On food and travel: kyoto

Kyoto eats

Kyoto-Yodobashi is a mall located about 3 minutes walk from Kyoto JR station. We decided to have dinner on its restaurants floor one evening.

We tried Chanchi Korean Dining, ordering a selection of small dishes.

The Korean food, especially the cold noodle, was rather disappointing. We then went to the tempura place a few meters away and selected the "Karahi zen combo with tempura" set, which cost only ¥980 and was delicious.

Finally, for dessert we descended to the ground floor and had a yummy ice-cream with Japanese flavors.

Roan Kikunoi in Kyoto

Roan Kikunoi is part of the Kikunoi trio of Michelin-starred restaurants. The main restaurant in Gion, Kyoto has three stars, while Roan Kikunoi and the Tokyo branch have both been awarded two stars.

We made reservations for the mini-Kaiseki course which turned out to be a great lunch.

Street view

Entrance corridor

We were seated on one side of the counter. We were the only foreigners lunching that day.

Behind us there were two raised tatami seating areas.

As we sat, chef Hiroki came to welcome us. He gave us his business card, introduced himself in very good English then told us to let him know if we had any questions/requests during our meal. We were also given a personalized menu in English (hence the detailed description below).

Aperitif: Sake

We selected iced tea, and after emptying our glasses, a friendly English-speaking waiter kept bringing extra glasses until dessert.

Hassun (Appetizers)
Small Japanese taro with hana-sansho (Japanese pepper flower)
Salmon and daikon roll
Beans with sesame vinegar sauce
Marinated shimaazi (yellow jack)
Tai-sushi Matsukaze (Tai liver paté with white poppy seeds)

Chef Hiroki slicing some fish for the sashimi course

Sashimi - Tai (red sea bream), Baby tuna, Yellow leek, curled cucumber, wasabi

Soup - Yuba, green beans, yuzu

Salad - Tougan, Tanaka-tougarasi (Japanese sweet pepper)

We were curious to know what tougan was. We asked chef Hiroki who explained then asked his assistant something. Soon afterwards, a tougan sliced in half was placed in front of us, to the amusement of the other customers:

Tempura - Prawn, sweet potato, carrot, onion, green soybeans

Rice - Rice with grilled tai, onion soup, Japanese pickles

Enjoying the fragrant herb sprinkled over the rice, we asked the chef how it's called. A plateful was brought for us to see and smell. Too bad we forgot the name!

Toothpicks in an antique container.

Dessert
Coconut milk ice cream, wafer, sweet red bean, watermelon.
Hot tea

This was our most enjoyable lunch in Kyoto. Chef Hiroki and his assistants really made us feel welcome. It also made us forget the overpriced lunch from the previous day at Hyotei. On our next visit to Japan, we will try to have a kaiseki dinner at their main restaurant or their Tokyo branch.

Roan Kikunoi
Kiyamachi, Kyoto
http://kikunoi.jp/english/store/roan/

Japan day 11: Northern Kyoto and Katsura Villa

For our last day in Kyoto, we visited two temples in Northern Kyoto, returned to the center for lunch at Roan Kikunoi, then went to the western suburbs of Kyoto to visit the Katsura Imperial Villa, before ending the day in Gion.

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), a Zen temple with its two upper floors completely covered in gold leaf.

Twenty minutes walk away lies the Ryoanji Temple, with Japan's most famous rock garden.

From the inscription at the entrance: "A rock-and-gravel garden comprising 15 rocks in five groupings, arranged on a bed of white gravel, it is renowned throughout the world as the ultimate example of the karesansui or "dry landscape" style rock garden, in which nature is compressed and given abstract expression within the confines of a very narrow space."

If you are reading this post while planning a trip to Kyoto, here's our advice: visit Ryoanji first thing in the morning and try to be among the first visitors at 8a.m in order to sit down and contemplate the rock garden. Otherwise, you will be among a hundred (mostly Japanese) tourists and lots of schoolchildren.

We then visited the temple grounds, with a beautiful park area and pond.

We then took a bus to the center of Kyoto, where we had a reservation for a kaiseki lunch at Roan Kikunoi.

After a delicious lunch, we took a Hankyu train to the Katsura suburb in western Kyoto, where we visited the Katsura Rikyu (Katsura Imperial Villa). While the villa itself is off-limits, we were led by a tour guide through the enchanting gardens, which are a perfect symbol of Japanese aesthetics.