Ine

Ine has excellent kumiage yuba and is a perfect spot to try all sorts of Kyoto’s tofu delicacies. Every dish we tried was amazing, and the staff kindly explained (and we asked for reminders at multiple times) how to properly eat the different varieties. It’s on the second floor of a building near Arashiyama Station. Close walk from both Tenryu-​ji Temple and the bamboo forest.

This restaurant was a random choice. After the bamboo walk we were kind of disoriented and really attracted by the little booth in front of the building selling tofu donuts. Looking further we realized this is a pretty big tofu house, where we happily tasted a wide variety of tofu dishes. The restaurant has menu in English and offers combo meals. We picked the biggest one that had number of small dishes including boiled tofu that can be substituted with oboro tofu. We chose to order the oboro separately so we can taste both. Besides the tofu plates the combo includes three small boxes of desserts, each of them being a little treat. The restaurant is very spacious and can accommodate a lot of people. We got really lucky and were seated on the second floor in front of the window overlooking the beautiful Arashiyama hills. Great place to get your Kyoto tofu experience! I only regret we were too full for the tofu donuts that were waiting for us outside. :)

Good choice for tofu-​lovers, decent for all else.
We selected this restaurant somewhat arbitrarily after a hike through the bamboo forest and nearby zen garden. The atmosphere was very much what you’d expect for a restaurant attempting to replicate the old-​Kyoto feel while still trying to cater to tourists. Happily, the «tourist» part was not that heavy, and mostly consisted of not having to remove shoes and an available English menu.
The food itself consisted of multiple small dishes, the large majority of which centered around tofu (hence the restaurant’s name). I had the tofu skin set (the one pictured in the bamboo bowl), and my companion had the cold soba. While some of the smaller dishes may not have been palatable to certain western tastes, overall the quality was quite good. I rather enjoyed the tofu skin dish, and judging from the other tables, it was quite popular with tourists and locals alike. My companion was slightly less happy with the soba set, as the accompanying dishes seemed a bit heavy on sesame.
Overall, it was a pleasant experience and our seating provided a wonderful view of the surrounding hillside. I would certainly visit again if I were in the area.