Gion Rohan

You could easily walk past this restaurant front amidst the bright lights of Gion, but don't: head inside, take a seat at the counter and enjoy plate after plate of high quality local ingredients cooked simply in front of you from a shortish a la carte. Make sure to order the signature mackerel sando. Menus are in Japanese but the friendly chefs spoke enough English on our visit to help. The kind of place where chefs like to eat.