There all kinds of these cool alleys in Kyoto. To the left of these restaurants there is a really big river, and if you're good enough at Japanese and seeing through deception you can find a restaurant that has a balcony overseeing it. We, however, are lame and ended up eating in a closet-like bar after being lured in by someone's grandma. The next night though we knew exactly where to go and swung a nice table right next to the river.