If you are like me, then I love to explore everything regarding food, and this review of the Saizeriya Restaurant and Cafe in Kyoto will probably make you think about visiting this chain when you are there.

I love everything Japanese except Sushi and all the commercial beef that can be found easily in our Southeast Asian countries. When I visit Japan, I avoid these two food categories to let the food bloggers do their thing.

Saizeriya Restaurant and Cafe in Kyoto

First of all, in all my years of visiting Japan, I never once stepped into any Saizeriya outlets; therefore, in April 2024, this was the first time I walked in without expectation. And the rest is history! This Japanese chain has become one of my go-to food places whenever I am in Japan.

The good question is —why? Well, let me share this with you. Saizeriya is a no-frills, budget-friendly, high-quality, volume-game restaurant or cafe concept targeting busy Japanese and curious tourists like me.

When I walked in, or should I say, walked up one floor, there were hardly any seats available, and I had to wait a couple of minutes before being brought to our comfortable table. From my first impression, everything looked normal, just like any other Japanese restaurant or cafe.

The menu came, and it was, wow, so many pages with photos to go through, but this was good because photos make life easier for tourists. While looking through the menu, I noticed that Japanese chit-chat, laughter, and klink-klank from the cutlery were the main pieces of music, which wasn’t a problem.

Then something caught my eye on the menu – it was the prices. Was I seeing it right? They were very cheap compared to the many other places I have dined at, and I was quite surprised to find that I could easily order two main courses for the price of one at another eatery.

I had no choice but to look around and see other customers’ portions, and they looked decent—not too big, but just nice for one person. I then decided to try my favourite—Hamburg with a salad starter—while my wife opted for the seafood pasta.

Ringing the table button got the Saizeriya staff rushing over quickly to take the order and repeat it in English to me, which was a pleasant surprise for a young waitress.

The wait wasn’t long before the starter arrived, followed by the main in the next few minutes, and the portion looked very appetizing. My phone had to eat first by taking photos of the food, and my style was quickly taken so I could eat.

Yes, uncles and aunties, take a quick shot and eat your food. Don’t spend five to ten minutes trying to take food photos from different angles just for your Facebook because no one will give you a prize. Please learn how to take photos and be done with it quickly so everyone can eat while the food is fresh.

The food quality was beyond my expectations because I had assumed that the food would be just average or slightly below average due to the very affordable prices. However, this was a pleasant surprise for both of us, considering how fussy we can be regarding food.

I won’t go into detail about how much each dish costs because that is what old bloggers will do: list the price for each dish and let everyone know how much they spent. Nowadays, it’s irrelevant because the cost of living keeps increasing worldwide, and prices change after a few years, so the best is to mention how affordable the place is.

The drinks were also quite interesting. You know you do not need to pay for drinking water in Japan, as it is free. Those are charged only if you order coffee, tea or soft drinks. Here at Saizeriya, the only beverages they send to you are mocktails. Everything else is self-service through automated machines in one section of the restaurant.

That meant I visited the drink station several times because the Japanese love to give small cups, but I’ve become used to that after 30 years of visiting Japan.

When it was time to pay the bill, I was again surprised because the staff pointed me to an unmanned cashier station, which was all automated. You need to bring your table order paper with a barcode and scan it on the machine. Then, you can pay by cash or a Japanese debit or pay card, and tourists usually use cash.

Somehow, you can place all the Japanese notes and coins in one go, as the machine is quite advanced and can calculate them fast. When you’re done, the machine tells you ‘Thank you’ in Japanese, and you’re good to go. The staff there don’t even check with you as they are too busy.

Well, this indeed was a pleasant self-service experience, and perhaps one day, robots will be serving you, and there will be no human interaction. I’m sure this will be achievable before 2030, and right now, they are already training the robots for multiple tasks.

All photos here were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. I stopped carrying a DSLR or Mirrorless camera since 2018 when smartphones became a little more rllevant in my work.

Saizeriya Restaurant in Shijo Teramachi, Kyoto

Colclusion

For anyone heading to this part of Japan and wanting to explore a slightly more local side of Japanese food, I recommend Saizeriya Restaurant and Cafe in Kyoto. You will surely be in for a nice surprise, and for me, this place was hard to go wrong. It’s affordable, fast, and, most importantly, tasty.

Thanks for reading my Japanese food review. For more information, check out my Japan section or other food reviews. I’ve been writing about food and travel for over two decades, but I keep it online as a hobby for my travels.