Kyoto
~El’s KURA Bar
It was hard finding a halal place in Kyoto. Eventually we ended up at some Indonesian places which has halal options. One such place is EL’s KURA bar. The guy who owned the place once came to Japan and never left. He is the only person doing it all: serving and cooking. It was freshly made and tasted good. The menu consists of traditional Indonesian dishes, such as nasi goreng (fried rice), mie goreng (fried noodle), fried chicken and many more.
I will never forget the feeling I had while eating at this bar. I felt being far away from home, somewhere in the Far East. Having the realisation that I was finally in Japan and that made me feel content.
Price: $
Suitaable: Vegetarian and halal
~Bali- Bali Indonesia
This is an Indonesian restaurant in the Gion neighbourhood, which serves halal and vegetarian options. I like how they attempt to create Indonesian warung (small café/restaurant) atmosphere. Just like a warung they also sell snacks.
When you enter the restaurant you are supposed to take off your shoes and have a sit on the floor cushions. In terms of food they have the traditional dish such as nasi/mie goreng, but also tahu telor (tofu omelet), Tempe Mendoan (fermented soy beans), so vegetarians options available. What I also like about the place is how friendly the people were.
Price: $
Suiteable: Vegetarian and halal
~ SamaSama
This is the last one from the list of Indonesian restaurants. Like the previous places, it serves all the known traditional Indonesian dishes, with some other dishes on the menu. What makes this place more distinguishable is the set up of the restaurant inside. There were plenty of cushions where you can sit on the floor or at the bar. The lighting tend to be darkish, so if this is your kind of atmosphere then this might be the place for you. The food tasted just fine and many local Japanese visited this place.
Price: $
Suiteable: Vegetarian and halal
Other things to consider and to try:
I do not want to end up writing about Indonesian restaurants only while in Kyoto. However, my experience was that it was not easy to find halal places. Also I noticed that the restaurants closed rather early in the evening, so that is something to take into account while looking for dinner.
A must try when in Kyoto is everything with matcha, since Uji (region in Kyoto) is where matcha get cultivated.
When I was visiting Arashiyama Bamboo forest, there was a whole road with shops where they sell all good matcha stuff. I had the best matcha cookies and had some matcha ice cream, worth the try!