salad was automatically served as an appetizer (probably around 300 yen per person). While most kushikatsu places serve cabbage, it was nice to have a salad here. My partner preferred the cabbage, though. The Cheers Set included draft beer, salad, followed by edamame and hiyayakko, and then the kushikatsu. We had shrimp, pork, lotus root, red sausage, and quail egg. The pork was the most delicious. We ordered two sets, but the contents were exactly the same. Some places offer different varieties even if you order the same set, but I guess it's just the way this place operates. Unfortunately, the texture of the shrimp was quite disappointing. When dipped in sauce, the batter fell off. The sauce, with the rule of "no double-dipping," was oily on the surface, and the batter was floating. It would have been better if they strained it. The flavor was somewhat light and had a hint of dashi. We also had shochu and chuhai, which ended up being more expensive than we expected. It might not be the best place for casual drinking, especially with so many standing bars around. It may be difficult for me to revisit this place.

I was tired from walking around and stumbled upon this shop. It was my first visit, and there were no other customers. The friendly staff served me efficiently and made me feel comfortable. I only stayed for about an hour, and there were still no other customers. I think it was just a slow day, but since it was a good shop, I will definitely visit again.

We visited the second restaurant with two women. We ordered using a QR code and the service from the staff was excellent, scoring 120 points. The appetizers were delicious and we had high expectations for the rest of the meal. While it wasn't particularly cheap, everything was tasty. We would like to try the first restaurant next time.