Owariya is a Kyoto soba shop with a rich history, that can be traced back hundreds of years. I love the branch in Takashimaya as it is near many popular sites such as Nishiki Market and Gion. As the shop is in a department store, it is also kid-friendly.
The vegetable tempura soba (1620 JPY) included sansai, spring vegetables, and the dark red Kyoto carrot. We ordered a kake soba (756 JPY), soba with hot broth, and topped it with fish cakes.
Owariya is on the 7th floor of Takashimaya.
Owariya’s website includes photos and an English menu:
http://honke-owariya.co.jp/en/menu/foods/
If you like shōchū, you should definitely try the soba shochu served with soba-yū, the hot water that the soba is cooked in.
Honke Owariya at Kyoto Takashimaya
Kyoto-shi, Shimogyō-ku, Teiammaenocho 52, Kyoto Takashimaya 7th Floor
京都市下京区貞安前之町52
Kyoto Takashimaya Access:
http://www.takashimaya.co.jp/kyoto/store_information/access.html
Food Sake Tokyo 
Thank you for the recommendation. We visited 2 weeks ago and liked it very much. 🙂
Arigato, Doron. Love your flickr photos. Curious, what train was that with the dining car? I’ve never seen that before. Did you dine there? Would you recommend it? Thank you so much for writing to let me know you made it to Owariya.
My wife and I went to the original store and loved it. We were seated next to the entrance, so unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of the 150 year old store. But the food was fantastic. In particular, I had the Rikyu Soba and drank every last drop of that broth, it was amazing. Thanks for pointing us towards it, Yukari.
Very happy you also made it here. I sometimes ask if I can walk around a restaurant after my meal, just to get a feel for the place. I have never been told no, so a tip for your next trip back to Japan. We hope you are back again, soon.