Kyoto 2016

Kyoto is a great place if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of Osaka. We visited Fushimi Inari Shrine, and explored the streets around Nishiki market. Kyoto has a long heritage and many interesting places, but I would highly encourage you to walk through the town instead of purely visiting the touristy sites. 

Food-wise, I felt pretty cheated by this crab leg skewer, which turned out to be a oversized surimi skewer, but the matcha soft serve never fails to deliver. We had lunch in a fun little MOS Cafe - just to find out if the MOS Burger in Japan was legendary good. 

Make some time for Arashiyama - it is a quaint little alcove within Kyoto. Crowds aside, it is a super charming and idyllic. We found a little shop that specialises in yuba desserts and Russell took on a soybean soft serve with great enthusiasm. 

 

Mental Over Bentos, Japan

The joy of travelling increases when you have pretty bentos for company. I think this is the first time I actually felt excited about arriving extra early at any departure arena - all for the sake of having ample time to choose and scrutinize each micro-component within the bento.





The number of bento varieties vary with each station but at either Tokyo or Kyoto station, numerous acrylic bentos posed as mannequins on display, hoping to lure buyers with their varnish and brightly coloured facades.



My mum would have loved this as it came with a fried egg!

From Tokyo to Kyoto



One the ride to Kyoto, my sister had this sumptuous bento above while I went for the seasonal bento below. In my bento, there was a note stating the components - if only I had a Google translator chip in my brain.







I found it amusing that we were suppose to be admiring the scenery, the cascading greens, farmlands and occasional farm animals but our attention was a 100 percent transfixed on our bentos.

From Kyoto to Tokyo



On our way back to Tokyo, we again bought bentos, this time adding an additional boxed sushi since it was a speciality of Osaka-Kyoto region.





中央のちらし寿司にはズワイガニを使用し、煮物は冬を連想させるおでん風に仕上げました。焼鮭や出汁巻き玉子、牛肉煮など幕の内の定番もしっかりと盛り込みました。

寿司飯・ズワイガニのほぐし身・錦糸玉子・蕗・きぬさや・しいたけ・しょうが
焼鮭・出汁巻玉子・はじかみ・昆布巻き・焼板蒲鉾・海老団子
煮物（乱切り牛蒡・大根・人参・一口厚揚げ）・梅花蓮根・山芋磯辺巻
すき焼き風牛肉煮・グリーンピース・金平牛蒡

From Awajiya.com



(sang to the tune of Jingle Bells)
Oh what fun it is to ride in a Shin-kan-sen today!

Nishiki Market, Kyoto

Behold the famous Nishiki Market in Kyoto!







400 Meters Long





Centuries of History







Over 100 Vendors







Irritating Giant Font





Nishiki Market
Nishikikoji, Teramachi-Takakura
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto

葱や平吉, Kyoto

One chilly evening, my sister and I scouted for places to have dinner when we stumbled upon a unique restaurant that proudly displayed green onions and other root vegetables at its store frontage.

Although we had absolutely no idea what the restaurant offered, the warm wooden interior lured us in, and we saved our questions for later.

Turns out 葱や平吉is a restaurant where the humble green onion takes on leading man persona - we should have guessed from the fresh bounty of vegetables displayed outside their restaurant.



We were shown to the counter where chef Tsubaki Takashi chef entertained us despite speaking little English. Soon, the servers brought over a basket of vegetables for us to choose from.



There was a lot of hand-signaling, gesturing and word-decoding but we snagged ourselves some grille sweet potato and onions too. The veggies were lightly grilled just to accentuate their natural aromas.

We were also presented with a small appetizer - a deep-fried meatball with finely-diced green onions. We were also given an entire box full of the same finely-diced green onions – I don’t mean to be rude but looking at that box alone makes me think of flatulence problems.



“You like salad?” asked the chef.

And our nods were rewarded minutes later with a towereing heap of arugula, daikon stripes and deep-fried beancurd skin, tossed in yuzu-based dressing.



Although the menu was written in Japanese, we recognized the Chinese characters for "pot" and ordered their beef yam casserole.



The hot pot arrived with clear soup but we were told to stir in the yam and beancurd paste. On its own, the soup was tasty but with the paste as a thicking agent, it was just what we needed to ward off the cold.





The fatty streaky beef resembled a gorgeous slab of designer marble.

A quick swirl in the broth scrunched up the beef and made enjoyment effortless.

The couple beside us ordered this and we were curious enough to order one for ourselves.

“Meatball” replied chef before handing over the minced meat skewer and a soft-boiled egg for us to dip the skewer in. Smoky, saltish but cream at the same time - what an unusual take on yakitori.

葱や平吉
〒600-8018 京都府京都市下
京区西木屋町通り仏光寺上
る三丁目市之町260-4