best place to eat in kyoto and osaka

What are the best restaurants/eateries that we should visit in kyoto and osaka. Please mind that my budget is around 5000 yen per day. Although, I might be able to splurge probably in 1 or 2 dinners. Thanks!

Is there any type of food in particular you're looking for? Local specialties, good cafes, great hamburgers, ramen, tonkatsu?

Any kind of japanese food like ramen, wagyu beef, udon, etc. Plus it would be great if the have vegetarian option since my friend is vegetarian. Thanks!

If you're in Dotonbori, I would recommend eating Takoyaki at Kukuru as it fits well within your price range. It's very famous and popular. I actually stumbled upon it when I was there and after having the best takoyaki of my life, I did more research on the place as I found out that it's really famous. You can't miss it with the big octopus sign. Here's a Trip Advisor link : http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298566-d3751894-Reviews-...

Some additional blog posts:
http://victoriainjapanland.blogspot.com/2011/11/osaka-japan-kukuru-res...

http://delicioux.com/2012/10/09/2010-sakura-culinary-trip-kukuru-takoy...

Thanks!!! Will certainly give this place a try. :)

Currently, according to tabelog, you can find excellent takoyaki near namba here:
http://tabelog.com/osaka/A2702/A270202/27043798/
(it has a map, scroll down)

And in general, if you can manage to browse this site, you will find what the locals think about the restaurants and avoid tourists' opinions on tripadvisor.

Osaka restaurants, sorted by score:
http://tabelog.com/osaka/rstLst/?Srt=D&SrtT=rt

Kyoto restaurants, sorted by score:
http://tabelog.com/kyoto/rstLst/?Srt=D&SrtT=rt

Be careful of the prices though !!!

Kyoto is well known for Shojin ryori, Kaiseki, Obanzai(traditional home cooking). Osaka doesn't have speciality but many variety and affordable.

Osaka specialties
http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/culture/2007may/07.html

Thanks for the tips! I love ramen. Which places should I visit to get the best ramen in town?

Many regular restaurants don't have good vegetarian options. So search in advance things like "ramen chains vegetarian".

If you can afford it, the vegetarian stuff in Kyoto is great, even for meat eaters.

Check out MOS Burger.

Its okay if the ramen is not vegetarian. My friend knows how much I love ramen so I will be the one just eating it. :)

You are missing my point. Many Japanese restaurants specialize in a specific type of food. So it's quite a challenge for vegetarians to eat with meat eaters together. A couple of possibilities I can think of, and these can be a stretch: tempura, yakitori and izakaya.

We are aware of that and my friend is already resigned to eat tofu dishes as well as the vegetables side dishes.

Great!

The nice thing about Japan - if you aren't full after dinner, it's very easy to supplement at a nearby 24hr convenience store.

One more idea for vegetarians (and anyone else) - put together a meal of prepared food from the department store food floor (basement). We did that sometimes when traveling with our baby and ate quite well.

Thanks! I'll recommend this to my friend.