Eating Kyoto

Kinkakuji- the Golden Pavilion

The highlights of Kyoto for me were Kokedera: the moss temple, the Imperial Palace and Gardens, the gorgeous autumnal colours of the maples and ginko trees, the rabbit warrens of backstreets but also some real gems when it came to eating.

Kokedera- The Moss Temple

Kamo River

Dad had discovered a lovely looking place not far from our hotel called Kyoto Sakagurakan  which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. A modern interior with a welcoming feel. The omakase, or chefs choice was mixed with taster plates on the menu and worked like tapas, which was great for the two of us to taste and share with our drinks, for dad a draft beer and for myself a yuzu cocktail.

We started with the omakase of 6 and the scallop and mushroom

Our six-tasting small dishes consisted of pumpkin is a vinegar dressing, a mushroom and steamed greens dish I think the third was tofu, potato salad which would become a staple of my diet, a wintery pork stewed meat and veg dish and boiled veg in one of the most flavoursome and nurturing broth.

The scallop and mushroom was deep fried and crisp in the style of a chunky pakora and was very tasty indeed.

We followed on with a sashimi platter which turned out to be one of the best and freshest we had all trip. I couldn't tell you which fish were served, but the one in the back with the dark scored skin was utterly incredible.

This was, prepare yourself, and I'm not even going to describe it cause you know how good it was when I tell you what it is: Deep fried Gyoza wrapped in chicken skin. Yep.

 

Beautiful and succulent chicken breast.

Deep fried camembert served with salt. Magic.

image courtesy of restaurant

image courtesy of restaurant

This unassuming coffee shop, in the backstreets served me a lovely late lunch. Takagi Coffee.

image courtesy of Ichi Oka

I'd actually popped in here for a toasted sandwich, because toasted sandwiches are my comfort food and I just needed some comfort, but alas, sold out of bread. But their coffee was lovely, as was their fish croquette and potato croquette. And of course, potato salad. As I type this I realise how carby this photo is, and I'm okay with that.

Another 'quick bite for lunch' turned out to be another amazing surprise. This was JuicyMeat Shijo Karasuma and this is their perfect Philly Cheesesteak. God it was GOOD. Dad had a steak from here and the steak was a stroke of genius, and neither were expensive at all. Very very good.

Another wonderful discovery, and we totally chose it for it's wonderful and whimsical name: Madam Clink. We had a couple of wonderful French Malbecs (one of my favourite reds) and wanted some nibbles to go with.

This is our assorted pate plate of oyster and spinach, chicken liver and citrus, salmon and olive and mushroom and almond. All delicious.

And the assorted meat plate: with salami, proscutto and mortadella, with gerkins on the side.

Some delightful eats in Kyoto. Please note, I will be dividing my trip into cities: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka and Tokyo and also 'Conbini', or convenience store foods (which were INCREDIBLE!) And not all meals are included cause I was on holidays.

Unfortunately I can't supply prices on all meals as I didn't put in the usual diligence I would with a blog post, but know that eating and drinking in Japan is very, very CHEAP! Everything was outstanding value, and most of our lunches with drinks were under $20 per person, and fancy dinners including wine and cocktails or beer never topped $100 per person and was always more than one course (and more than one wine!)

Thanks for taking the time to read.