Beef Donburi at the Market

On my last day in Kyoto, I spent time at Nishiki Market in the morning for some grocery shopping and to replenish my kitchen cabinet. The place was crowded as usual – with more tourists than locals these days – and after getting what I needed (some vegetables, rice and a few kitchen gadgets), I had lunch at a small restaurant nearby inside a narrow alley just a couple of blocks away.

Kyoto Kappo Dinner

Thank God Jiki Miyazawa wasn’t that far away from the metro station when I had to brave the rain to walk to the restaurant for my dinner on the second night of my Kyoto trip this time. I made the reservation at this Michelin-starred restaurant just a few days before my trip and glad that they could accommodate with such last minute notice. The restaurant was just tucked away right behind the main street of Shijo Dori and the shopping district (and not far from the Nishiki Market too) so it’s very easy to find.

Luxury Bento

Thankfully I didn’t make much plan for my short trip to Kyoto, ‘cause otherwise any plan would have been severely disrupted by the heavy rainstorm covering almost my entire time there (sad to be the worst in the region for decades). But for a few things that I planned at the last minute, I decided to have lunch and pay a visit to a new hotel, and an old friend.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: Her Choice, and then Mine

One of my regrets for the trip being too short was not able to spend more time checking out the buzzing café scene in Kyoto this time. Nonetheless we did have the opportunity to check out two that were high on each of our must-visit list.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: Cooking at Our Temporary Home

One of the main reasons of renting a house rather than staying in a hotel was to have the opportunity to spend more time eating in rather than dining out all the time during our quick weekend getaway in Kyoto. I am always fascinated at the variety and quality of food ingredients found in the area, so I thought it will be interesting to actually cook with whatever I came across in the market at the time of our visit.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: Plum Blossom

Mid-February is way too early for the annual cherry blossom festivities but we arrived at Kyoto right on time for the prime plum blossom season. These days, plum blossom might not get as much attention as the cherry blossom, which came later in mid-spring, but to me that means it’s less crowded but just as beautiful when the red or white plum flowers lined the street or park.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: Shokudo in a Temple

We dropped by D&Department Kyoto on Saturday afternoon to do some shopping and have lunch there. D&Department Project is an fascinating concept being a social advocate for re-cycling, preserving traditional industries and designs and promoting local culture and food through shops, publications and exhibitions under the theme of “Long Life Design”… think of it as a combination of Monocle and Slow Food and pretty much resonate everything I have a fond interest in. So to me visiting their shops around the country is like a pilgrimage of sorts.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: First Time in a Sento

We were "forewarned" that the house we rented did not come with a bath tub but only a shower room. It's not a problem for us at all as the shower facility turned out to be absolutely spacious and comfortable. But we still managed to get a good soak in the hot tub after a long day’s walk while in Kyoto - in an old-fashioned neighborhood sento (銭湯) just 5 minutes away on foot.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: Gion Matayoshi

I made only one restaurant reservation this time in Kyoto - partly because the trip was rather short and partly because by the time we started planning only a couple of weeks before the trip, many places we wanted to go were fully-booked. But at the end we loved our experience dining at this small kappou restaurant at Gion on our first evening in town.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: Tempura at the Counter

We tried our luck in getting a couple of seats at the counter of Tempura Yoshikawa for lunch without a booking and glad we were seated right away when we arrived after the morning visit to Nijo Castle a couple of blocks away. The kitchen primarily serves the guests of their 8-room ryokan, but it also serves lunch at a cozy 11-seat counter inside a wooden house next door.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: A Short Getaway

We didn't confirm our Kyoto vacation until 2 weeks before the departure date so we were a bit tight in putting all the travel arrangements in order. Luckily with such a short trip and having no particular plan in mind it's not that big of a problem. After having the flight confirmed (flying with Peach this time, as we always do since I love their flight schedules between HKG and KIX), we then tried to sort out the accommodation part, and at the end went for something different this time by taking the option of short-term house rental instead of hotel.

Sukiyaki at Mishima-tei

I knew the only chance I could get a table at Mishima-tei, the Kyoto restaurant specialized in beef dishes, without a reservation was to go for an early lunch just when the restaurant opens, so I did exactly that. We have been here for dinner previously and loved their food and the whole experience of dining inside the old building, and my sudden craving for beef brought me back here last month when I was in town again.

In Search of an Antique Gallery

Four years ago we stumbled across an interesting antique shop in Kyoto by chance. The storefront looked unassuming from outside, with a few ceramic items on display from the window, but once we stepped inside, it's like we found a land of treasure, with a fine collection of vintage kitchenware and drinkware all in excellent condition and reasonably priced.

Yakitori at a Sake Brewery

The neighborhood of Fushimi (伏見), about 15 minutes away by local train from Kyoto, was known as one of the oldest sake-brewing region in the country, partly because of the proximity to the former capital and also because of the great quality of water that flow through the area, providing the perfect key ingredient for brewing. And I was here one evening not only for some sake tasting, and for a serious chicken feast at an izakaya which was actually part of the brewery.

Exploring Local Markets (Part 1: Kyoto and London)

For us, part of the fun when traveling was to check out the local markets and explore the different ingredients available in different countries. Through that you learned so much more about their cuisine and culture and had a glimpse of the lives of the locals, so much more than going through museums or eating at the finest restaurants.

This time we didn't spend enough time in each place to really settle and cook, still we had a good time walking through aisles, going around stalls by stalls, admiring the fresh produce offered, and in some case, buying some and carrying them home whichever possible.

Let's start with our first two stops, with 2 iconic markets which serve locals for their daily grocery shopping needs, and tourists for their sightseeing experience.

More Kyoto Eats

With no fixed itinerary or specific places to go while we were in Kyoto, we found ourselves just stumbling across interesting places to eat even in between our regular meals. Here are the three of them.

Kaiseki Lunch at Gion Maruyama

We concluded our brief stay in Kyoto with lunch at a kaiseki restaurant called Gion Maruyama (祇園丸山), which came highly recommended by a few food loving friends of ours.

As we had a train to catch shortly after lunch, we did the unthinkable of dragging our suitcases cross the classy Hamamikoji-dori (花見小路通), a popular sightseeing street near Gion known for the common sight of geisha strolling past. There are actually two Maruyama restaurants, both owned by Chef Yoshio Maruyama and both awarded 2 Michelin stars, and the one we went was the honten, or the original branch, located just a couple blocks off Hamamikoji-dori inside an old traditional Japanese house.

A Popular Choice for Tempura

We were caught into a bit of an awkward situation with the heavy rain pouring down as we got out of the taxi just outside Tempura Yasaka Endo (天ぷら八坂圓堂) in Kyoto on a Sunday evening. We slowly regained our composure as we were led through a narrow stone path into the tempura bar area housed in a traditional building, where two seats have already been reserved for us at the corner of the L-shaped counter.

Noryo-yuka Cuisine in Kyoto

Sitting on Noryo-yuka (納涼床) - the open-air riverside platform - is an unique way of dining in Kyoto available only in the summer season. As this is our first time coming to town during the hotter months, we were eager to experience this ourselves.

Though there are over 100 Noryo-yuka set up in Kyoto by restaurants and bars of all sort - from traditional Kyoto cuisine to western food to places to drink - they tend to get very popular among locals and tourists so we decided to make a reservation in advance at a restaurant near to where we were staying.

Summertime Chicken Hotpot in Kyoto

With our flight schedule to touch down only in early morning at Osaka airport, we didn't make any specific plan for lunch in Kyoto on our first day, for fear of the possibility of a flight delay. Nonetheless, I did have a specific restaurant in mind - I just figure we would just try my luck walking in if all things went well.

Toriyasa (鳥彌三) is a 227-year-old Kyoto restaurant specialized in Tori no Mizudaki, or essentially chicken hotpot, now already in its 8th generation owner at the beautiful street of Kiyamachi by the Kamo river. We arrived at Kyoto right on schedule so after quickly settling in at our hotel near Sanjo, we made a leisurely stroll towards the riverside area where the restaurant is located.