Kyoto eats (sweet treats)

For Japan and Kyoto in particular, it is really helpful to have the names of the shops you’re looking for written down in Japanese, as a lot of signboards do not have English words!  Better still is to have photographs of the storefronts, so that you can show them to friendly passers-by who will help you locate the stores.

1.     Kyo Kinana (京きなな)

This shop is located just off Hanami-koji, which is probably Gion’s most famous street. 

Kinana serves six traditional Japanese flavours: kinako (roast soybean flour), azuki (sweet red bean), kurogoma (black sesame), kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), maccha (powdered green tea) and yomogi (mugwort).  When I was there, they were serving up a white chocolate too.

Every order for dining in is accompanied by a pot of houjicha.

They are most famous for their dekitate ice cream (600¥), which is freshly made ice cream (not frozen).  To order this, you’ll have to get a seat on the second floor, as they don’t offer this for takeaways.  

  

Such deliciousness deserves an extreme close-up!

The dekitate ice cream is usually kinako, but they occasionally do other flavours too.  When I checked, I was told that the chefs usually just decide what flavor to make each morning haha.  I tried to persuade the chef to do a maccha and he agreed to do it in two days, but when I went back the queue was devastatingly long so I had to skip it sadly.  The first two times I went, I’d nipped in near closing time and there weren’t any queues, but on the third day I’d gone in the afternoon and the queue was snaking!

I also tried their three flavour ice cream combination (800¥).  In addition to these, they also had some delicious looking parfaits (1100¥).

I had read that the chestnut autumn parfait (1300¥) in particular was amazing, but there are only 20 of these available each day (and surprisingly, it only makes an appearance on the Japanese and not the English menu), and I was too late to get one! Ah well, there is always next time.  This is a seasonal delights, and arrives only in autumn.

Photo from the Kinana website.

Kinana also stocks some food souvenirs (including, kinako candy, milk jam and biscotti) that you can buy home.

Hours: 11am – 7pm (6:30 pm last order)

English menu: Yes (but less extensive than the Japanese menu)

Service: Excellent! Some staff speak good English too.

Address: Kyoto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Gion-machi Minami-gawa 570-119 (京都市東山区祇園町南側570-119)

Telephone: +81 75-525-8300

Website: http://www.kyo-kinana.com/index.htm (Japanese)

Directions: Turn into Hanami-koji (the traditional/ touristy side) from Shijo-dori.

• Turn right at the second alley (after the post box) into Hatsune-koji. You'll see this sign on the floor, 

• Next, turn left into a narrow lane (you will walk past Oku Café). 
• Walk for a little while and then you'll see Kinana! 

This is what the shopfront looks like! 

The first time I was there I did a desperate search for 'Kinana' in English script. There was none, obvs. I actually kind of like it that the area preserves its tradition by its adherence to language. 

2.     Kagizen Yoshifusa (鍵善

Also located in Gion, Kagizen Yoshifusa has continued making sweets since the mid-Edo period.

I had the Kagizen signature dish: Kuzukiri (900¥) 

 These beautiful photos are from Kagizen's website. 

My attempts at phototaking didn't quite make the cut, as the translucent noodles don't quite show up well on my puny camera. 

Kuzukiri consists of translucent noodles made from kudzu (Japanese arrowroot) and a dipping sauce of kuromitsu (black sugar syrup).  The dish is made fresh, after each order is placed.  You can think of this as a kind of sweet version of dipping soba.  My cousin and I agreed that the dish was “interesting”.  I guess we weren’t much used to it, but I am glad to have tried it.

Guests at Kagizen are also served houjicha. 

Hours: Tue to Sun: 9am – 6pm

English menu: Yes

Address: 264 Gion machi Kita gawa Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto

Telephone: +81 75-561-1818

Website: http://www.kagizen.co.jp/en/about/concept/ (English)

Directions: Intersection of Hanami-koji] and Shijo-dori (across from the entrance into the traditional/touristy side)

3.     Soft serve ice cream

There are LOADS of stalls serving up soft serve ice cream, so you’ll never have to walk too far to find it.  I found that a good gauge for proximity to tourist attractions was to see how many soft serve shops there are along the street haha.  At the super touristy streets every third shop will entice you with the chubby ice cream cones.

4.     Sweet treats from little stalls along the road

yakimochi (grilled mochi)

http://faimouioui.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/yakimochi-gion-kyoto-japan/

Apart from these, some useful websites:

1.      http://kyotofoodie.com

http://kyotofoodie.com/wagashi-sentaro-rice-flour-kasutera-soba-and-wheat-manju/

Giro Giro Hitoshina

Fresh, modern and innovative, Giro Giro is a FANTASTIC modern take on kaiseki.  Giro Giro first opened as Giro Giro Hitoshina in Kyoto, and has gone on to open branches in Tokyo, Paris and Honolulu.

Here, reservations are necessary.  Try to sit at the counter so that you can watch the food being prepared and chat with the friendly chefs.  The chefs at Giro Giro Hitoshina are young, relaxed and occasionally reach across the counter to clink glasses of wine or sake with the customers.  Some English (though not much) is spoken, but enough friendly smiles will be thrown your way to make you feel welcomed.  

 CHEERS!

I happened to sit across from a French chef from their Paris branch, who was brought to Kyoto for a one-year work trip, and we chatted a bit.  I learnt that he'd only been in Japan for three months at that point of time and all the Japanese that he knew had been learnt in the kitchen, and was quite impressed as his Japanese was not bad!

The head chef of Giro Giro alternates his time in Japan and Paris, spending a month in each.  He leaves the head chef in Kyoto to design the menus for Kyoto and Tokyo for the alternate months when he is in Paris.  This is the spunky young head chef in Kyoto, who has been featured in a number of Japanese magazines as a chef to watch.  He sometimes also heads down to Tokyo to oversee the launch of the new menu.  I was lucky to catch him in Kyoto, as he was headed to Tokyo the next day.  When he is away, Giro Giro Hitoshina closes, which would allow the French chef his first day to explore the city haha.  They work pretty long hours but seem to genuinely enjoy what they do, which is a real blessing.

The head chef of Giro Giro Hitoshina

Here's the menu at Giro Giro Hitoshina (though, by the time you go, the menu will have changed).  Lest you think that I have such sensitive and fantastic tastebuds to source out all these complex flavours, sorry, nope.  The French chef had very kindly explained all these to me haha.  The other diners were friendly too and even though I was by myself I still managed to have some good dinner conversation.  The Japanese man next to me told me that for a traditional kaiseki, people usually spend around 20,000Y (as I am not an atas eater, I must admit I was super shocked).  By contrast, a meal at Giro Giro Hitoshina costs 3,800Y (not including drinks).  I had this fantastic yuzu beer which was DELIGHTFUL, and most other diners had wine or sake.

1.      Eel and eggplant soup

2.      Starter: popped rice, tofu, salmon, potato ball with sauce made from mushroom and pepper, pumpkin mas with ham chips and coffee sauce, ginko seeds, octopus, egg and foie gras and shimeji mushroom

3.      Squid with miso and Japanese pear

4.      Soup with daisy flowers, crab and egg tofu, mocha rice, wasabi topping

5.      Sweet potato jelly, aburi saba, sauce of liver of fish with sugar

6.      Fig, dashi jelly, mushroom sauce

[Unphotographed, I proceeded to spill this beautiful dish all over my legs and bag. The chefs sprung into action, offering me warm wet towels to mop up the mess, and a new dish promptly appeared before me. Most embarrassing.]

7.      Yellow tail smoked with straw and miso

8.      Cheesecake with chestnut and grape jelly 

Hours: Dinner only. 530pm – 11pm (closed on the last Monday of the month)

Reservations: Necessary
English menu: Yes, for drinks. No food menu, as the food is kaiseki

Price: 3,800 for the set dinner,  drinks additional (no credit cards,  cash only)

Service: Excellent; friendly and relaxed. Some English may be spoken. 

Address: 420-7 Nambacho Nishikiyamachidori Matsubara Sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture 600-8027, Japan

Telephone: +81 75-343-7070

Website:  guiloguilo.com (Japanese)

Directions: 
1. Go to the Keihan Railway Kiyomizu-gojo train station.  Take Exit 3 onto Gojo Ohashi Bridge and cross the bridge

2. After crossing the bridge, take a right turn into the first street (Shimogyo-ku).

3. Walk down Shimogo-ku until you see a small bridge on your left 

 

4. Turn onto that little bridge and walk down, then turn right. Walk for a tiny bit more, and you'll see Giro Giro Hitoshina! 

5. This is what Giro Giro Hitoshina looks like on the other side 

Cosy right! ENJOY your meal! 

Gen Yamamoto, an intimate eight-seater in Azabu Juban features a beautiful L-shaped counter made from a 500-year old Japanese oak.  The bar takes its name from its owner and sole bartender, a mixologist who trained in New York before returning home to Japan, a decision in part spurred by his desire to have greater access to fresh, seasonal ingredients. 

Ascetic, neat and almost clinical in appearance, 

Yamamoto-san intently focuses on the creation of his delicious cocktails. 

Yamamoto-san's approach towards his cocktails is similar to that of a kaiseki chef, and he adopts the three Japanese concepts of omakase, washoku and ichi-go ichi-e in his bar.  Omakase, as we know, is the acknowledgment that the chef (or in this case, the bartender) is more knowledgable than the patron, and the patron entrusts the decision-making of the food or drink to the chef.  Washoku, recognised on 4 Dec 2013 as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, literally means "Japanese cuisine".  It emphasises the use of seasonal ingredients and utilising them in a way that brings out their inherent deliciousness together with beautiful presentation.  Ichi-go ichi-e 一期一会 is usually translated as "for this time only" and speaks of the immediacy and trancience of the experience. See this great website for more info. 

At this bar, drinks are stirred, not shaken. 

To best experience Gen Yamamoto, I would suggest the omakase style tasting menu - four cocktails (¥4,300) and six cocktails (¥6,500).  There is an added cover charge of ¥1,000 per person.  Yes, the drinks here are not cheap, but I would say that the price tag is worth it as they are outrageously good!  

The tasting course reflects shiki, Japanese seasonality.  The menu changes periodically, and, as I understand, rather often, sometimes within the same month, as the menu is dependent on the availability of the ingredients.

I was there at the end of September 2014, and we were treated to four delicious autumn cocktails. The five of us each had the tasting menu of four drinks, and after the first one I promised myself that I would return for the tasting menu of six, as it kind of bothered me that I would not know what the last two drinks were! We were very fortunate to get five of the eight seats in the bar without a reservation (we nipped in at around 930pm, and other friendly customers told us that they would be done by 10pm, so we reappeared at that time).  However, when a friend and I returned a few days later, again without a reservation, Yamamoto-san told us with regret that he would be unable to seat us that night.  Reservations are recommended!

All the ingredients used as the base of each drink were locally sourced from different parts of Japan. Each was pared with a different spirit, but I was too happy chatting and drinking so I failed to note them down. This is despite Yamamoto-san’s detailed explanations of the origins of the ingredients and the various spirits. What I did note, because I could not fail to notice this, was that they were all super tasty. My friends who were there this summer said that one of the summer drinks featured tomato. My four drinks were:


1.      Grape (Hokkaido Niagara)

The drinks are plated beautifully. 

The plates were decorated with two mini persimmons and an artful spray of water

Amusingly enough, this cocktail tastes something like an adult version of the White Grape flavour of Qoo (which I also love).  The cocktail was light, sweet and refreshing.   

For more on this particular grape, see http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/08/12/food/grape-adventures-in-northern-climes/.  When used in wine, it is sweet and has a juicy scent.  

Picture by Gen Yamamoto https://twitter.com/barGenYamamoto  

2.      Hokkaido Pear

I believe the pairing (hehe the pear-ing) here was of sweet potato shochu and Hokkaido pear puree. 

It was stronger than the first drink, but the flavour of the pear still shone out pure. 

3.      Ume

I think the ume was mixed with a sparkling sake, which is always fun to drink.

4.      Ibaraki chestnuts 

This was the most substantial drink of the evening. It was also my favorite. The cocktail had a milky finish and featured suspended tiny chestnut particles. We joked that it was a little like the nut milks that are often used as the last drink of the day in juice cleanses.

This beautiful picture was taken by Gen Yamamoto https://twitter.com/barGenYamamoto

 

For more glowing reviews of the place, see here and here. 

Hours: Tue to Sat: 3pm – 12am

             Sun: 3pm – 11pm

Reservations: Recommended, though you can drop in and try your luck if you don't mind hanging around the area for a little while. There are plenty of restaurants, some good snack shops (which fry rice crackers on the spot!) and Koots (if you fancy matcha or houjicha ice cream) along Azabu Juban, so while the shops are open (they close at 10pm) you can happily amuse yourself while waiting. 

English menu: Yes

Address: Anniversary Building 1F 1-6-4 Azabu-Juban, Mianto-ku, Tokyo 106-0045

Telephone: +81 64-34-0652

Service: Friendly and English-speaking

Website: http://www.genyamamoto.jp/bar_tokyo/English.html (English)

Directions: The closest metro station is Azabu Juban.  Take Exit 4.  It will be a ten minute walk. All photos below this are taken from Google Maps street view!

• Once you exit the metro, you will see a shop called The Darjeeling 
• Facing The Darjeeling, head into the street on the right side of The Darjeeling. This is Azabu-Juban Street. The first shop across from The Darjeeling is a Tully's Coffee 
• Walk down Azabu-Juban Street. You will pass a McDonalds then a Starbucks on your left. Keep heading down in the same direction, then a supermarket across the road. Next to the supermarket is Mount Thabor bakery, which sells yummy bread. 
• When you see the shop below, make a right turn into a narrower alley 
• If you keep heading down Azabu-Juban Street before taking the right turn into the narrower lane and you come across a 100 yen shop across the road you will know you have gone too far. Backtrack and look for the shop in the picture above. 
• After you make the right turn, while facing into the narrower alley, check to see that the first shop on your right is a pet shop with this cute picture   
• Continue walking down for a very short distance until you see this restaurant then stop, Gen Yamamoto is right next to it                      
•  If you see a vertical parking garage, you've gone too far, so turn around. 
• You should see Gen Yamamoto! Enjoy this amazing bar! 

Japan is a great city for eating - from Michelin-starred restaurants for star collectors, to mid-range establishments to hole in the wall corners and vending machines, there is something for everyone. And, best of all, it's all fresh. Seriously, the seafood here is so fresh, sometimes it is still alive as you put it in your mouth.
SUSHI DAI (寿司大)
I'll start off with Sushi Dai in Tsukiji Market, as this has the honour of being the meal for which I have queued the LONGEST. (It is not the longest I have ever queued for something, as that goes to a performance by Marina Abramovic in the MOMA.)  For a chance to eat at Sushi Dai, I arrived at Tsukiji Market to join the queue at 0645.  I then queued for 4.5 hours and only got to eat at 1115.  I know, I know, it is kind of crazy to queue for so long, but after I was locked into the queue for 2 hours, I was all kinds of determined to stick it out. 

When I got close enough to peek in, I realised why the queue moved so slowly. You can see how small the shop is, I reckon there are only around 10 counter seats.

You would think that arriving at 0645 would be sufficiently early, but I guess not!  I had considered waking up even earlier to catch the tuna auction, but as I found out from people in the queue, to be in good time for the tuna auction, you need to get there at 0330.  There are only 120 slots, and by the time my new friends arrived at 0330, they said that the spots for the tuna auction were already half full! Also, check out the website to see if the market is open.

There are two alternative omakase sets at Sushi Dai. Omakase means "I'll leave it to you", so you basically entrust your food to the chef's good hands. The big set is 4000Y and the small set is 2600Y. The difference between the two is that the small set has chutoro and no otoro (i.e. the tuna is not the delicious fatty one) and has no uni and has less dishes.

After my 4.5 hours of queuing, I DEFINITELY wanted the large set.  This consists of 13 items: otoro (fatty tuna), flounder, snapper, uni (sea urchin), tamago, saury, red clam (alive), chutoro (tuna), baby shrimp, ikura (salmon roe), tuna and mentaiko roll, unagi, and a last dish of your choice. I had a second helping of uni as my last dish - it was so tasty!

This chef was so friendly and really put effort into making each piece, so he was a delight to watch. He also knows the name of all the items in English, Mandarin and Korean (and of course, Japanese). This possibly shows how touristed Sushi Dai is haha.

He's also game for photos haha

No wasabi and soy sauce is required for most of the sushi, as the chefs have already included these elements. All the sushi is presented straight on the counter top before you, instead of on a plate, which I found rather fun.

Otoro (Fatty Tuna)

Flounder

Flounder prep: the chef gives the fish a touch of lemon. Look at his concentration!

Snapper

Uni (Sea Urchin)

Tamago

Ocha

Saury

Red Clam 

This was alive  and had to be slapped by the chef as he placed it on the rice. Here, you can see it trying to peel itself off the rice bed

 Chutoro (Tuna)

The tuna pre-preparation

 Baby shrimp

Ikura (salmon roe)

Normally, the ikura we get is frozen, but these were fresh as they're in season now. Delicious.

Tuna and mentaiko roll

Unagi

For the 13th dish, my friend got a Yellowtail (I got another helping of the delicious uni)

If you're wondering what to get, ask the chefs what fish is currently in season! It turned out that yellowtail was in season at that time

Overall verdict: OISHII! The food was super fresh and prepared really well. (Although I'm not sure if it is a four and a half hour queue's worth of delicious, as I haven't tried the other stalls yet.) 

Address: 5-2-1 Tsukiji Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045

Phone: +81-3547-6797

Opening Hours: 5:00-14:00（Mon-Tue, Thu-Sat) 5:00-12:00(Wed)
Close: Sun, Holidays (Wed where Tsukiji Market is closed (check the calendar - the days marked in red indicate closure)

Credit Card: N/A

Seats: 13 counter seats

Menu: 4,000yen(旬魚おまかせセット/Omakase-Set, 2,600yen(にぎり司/Nigirizushi-Set）

Service: Great! Very friendly, and English is spoken

Directions: (courtesy of the excellent website Picrumb - they also have an app available for around $2 which can be used offline. Lifesaver for people like me who cannot read maps!) 

1. I alighted at Tsukijishijo and followed the very easily navigable directions to Tsukiji market. 

2. Once you are in Tsukiji market, walk straight for about 160 metres till you reach Sui-Jinja (Water Shrine) on your left hand side)

3. When you see the crossing in the picture, make a right turn opposite to Sui-Jinja by following the arrow (Sui-Jinja is circled in blue on the picture)

4. Once you see the red mail box, you are almost there. Make a right turn. You will probably see a long queue for Sushi Dai right about here. 

5. Walk for a few seconds and you'll see Sushi Dai! ENJOY!