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What this is: a small, beautiful, lush, green town about an hour away from Kyoto serving flowing cold noodles out of bamboo chutes at Hirobun restaurant. There are many restaurants built over stream platforms in Kifune (summer only), but as far as I'm aware of, Hirobun is the only one who has capitalized on nagashi somen. The rest of the Kawadoko (riverside dining) only serve traditional Japanese food ($$$$).
I'm sure this place used to be a quiet, peaceful, and pretty idyllic town with only Japanese vacationers and locals frequenting the area but with Youtube media exposure, it's exploded, and I'm sure there are a lot of locals living in the town who are downright salty about us being there: case in point - my son was standing in line with the rest of the herd when an older lady dressed in kimono (staff) yelled at my son irritably to get into a single line, in pretty good English: "stay in line! It's dangerous!" (due to narrow roads and cars). I wonder how many times she had to practice that line to get the inflection just right, because it was pretty doggone good, even the irritated part! Even if it weren't for this minor downer, this place would still get a four-star anyway.
PROS:
- It is tucked away in a tiny town called Kifune (or Kibune), and I must say I truly loved this town. Next time I come back I'm spending the night at Hirobun's Ryokan!
- The whole town is a water town! From it's flowing streams to even having water features at the bathroom and random faucets in the walls on the road is amazing! I keep forgetting this review is for the restaurant itself and not the town!
- Approximately $13.00 USD is not a bad price to pay for such a novel experience. Price is only for the dining platform noodles experience.
NEUTRAL:
- Minimal English spoken (unless they are yelling at you) or give you the instructions written in English, so be prepared to bring out your Google Translate, or read the rest of the review so you know what to do ;-)
- Cash only. And don't bring yens larger than a $100 USD or they will not have any change.
- Allow a full day's excursion from Kyoto proper, because this place is only accessible through Eizan Line, Keihan Line and a local bus to get here. Clearly not near any other attractions, but I thought this was part of the charm.
- If it is raining, be prepared to have your lunch cancelled, but they will refund your money. The restaurant itself is simply a thatched roof over a platform, and rain will go right through the straw roof.
CONS:
- Expect this 'somen lunch' to be just a snack. It's clearly entertainment and so you will not get filled up with food if you are thinking you'll get a hearty serving. Eat before you get to Hirobun so you won't go hungry the rest of the day. If you eat in their restaurant area (separated from the noodle area) be prepared to spend some serious money.
- the more people in your party, the less chances you will have to grab your bunch of somen noodles (it comes down on one water sluice), so make sure you work it out with your group about the timing and spacing of the noodles.
- Wait time around 2 hours, total. If you go after lunch, you shouldn't have too much of a problem.
- Pretty disorganized, as far as getting any information about going down to the waiting platform. The employee (older man), told me the platform downstairs was filled, and I should go sightseeing around the town for about an hour. After 40 minutes, he tells me I need to head down to the platform pronto, bad news was that my family had wandered off around town and I had to find them.
HELPFUL TERMS/WORDS/THINGS:
- At the window: hitori (one person), futari (two persons), san-nin (three persons), yo-nin (four), go-nin (five), roku-nin (six persons).
- Ote arai wa doko desu ka? - where is the toilet? It is in the back of the restaurant. You have to go back up to street level, put on your shoes and find your way to the back of the building.
It was a fun and magical experience for just a day trip. If I were really a lot younger and more motivated (with more time and no teenagers in tow), I would hike from Kifune to Kurama and spend maybe another few hours in Kurama at their onsen before heading back to Kyoto (or stay in Kurama).
There's a reason why people keep coming back to Japan year after year, maybe it's for magical places like these?
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Date of stay: July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
So many tourists. There is long queue in summer, if you wanna eat Nagashi somen. After you make a reservation, the staff will give you a fan with queue number and instruction. It costs 1300 Yen. If there is a heavy rain, the restaurant will stop the somen and give you refund.
I make a reservation about 11.00. and i have to come back the restaurant at 13.00. When it's time, the receptionist invite me to go downstairs. After that i have to wait until the staff call my number. I get my round at 14.00. It's good experience and really fun. Sit in front of the waterfall. Beautiful scenery. The noodles flow along the channel and you have to quickly catch it. Take time to drain off water from the somen before dip in the sauce. Good taste. Except the last batch of noodles (Red color), the taste is wired to me.
I feel a bit annoy with some tourists that they are very demanding. They try to sit together for take a photo at a position that they want. No care for other ones that are waiting for their round.
The restaurant receptionist speak English very well. (A teenage boy)
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Date of stay: July 2017
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had heard that getting to Hirobun would be difficult so we made sure to triple check our route, we did this using local maps, asking local people and using google reviews which detailed the route. We were staying near Kyoto Station. We got a local bus from the station, opting for a day pass; cheaper if we wished to use the buses again in the evening. We took the bus straight to the Eizan Electric Line at Demachiyanagi Station, (most people take the Keihan Line and then change). The ride was short, approx 20 mins including waiting. We spoke to some really helpful women in the Eizan office, where we explained our plan for the day was to go to Hirobun then the Kurama Onsen near by. They suggested a combined electric railway ticket, which would also allow us entry into the Onsen & Kurama Temple, saving us approximately 500Yen. We got on the train, exiting at Kibune-guchi Station, we then took a local bus up to Kifune. It is then about a 15-20 minute walk up to the restaurant. The road runs inside a beautiful forest and all you need to do is follow the stream. There are beautiful restaurants along the river. You will know when you reach Hirobun as there will likely be a queue outside. We arrived at about 11.15am and were perhaps in the last group to have a short wait, I expect had we arrived any later it would have been much longer. The noodles are lovely and the experience though short is well worth it! The local onsen we visited afterwards was amazing too!
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Date of stay: September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I checked the weather forecast before making reservation (important! As the kawadoko dining area is not rain proof). The place is about 1hr20mins train ride from Kyoto station. We arrived Hirobun by 10:30 to get our queue number for the Nagashi Somen. They were already serving the first batch of customers so do come early to avoid the wait! Needless to say, we enjoyed this summer activity n the fresh cooling noodles. The river provided a natural cooling effect n I loved how the sunlight streams thru slightly from the straw-like roof. We proceeded to the platform above the river for our sukiyaki lunch. We were served by Miho(or Miko?) who spoke perfect English because she has worked abroad in US, France and Italy. The staff even offered to take photos for us without us asking and we went home with a memorable picture n full tummies. PS. This place is really popular for Chinese tourists so do come early to avoid tour buses
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Date of stay: June 2018Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My friend stepped in the gap between the floor and river,she's leg got injured . The restaurant staff blame us why didn't pay attention, then just gone! They just left my friend ,I can't believe no one comes to help and no apologies , I'm so piss off . The food was okay, but the staff attitude was so bad. This is kind of shame on Japanese service .
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Date of stay: September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Waited 40 minutes for finally having the staff telling us we have to wait 4 hours before eating. Don't go there. There are tons of better places in kyoto for the soumen than here. The scenary is nice, but the taste is not worth the waiting at all.
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Date of stay: August 2018Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tried the nagashi somen which was truly a very interesting experience! Had so much fun scooping up the noodles which they were very generous with the portions.
Afterwards, we went to the main outdoor restaurant area which overlooks the somen area and river. Wonderful view! We had the sukiyaki which was a little too sweet and salty for my liking but that’s supposed to be the correct flavor strength. Our waitress Miho was very friendly and spoke good English.
A bit pricey (8,000 Yen per pax for the sukiyaki and 1,300 Yen for the somen) but it was well worth it. Highly recommended!
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Date of stay: June 2018Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
WOW. I don't know if any eating experience can top this. First off, they have a shuttle from the station that takes you to the restaurant which was really convenient. We started out with the Nagashi Somen which was hilariously fun. You catch noodles with chopsticks as they slither down a bamboo shoot. Lots of laughter and giggles.
After this, we ate shabu shabu at the swanky restaurant on a platform over a river. It was so colorful and you could hear the rush of the water beneath you and feel the moisture in the air. The ambiance was unparalleled and I seriously felt unworthy to be eating in such an amazing place.
And the food was SO good! We ate Kaiseki cuisine a few times in Japan but my American pallet had a hard time with some of the artistic little morsels they gave us to eat. However - this place was delicious from top to bottom. For four people I think I spent $260 USD.
After eating lunch here, we hiked from Kibune to Kurama and did the onsens there. It was a perfect afternoon. If you have the budget, put this on your itinerary. It was such an incredible dining experience!
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Date of stay: May 2017
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We went for the somen. As other reviewers point out it was a long wait. While it's fun catching noodles through the bamboo tubes, the noodles and the dipping sauce are bland. You are really there for the novelty of it all. In hindsight we would have enjoyed more a leisurely paced meal over the river. It would have been more expensive though.
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Date of stay: August 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Highlight of visit was the Nagashi Somen flowing down the bamboo tubes. Trick is to catch the Somen with your chopsticks, dipped the somen into the sauce provided and eat the cold somen. About 15 mins per sitting. Meal ends when the Pink somen flows through the bamboo tubes. 1,300 yen per pax. Wait time minimum 30 mins
Along the way (about 800m) from the shuttle bus drop of point, you walk pass temples, shrines, shops and alot of restaurants along the river bank. Most of the restaurants sit across the river via a platform contructed over and across the river.
I got off the Kibuneguchi Station and board the shuttle bus. Shuttle bus cost 160 yen per pax per one way trip
Beautiful walk, lovely scenery, fresh air and great food from the restaurants.
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Date of stay: June 2018Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Kyoto area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$799 - AU$844 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
JapanKinkiKyoto PrefectureKyoto
NUMBER OF ROOMS
8
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