Gyoza Hohei

Located smack in the middle of the geisha district of Gion, Gyoza Hohei serves fabulously garlicky dumplings to fuel you up after a long day of sightseeing. As a bonus, you might even see a local maiko or geiko enjoying a plate of gyoza, too.

Gyoza Hohei – image © Chris Rowthorn

Gyoza is the perfect fast food – cheap, tasty, and if you eat a plate or two of them, calorific enough to power you through the evening and into the wee hours of the morning. One of our favourite dinner places in Gion is Gyoza Hohei. Since it’s open past midnight, this is a great place to get your late-night gyoza fix.

With their savoury garlic and leek fillings, Gyoza Hohei’s signature pan-fried dumplings are famously garlicky. This is not for those who fear garlic breath! The alternative is a plate of ginger dumplings, developed specially for patrons who prefer not to spend the rest of the evening smelling of garlic. The ginger dumplings are best eaten with sweet miso sauce, rather than the customary blend of soy, vinegar, and chilli oil.

Menu options are fairly limited. This is no bad thing, given that Hohei is a gyoza specialist – do what you’re good at and stick to it, is the prevailing ethos in most restaurants. That being said, there’s the option of tacking on a few side dishes to round out the whole meal. We like the cucumber in a vase and the clam espresso.

Fun fact: Gyoza Hohei is also a favourite with maiko and geisha in Gion, who sometimes pop in for the garlic-free gyoza. If you’re lucky, you might find yourself at a table next to one of them while dining there!

For more Kyoto gyoza choices, see our Best Gyoza in Kyoto page.

Check Hotel Availability

Destination

Check-in date

Check-out date

Name in English:
Gyoza Hohei

Name in Japanese:
ぎょうざ歩兵

English address:
373-3 Kiyomoto-cho, Higashiyama-ku

Japanese address:
東山区清本町373-3

Opening hours:
6pm-1am
Closed Sunday and national holidays

Price:

Non-smoking area: No (6pm-10pm is Completely Non-Smoking)

Nearest Transport:
5min walk from Gion-shijo Station Exit 7, Keihan line

Reservations:
No Reservations

Telephone: 533-7133

Website:
Official site (Japanese)

Near To Here:
Gyoza Hohei is located in Kyoto’s Southern Higashiyama district. See our complete list of things to do in Southern Higashiyama, including places to eat, nightlife and places to stay.

Where Is This Place Located?

See these places on our Kyoto Google map:

• Open the Kyoto map
• You will see the list of places on the left hand side. (Click the 3-line icon in the top left corner if not). Scroll down or use the map search (the magnifying glass icon) to find the place you want.
• Click the name of the place in the list. Its location pin will be highlighted on the map.
• Map pins are color coded - BLUE: Hotels | VIOLET: Ryokan | PINK: Places to Eat | YELLOW: Things to See and Do
• If you're using the map on your phone, open the map and then search for the name of the place. The map will then zoom in on its location.

Kyoto District Map

• Arashiyama
• Central Kyoto
• Northwest Kyoto
• Nishijin
• Northern Higashiyama
• Southern Higashiyama
• Downtown Kyoto
• Kyoto Station Area
• South East Kyoto

About InsideKyoto.com and Chris Rowthorn

• Chris Rowthorn is the co-founder of InsideKyoto.com and has an unparalleled travel knowledge of Kyoto spanning three decades. Chris has written or commissioned and edited every page on the Inside Kyoto website.
• A former author of Lonely Planet Kyoto and Lonely Planet Japan guidebooks, Chris is also the director of the Kyoto walking tour company Chris Rowthorn Tours, and Japan Travel Consulting, where you can get bespoke travel advice for your Japan trip.
• InsideKyoto.com has been cited by the New York Times and The Times of London, among many other publications and websites.