So many restaurants, so little time before your shinkansen leaves. Kyoto Station is filled with dining options ranging from the casual to the upmarket - which one should you pick?
The answer depends on where you enter, how much time you have and whether you want a full spread or a sandwich in a coffee shop.
Which Side of the Station?
First, know your entrances. Kyoto Station has two main gates to the outside world: the Karasuma, or Central, entrance and the Hachijo entrance.
Karasuma (Central) Entrance: This is the north side, facing Kyoto Tower. It’s the grand, glassy side with Hotel Granvia Kyoto, JR Isetan and an intimidating amount of escalators. If you’re heading to Kansai International Airport on the Haruka express, this is the entrance you want. Tell your taxi driver, 'Kyoto eki, chu-o guchi'.
Hachijo Entrance: This is the south side, the entrance closer to the shinkansen platforms. If you're taking a cab to the station, let the driver know that you want to go to 'Kyoto eki, Hachijo guchi'. If you can't remember all that, just say, 'Shinkansen', and you'll probably be dropped off at the right side.
To walk between the two entrances, you’ll need to cross the main concourse or go through the underground passage that connects the bullet trains with the JR lines as well as the Porta restaurant and shopping area. Both routes are signposted, though you may feel like Theseus in the labyrinth.
Where to Eat in Kyoto Station: Navigating the Zones
The Kyoto Station building is essentially a giant dining hub disguised as a train station. But it can be hard finding lunch in the labyrinth because the restaurants are spread across several different zones: Porta Dining, Miyako Michi, Asty Road and Square, the Isetan Department Store and the upper-level food streets such as Kyoto Ramen Koji.
A word of warning: the higher the floor, the more escalators between you and your train. Travelers in a hurry should probably skip anything above the 4th floor. Those escalators look short at first but you’ll likely spend more time on them than you expect.
Here’s a tour of the main areas.
Porta Dining: Underground and in the Sky
Porta is one of the best places to eat in the Kyoto Station area - its range of cheap dining opportunities attracts residents and tourists alike. Spread across the B1 and B2 floors on the Karasuma (north) side, it’s part underground shopping mall, part food court and part culinary jungle.
East Area and West Area (B1): A sprawling variety of casual restaurants - Japanese, Italian, Korean, cafés - makes this a great place for a quick, reasonably priced bite. It's also convenient if you’re coming from the subway since it's connected directly to the mall.
South Area (B2): More shops than restaurants but handy if you need a spot of consumer therapy.
Porta Sky Dining (11th floor): For the ambitious traveler with time to spare and leg muscles strong enough for escalator marathons. These restaurants are fancier, pricier and often come with a view of Kyoto Tower.
Miyako Michi and Asty Road: The Southern Flank
On the south side of Kyoto Station - closer to the shinkansen platforms - you’ll find Miyako Michi (southwest corner) and Asty Road (southeast corner). Together, they form a long dining street packed with restaurants, cafés and shops.
Miyako Michi: Expect noodle dishes, sushi, Japanese-Western fusion, hamburger steaks and pasta.
Asty Road: Slightly trendier, with a greater variety of restaurants. Head to Kyoto Omotenashi Koji, the far eastern end, for regional specialties.
Asty Square: Located partly inside the shinkansen ticketed area so you can still find food even if you’ve passed through the fare gates.
If you have only an hour before departure, Miyako Michi and Asty Road are the best hunting grounds. No escalator climbs, no epic treks, just food within suitcase-dragging distance.
JR Kyoto Isetan: Gourmet on the Upper Floors
The Isetan department store connected to Kyoto Station is a multi-storey emporium of shopping and eating.
Eat Paradise (3rd and 11th floor): A gourmet cluster with Chinese, Korean, Italian and Japanese restaurants. Many restaurants have a view of Kyoto Tower.
Eat Paradise is a good place to go if you’re ending your Kyoto trip with a celebratory meal - but remember the escalator warning. The elevators are on the small side and take time to arrive.
Somewhat confusingly, there's an annexe of Eat Paradise on the third floor, facing the west exit of the JR lines. The escalator (above) leading to this floor is located next to a collection of bento and souvenir vendors - it's a good place to pick up something for the road.
There are also cafés and restaurants on the other floors in Isetan - handy for a mid-shopping break.
Kyoto Ramen Koji: Noodles with Altitude
Located on the 10th floor of the station building, Kyoto Ramen Koji is a corridor lined with ramen restaurants representing different regional styles from Hokkaido to Kyushu. It’s basically a noodle theme park.
But getting there means escalator-hopping as if you’re in an MC Escher drawing. Unless you have a lot of time, skip this and save the tonkotsu ramen for another day.
Kyoto Station Restaurants: The Game Plan
If you reach the station with only an hour or so before your shinkansen leaves, speed matters more than culinary excellence. Head to the Miyako Michi and Asty Road arcades near the Hachijo entrance and duck into any restaurant or café that looks acceptable and doesn’t have a queue.
If you’re heading to Kansai International Airport or to Osaka on a non-shinkansen train, go down to Porta Dining in the basement instead - the restaurants there are closer to the fare gates.
Alternatively, use the time to shop for a railway bento and eat on the train.
If you’re looking for a good meal to wrap up your time in Kyoto, arrive at the station early, leave your luggage in a locker and go eat something interesting. Here are a few recommendations:
Restaurant Recommendations
Nakamura Tokichi: One Last Matcha Before You Dash
Location: 3F, JR Kyoto Isetan Eat Paradise Annexe, Higashishiokojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto 600-8215
Open: 11:00 - 22:00 (last order: 21:00)
If your Kyoto trip has been a long, blissful matcha binge, Nakamura Tokichi helps you squeeze in one last fix before you leave.
Founded in 1854 as a tea merchant in Uji, the shop is instantly recognizable by its logo - a circle enclosing the character to - ten - which also resembles a cross. It’s a brand that has had plenty of practice turning tea leaves into something people will queue for.
And queue you will. The Kyoto Station branch almost always has a line, though it moves briskly.
Man shall not live by parfait alone so order soba, Japan's original fast food. Since this is a tea shop, the version here is tencha soba, noodles made by blending buckwheat with the raw material for matcha. Go for the set and you’ll also get green tea jelly, refreshing without veering into candy territory.
But perhaps you subscribe to the Japanese belief in betsubara, the 'separate stomach' reserved for dessert.
If so, surrender to one of the store’s famous parfaits - layers of jelly, matcha soft-serve, shiratama dumplings and azuki beans. It isn’t as tall as Kyoto Tower but it’s still a monument to matcha.
Obuya: The Bubuzuke Exit
Location: 3F, JR Kyoto Isetan Eat Paradise Annexe, Higashishiokojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto 600-8215
Open: 11:00 - 22:00 (last order: 21:15)
Around the corner from Nakamura Tokichi is Obuya, a chic little restaurant dedicated to Kyoto’s take on ochazuke, a dish of tea or broth poured over rice and simple toppings.
Here, though, the humble bowl gets the deluxe treatment, topped with sashimi from a fishmonger that’s been in business for nearly a century.
The ochazuke arrives as a graceful assembly: a bowl of rice crowned with salmon, prawns or - if you’re feeling celebratory - nine different kinds of sashimi.
A small pot of dashi broth accompanies it. You pour the broth over, take a bite, then add seaweed, spring onions or popped rice for texture, finishing with bonito flakes for a fragrant flourish. It’s comfort food that puts on a little black dress.
The interior reflects that balance - wooden partitions call to mind the lattices of machiya townhouses, but the presentation is sleek, designed for travelers who want an Instagramable send-off.
Ochazuke is famously light, so those with larger appetites should ask for a bigger portion of rice.
In the imperial capital, even a modest bowl carries cultural resonance. Kyoto people are said to offer bubuzuke - the Kyoto word for ochazuke - when they feel that it’s time for a guest to leave.
If you’re used to their roundabout way of speaking, you’ll excuse yourself and make your exit.
You must not, under any circumstance, accept the offer of bubuzuke. Have it at Obuya instead - and say goodbye to Kyoto in style.
Minoru Dining: A Kyoto Bento Without the Train
Location: B1 West Area, Kyoto Porta, 902 Higashishiokojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto 600-8216
Open: 11:00 - 22:00 (last order: 21:00)
Among the many casual eateries at Kyoto Station, this one stands out for its satisfying set meals.
The signature Minoru Zen arrives as a box filled with neat little dishes - colorful, delicate and very Kyoto. Some of the dishes come at room temperature so, if you want something steaming, opt for one of the other sets. Still, the elegance of the presentation makes the box a popular choice.
The menu makes excellent use of regional produce: Kyoto vegetables, marbled local beef and a rice variety so new the ink on its birth certificate is still wet. Named Kyo Shikibu after Murasaki Shikibu, the author of The Tale of Genji, the grains are glossy and fragrant, worthy of their literary namesake.
For those who want to keep things light, steamed vegetables and pork provide a healthier alternative.
The restaurant also offers tasting sets of Kyoto sake - just in case your idea of rice is the fermented, liquid sort.
Soup Stock Tokyo: Soup Across Enemy Lines
Location: B1 West Area, Kyoto Porta, 902 Higashishiokojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto 600-8216
Open: 10:00 - 22:00 (last order: 21:30)
It feels like heresy to recommend a restaurant with 'Tokyo' - Kyoto's age-old rival - in its name, but Soup Stock Tokyo deserves to be the exception. It's also one of the few eateries in the station that opens before 11 am, a godsend if your train leaves at noon.
The menu changes seasonally but always offers variety: you can mix and match soups with rice, curry or bread. Popular staples include the Alaskan lobster bisque and the Tokyo borscht - the Hokkaido pumpkin soup is also worth a try.
Vegetarians will find options here and the whole experience is quick, light and cosmopolitan. With the slogan 'Soup For All', the chain delivers, proving that a bowl of soup can cross borders more easily than you can with your luggage.
Coyote the Ordinary Shop: A Café Worth the Detour
Location: (Entrance of Campus Plaza Kyoto) 939 Higashishiokojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto 600-8216
Open: 8:30 - 17:00 (last order: 16:30); closed on Mondays
Step five minutes away from Kyoto Station and you’ll find Coyote the Ordinary Shop, a café that's anything but ordinary. Its mission, suggested by its name, is to make direct-trade coffee and plant-based menus the norm but, until the world catches up, it will forge ahead - and keep serving oat milk.
The owner imports beans directly from El Salvador, where he once worked on a farm, and the results are clear in the quality of the brews: cold drip, hand pour or straight espresso.
Lattes are made with oat milk by default and the small food menu is unexpectedly inventive. Banana bread and gluten-free cheesecake sit alongside tuna melts and vegan egg toast, a convincing creation of tofu, pumpkin paste and vegan mayonnaise.
The space is cozy, the service, personable, and the vibe, decidedly chill. From the windows you can see trains pulling out of Kyoto Station, a gentle reminder not to get too comfortable and miss your own ride out of town.
How About Some Ochazuke?
Kyoto Station can feel like a culinary theme park with bullet trains attached. Whether you want a last taste of Kyoto cuisine, a hearty bowl of ramen or simply a coffee to stay awake until Tokyo, the options are many.
Arrive early, stash your luggage and explore. Or - if you’re running late - grab an ekiben, collapse into your shinkansen seat and enjoy your boxed meal as the train whooshes off.
Bon appétit, or as the Kyoto locals might say when it’s time for you to go: bubuzuke wa ikaga dosu? Would you like some ochazuke?
Photos and text by Janice Tay