Senmonten – Southern Higashiyama

This hole-in-the-wall shop in Gion sells only two things: gyoza (Chinese friend dumplings) and beer. The gyoza are the best in town.

The name of this shop – Senmonten – means specialty shop in Japanese (okay, they write it with different characters just to be difficult), and they certainly are specialists: they serve only fried gyoza and frosty mugs of draught beer. Okay, maybe the owners can be convinced to sell you the odd glass of Chinese spirits, but basically it’s a dumpling and brew joint, and that seems to keep the regulars plenty happy.

The gyoza are prepared according to some secret Chinese process – they’re perfectly crispy on the outside and the scallion-flavored pork inside is juicy and delightful. Best of all, they’re bite size, so you can just pop them one at a time into your mouth. You order them in pallets of 20 and it’s easy to put down 40 or more at a sitting (there’s a sign on the wall listing the record number consumed at a single sitting – it was about 150 last time we checked).

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

Check Hotel Availability

Destination

Check-in date

Sun 04 Jun 2023

Check-out date

Mon 05 Jun 2023

English address:
Higashi-gawa, Hanamikoji Shimbashi kudaru, Higashiyama-ku

Japanese address::
東山区花見小路新橋下ル東側

Opening hours:
6pm-2am
Closed Sunday, national holidays, Obon and new year holidays

Price:
Cheap

Non-smoking area: No

Nearest Transport:
7min walk from Gion Shijo Station, Keihan line

Telephone: 532-0820

Website:
Official Website (Japanese)

Customer Reviews:
Read customer reviews of Senmonten on TripAdvisor

Near To Here:
Senmonten 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