We went in for a late lunch and we were not disappointed. The restaurant was very clean and quiet with relaxing music playing quietly. Quick, friendly, patient service. We had calamari and bang bang shrimp as well as the steak tepanyaki, which reminded us of hibachi. All were very good! read more

Kyoto Fifth Taste Restaurant - Bang Bang Shrimp, Fried Calamari - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Smoothly very bland strange tasting broth and dipping broth for shrimp? I live in Yokohama for 4 years and this has no flavor I can remember. Shrimp were like rubber could not even chew them up they seem to be store-bought really they're so bad right now even I look at them and they're terrible. The l Yokohama ramen was covered in terms of pork which was the main thing in the ramen the noodles were cold hard to eat and no flavor no soups in it one piece of seaweed about the size of a silver dollar. Overall I am completely disappointed and every part of the meal I do have one good compliment which is I left my wallet on the counter and return to find it in the same place which was good I just wish it would have been placed to the side so nobody could walk up and kick it. It was my fault for doing that but I really appreciate the person. I just returned my so-called Japanese food from last night because I have health condition I could not make it back out but it was so bad I had to take it back. The owner starts yelling at me so does the lady saying I fresh cooked all this there's no way in hell that was tempura shrimp and fresh cooked it was store-bought and I know what store-bought shrimp looks like and I'm going to bring him back a sample of it but neither one of them are from Japan at River bend in Japan and it doesn't even taste Japanese and most of the reviews I read thinking it's a Chinese place Chinese food doesn't take like this Japanese food doesn't take like this. The man continued to argue with me about how good it was in San he cooked it fresh he did not cook it there was only the woman in there and she was trying to say she didn't cook it and I walked back there to see it and she was cooking. Very disappointed he gave me half my money back which is not good business he has no understanding of Japanese culture at all people don't treat people like that in Japan I don't treat like people like that because I always felt like I was Japanese. Very disappointing read more

Kyoto Fifth Taste Restaurant - Pork -bland, overdone, was the main ingredients besides the tasteless noodles. - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Kyoto Fifth Taste gets 4 stars for their quick service dine in experience, great tasting Tokyo Ramen, and steamed pork bun. Another Yelper pointed out that the decor appears to be a repurposed Italian joint, but the silk flowers and wooden decor are an interesting mix, yet somehow it works. We dined in at 11:45 am and were given a menu that no longer had half of the items that appear on the Yelp page, so I was a little disappointed as I wanted a bento box - but the ramen was fantastic. I would have liked to have chosen the meat, but it came with pork, spinach, noodles, a very hearty and tasty broth, half an egg and x2 fish cake slices. I'll come back for dinner so to see if the menu changes. read more

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Everything was really bland! The tempura was really just breadcrumbs deep fried. Disappointing.

It might not look like much from the outside from strip mall it's in, but this family owned and a great chef to boot. My favorites are the managers special crispy beef (comes with broccoli and basmati rice) or the Kyoto Ramen bowls. All booths surround the cozy dining area with a nice water fountain to greet you as you walk in for added ambiance. The service is immediate, friendly and helpful. Try their citrus honey cold tea too! read more

Kyoto Fifth Taste Restaurant - Managers special crispy beef - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Mixed emotions. I have to say the food was good, service prompt I had the steamed pork dumplings, a pork bun, and the Yokohama ramen. I also ordered the Japanese green tea. I expected a very good tea as it was presented in a beautiful pot....... It was a tea bag of ordinary green tea that looks cheaper than I keep at home. And the issue I have is that it cost $4.50!!!!!!! For a tea bag. Shame. I won't be back bc of that sadly. Makes me wonder the quality of food I ate. Do better Kyoto fifth. read more

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I was looking for a quick bite before checking in my hotel by the airport. Kyoto's is family run and is located in a strip mall that is easy to find. I ordered the steak hibachi and vegetables with fried rice and it was very good. The yum yum sauce came automatically, and the miso soup was hearty. The service was fast and friendly. Beware, the soup is HOT, let it sit for a minute. Will return! read more

Kyoto has very good Asian food by Charlottesville standards, and I would definitely recommend coming here for a good bowl of authentic ramen that you cannot find easily in the area. The decorations are very nice, and the whole atmosphere seems very authentic. I ordered the Kyoto Ramen, which comes with basically all elements of a regular ramen bowl. I have to say, their pork pieces are delicious - they do not skimp at all and give you the best pieces. The meat is hands down one of the best parts of the dishes, and the broth is not so bad either. The ramen noodles could be cooked a little more (kind of chewy), but the dish as a whole was really great. read more

Kyoto Fifth Taste Restaurant - Kyoto Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Fantastic, authentic Chinese food. Honestly, this place is a hidden gem, and anyone who is craving some good old fashioned hongshao rou should check this place out. Previously, I visited this place with one of my friends and I was astounded by what a good deal I got. Because of that experience, when the same friend invited me out yesterday to have dinner there, I was completely on board. As a heads up to people who haven't been here, Kyoto is located a little out of the center of Charlottesville, close to Fashion Center. This might be inconvenient for people who don't drive, but Kyoto is totally accessible by Uber. And O would completely recommend paying a few bucks for a trip. Now about the food! It is both varied and delicious. Among the dishes that were available on the Chinese menu are many Chinese home food favorites: hongshao rou (braised pork), gongbao jiding (kungpao chicken), mapo dofu (mapo tofu), and lazi jiding (spicy popcorn chicken). These dishes, in addition to being sonewhat rare at more American-Chinese food establishments, were cooked and seasoned perfectly. Eating here made me remember my food adventures in China! read more

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Incredible beef ramen. Huge portion, deliciously seasoned beef, plenty of noodles and veggies. Great service and wonderful experience.

5 starts simply for service and the miso soup!! Best miso in Cville. Usually order the same thing just because I like it. There is usually one waitress/hostess and one cook on site. Small, delicious, friendly, and affordable at lunch read more

Kyoto Fifth Taste Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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New menu since they reopened. The decor appears to be repurposed Italian, but the food is tasty and the service welcoming.

Nice and small restaurant with just enough tables and decorations to make it cozy. They have a few stir fried and wok cooked entrees but even though it's August, I still wanted soup. I chose the "Tokyo-style" ramen and it arrived not too long after my order was shouted to the kitchen. A very large bowl of rich broth, lots of sliced pork, bok choi, half a hard boiled egg and noodles underneath. Tasty and it needed nothing added. I ate all. Quite inexpensive, too! It is located in the back corner of the plaza - between Kroger and TJ Maxx. read more

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Personally think the food is overpriced and the portions are small that taste sub-par. One of those by itself might be okay, but all three together? No thanks. Charlottesville has too many other options to choose from. read more

This was a place we went weekly when the original owner and chef were in house. Haven't been in years but decided to return. We were not disappointed. We were greeted by the new owner and were pleased to hear that one of the original chefs had stayed. The menu has some small changes but the old specialties are still there including the crispy beef, our favorite with the orange sauce. We were reminded why we used to go weekly and will put this one back on our regular cycle of places to go. They had quite a nice crowd and were following COVID protocols which was good to see. This one is worth trying out if you have been in a while OR if you haven't been before. read more

The place is quaint and nice. Very lowkey and they had amazing food prices very well! My only critiques is that the chicken was a bit dry but overall it was great! The staff were very kind and attentive. Everyone wore masks and gloves and handled our food with care. Not many people know about this place since it is a bit a ways away but it's delicious and worth the extra few minutes of driving. read more

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Surprisingly one of the preferred place for Chinese food amongst my Chinese friends. The chef and, I believe, the owner is Chinese and they even have a Chinese menu (in mandarin). I've been here for their bento boxes which were decent. I recently came here for lunch and ordered totally off the Chinese menu which was awesome. I would recommend: -spicy beef noodle soup -salted shrimp (deep fried in salty perfection, eat it with the shell on) -beans in black pepper sauce -calamari (in reg menu as an app, perfectly deep fried) I am definitely coming back to try their other options. read more

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There is no better Ramen in Charlottesville and I haven't found any better ramen in Virginia. Everything is good here. Lo mein, crispy beef, tempura vegetable, tempura chicken, gyoza, and every ramen the serve is phenomenal. my favorite is the Kyoto style ramen. the service is quick and the ambiance is calming. read more

Amazing ambient, very comfortable, the food is beyond consistent with flavor and taste.

Slow service for a weekday, food akin to Chinese takeout. Not recommended if one is seeking ambiance or Japanese cuisine.

A friend and I ate there tonight. From the moment we walked in, the ambience was warm and welcoming, the place spotless, the background music discreet and very soothing. The lady who served us is very pleasant and took very good care of us. The food is wonderful! I had the chicken curry, which was delicately flavored and delicious, and the rice fragrant. For an appetizer, I had the seaweed salad which was crisp, cool, and so satisfying. And the hot jasmine tea was like a warm blankie on a cold night. I will definitely be returning, and telling my friends and acquaintances to put this restaurant on their regular rotation. read more

I've been searching for almost a year for good sushi! I can finally end my search. My friend and I decided to get take out and I was craving some sushi. Sadly I can only have cook fish but these rolls we ordered hit the spot. First we got the Volcano roll which was deep fried with salmon and cream cheese and a few other things topped with spicy Mayo and eel sauce. It was a perfect balance of flavors and that cream cheese melted was Aaaaaaaamazing. Second roll we got was the black dragon roll another tasty roll. The third was beast roll. This roll reminds me a lot of a roll at my favorite place back in California. This roll brought back memories. The mixed of deep fried shrimp, cucumber with crab and spicy Mayo was refreshing from the cucumber with a kick from the spicy Mayo and the crunchy panko. Its def worth the drive to ruckersville for that's forsure. Sadly I didn't take pictures. read more

I bought a soup 30 mins ago. The lady was little rude on the front. No good business! I'll never be there anymore.

I ordered that Tokyo Ramen(Broth was flavorless and brought nothing to the table, the pork was cooked good though nice flavor. I also ordered Garlic chicken which tasted like celery chicken because it's over powered all other flavors. *Staff was a pure delight. I will definitely be back I will just try something else. read more

Kyoto Fifth Taste Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

My mother and I ate there today for lunch. We are visiting from Louisiana and stopped here while out shopping. The food was really good. I recommend it highly. The service was good also read more

This was my second visit and it was as good as the first. Delicious food - fresh and flavorful. Service is also excellent.

First impressions 1. My wife and i arrived around 345pm. Place is quiet. I like the ambiance. And we were seated immediately. 2. Most restos with a Japanese name serve also a number of other asian dishes. This place is not an exception. 3. I pressed the check-in button and the 50% coupon (for one of two entree ordered) popped. I was told the contract with yelp is for only 3-months and has already expired. However, the owner was generous enough to offer the discount regardless. Woohoo! Order 1. Shoyu Ramen. Ramen, was delicious, hearty and satisfying. Generous slices of meat, half a boiled egg, slices of fish cake, and a handful of spinach. Great ramen. 2. Bento box with jumbo shrimp tempura. It came with veggie tempura: sweet potato, onion, green bean, eggplant. Also a fried dumpping, salad, hot soup, a cup of steamed rice, a slice of pineapple, and 6 pcs of fairly large shrimp. The veggies were cooked the way tempura should be. However, the shrimp was cooked with panko. Regardless, they were delicious. Dipping sauce did not come with shredded radish. My wife ordered a mango bubble tea. Sadly, she gave it a thumbs down. Service: was very Good read more

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I've came here looking for good Ramen and yep I found it ice tried all their Ramen and they have all hot the spot in their own way with their amazing flavors and that rose tea also is refreshing and the lady who seats is is so friendly definitely a go to read more

I went in 2 days ago to try their Chinese spicy beef noodle soup that another Yelper had commented, but could not find it on its regular menu. I ordered the Kyoto roast pork ramen which was average and nothing to write home about. A Chinese-speaking couple came in later and they ordered Chinese items that were not on their regular menu, so I asked the waitress about it and she responded that they have a special menu written only in Chinese. I asked her to show me that menu but that still didn't have the Chinese spicy beef noodle soup. However it did have a number of Chinese dishes which I would go back and try next time. read more

Kyoto Fifth Taste Restaurant - Storefront - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

I ordered what everyone recommended, but left feeling like I should have done something else. The dim sum steamed was almost flavorless, the gyoza was too crunchy, the beef was good and the complimentary chicken soup I could have done without. The taro milk drink was gone in a few sips and had some powder taste to it like it wasn't blended well enough. Service was fantastic, they definitely check on the customer and the food was served within a good time table. read more

I'm from out of town (California) and I wanted a nice bowl of soup and found this place on yelp. Spicy beef noodle soup was amazing. It's not on the menu but you can just ask for it. Bang bang shrimp was super good. Not very spicy but tons of flavor and the portion is really big! I couldn't finish my soup cause I had so many shrimp to eat!!! If I'm ever back In the area I will def eat here again read more

I am teetering somewhere between the 3 and 4 stars on this one. One, because I have had some seriously good Thai and Japanese food. And two, because there isn't much in the way of good Asian/Chinese food around the Central VA area, and this place is decent, although it's having a bit of an identity crisis. We were in C'ville dropping off some dry cleaning when we discovered Kyoto. They had us at the "Dim Sum" sign on the door, so we checked it out on Yelp before heading inside (thanks, Yelpers!) As it turns out, it's good! The owner is a nice guy who came around to ask us how our meal was. He apparently has owned several restaurants before this one, and creates quite a variety of offerings at Kyoto. We ordered pork buns, various dumplings, gyoza and rice. It's nothing like you might find in the LES or Chinatown NYC but it was reasonably tasty and served up hot and fast. The thai tea was good, but "odd", or so my husband said. I didn't try it. I do believe most Asian restaurants around here are watered down for the unadventurous palates. And I think the owner can probably work some magic, if he were given the chance. So next time, we are going to ask him to serve us what HE eats. read more

Service here was fantastic! Arrived with 8 people (2 children, 6 adults) for an early dinner. Glad it was early because it really started picking up later and we might have had a long wait for our crowd. As others have mentioned, it's a blend of Asian-inspired food, but that actually suited our group just fine. There was something for everyone on the menu. Our waiter was very attentive, and answered all of our questions and made suggestions for those that asked for them. Some of us ordered the tempura bento box dinners- a TON of food and tempura-done-right. I had the tempura scallops and they were delicious, served with tempura veggies, seaweed salad, rice and a variety of dipping sauces. My daughter was enchanted with her jumbo shrimp tempura, mostly because of the cute carrot butterfly the chef had created as a garnish. The waiter noticed how excited my daughter was, and before we left presented her with a few butterflies packed in a takeout container filled with ice water. This was a unexpected, but much appreciated, gift that delighted my daughter to no end. I don't know if it was because we were large group, but we were presented with complimentary freshly made doughnuts as a dessert. Before we left, the hostess (owner) gave my kids some origami that she had folded herself, a crane for my daughter and a frog for my son. Yes, the food is very Americanized, but that's to be expected given their location. We'll definitely be going back due to the stellar service. read more

For the past probably 10 years, Kyoto has been one of our all time favorite places to eat in town. The food was always a superb quality, large portion sizes, and the nicest owners that would bend over backwards to make you completely happy. That all changed when we discovered last night when we went in for dinner. The new owners and staff are nice enough but the quality of the food has gone way downhill while the cost has gone up. We started with the classic hibachi soup. Theirs was basically all beef broth and then a ton of random stuff in it. Not the classic dashi based stock with tofu and egg. It was ok, but it was so full of added stuff that there was hardly any broth. The salad here use to be amazing. It was so fresh and crisp that it seemed that they picked it right from the garden before bringing it to the table. It was ok this time, but pretty generic and very little dressing on it. I had the chicken hibachi. In all of the years we have gone here, and all of the other places we have had hibachi, this has always been the best chicken hibachi. Hands down. It use to be white chicken breast (yeah yeah, so american) that was caramelized to perfection and drizzled with the perfect amount of tasty sauce and topped with sesame seeds. Yesterday I got the crappiest of crappy chicken thighs that had no caramelization and so much salt it was inedible. The veggies were soggy like that had been frozen or had been sitting. The rice was over cooked and missing the furikake. It was very similar to minute rice. And we had to ask for yumyum and ginger sauce. Two of our friends ordered filet mignon. It looked like boiled pot roast. No sear at all. Just light brown meat. One friend got a combo plate with shrimp, and got four small little shrimp. The Bento Box with tempura chicken seemed to stay the same as before and was good. Good crisp on the tempura and they used white chicken breast. But same situation with the rice. I cant imagine that we will be back. There are to many other good options for hibachi in Cville to return to one that is sub par. read more

visit on 8/2/2011 Um... It's not Chinese food or Japanese food. But it's edible. The menu is a very strange mix of dishes including teriyaki, curries, tempura, fried rice, udon, and a selection of "Chinese-American" food. It's not fusion, it's more just an assortment of "Asian" like foods. With that said, the food is edible. The curries are pretty bland. The teriyaki chicken was kind of dry and a little chewy. Their stir fried dishes were uninteresting. I did however enjoy the tempura shrimp and vegetables. They were actually fried quite nicely light and crisp. Prices were on the higher side for what you got. Service on the other hand was very good. The owners are really nice and the waitstaff very polite and attentive. If you're looking for authentic Chinese food, go somewhere else. If you're looking for authentic Japanese food, go somewhere else. But if you're just looking for food that's ambiguously "Asian" with friendly service, this place is for you. read more

One of the best asian food finds here in Charlottesville.. We always order their calamari and crystal shrimp dimsum. The bento boxes are also good find. overall, one of the best finds for asian cuisine here in CHO. read more

What a surprise! Tucked into an ugly strip mall is a charming little restaurant, the Kyoto. We stopped here for lunch, not expecting a lot, and found a little garden of tranquility. The ceiling is hung with origami cranes in many sizes and colors, and there is lovely lighting and woodwork. In addition to the lovely atmosphere, they serve up delicious food at quite reasonable prices. Portions are a good size; we had enough to fill out bellies, but not the huge plate you usually get at an Asian restaurant. tl;dr: good food, good price, great atmosphere and service. read more

Wowwww Awesome food and it's authentic!!! Would go back again!! Good quality food. Love their fish dish!!

I will keep this one simple - don't come here for "Dim Sum." We stumbled a "Dim Sum" sign hanging on this strip mall "Japanese-Chinese" restaurant. I had a mixed feeling, but decided to give a Mom-Pop joint a benefit of doubt. Boy, should have trusted my gut. Literally, there were only 6-8 items "Dim Sum" choices. More like an appetizers scrambled to meet the "Dim Sum" advertising. The "Dim Sum" were frozen, thawed by microwave, and then steamed before served. As a result, they were flavorless and mushy. The Pork Bun we ordered was still cold in the center. We told the waitress about it, even though she replaced with another "hotter" order, her attitude toward us was immediately changed to cold and annoyance. May be other dishes were better or worthy of dining as reviewed by others reviewers. But "Dim Sum" experience here was nothing short of a joke and lack of ANY effort. read more

This place is hidden from all to try! Surprisingly flavorful. All the employees were very nice, and I think it was the manager/owner who walked around asking the guests how their food was. The atmosphere is nice and clean. So happy they were still open til 10pm bc everything else in the plaza closed by 9 or earlier. Definitely coming g back here again! read more

Kyoto Fifth Taste Restaurant - Saki! - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia