I will be flying into KIX on day 1 am and leaving out of it on day 3 noon. However, I am staying at the Hoshinoya in Kyoto. In terms of transportation, is getting a train pass for KIX-Kyoto worth it? Also, for getting around Kyoto, since Hoshinoya is all the way west (by the bamboo forest) and I plan on visiting touristy sites (east of downtown), is my best method of getting around in a timely manner via taxi? Some taxi estimators online show ~Y2000 for getting from the hotel to the golden pavilion - realistically, is that about how much it generally costs?

Any experience on transportation will be much appreciated.

Also, how do you know what places are restaurants? I am looking for hole-in-wall izakaya and/or sushi places, but from what I've seen online, a lot of Japanese food places are very incognito, and since I don't read Japanese, there's no way for me to tell except to peek in every door I walk past.