The Land of the Rising Sun – Part 3 – Kyoto

Japan’s capital, and residence of the Emperor from 794 until 1868, Kyoto is known for its rich cultural heritage with its temples, shrines and Geisha. It was among one of the few Japanese cities spared in the allied bombings of World War II and thus has maintained beautiful pre-war buildings.

Nishiki Market

We started our exploration of Kyoto’s culinary delights at the Nishiki Market, a bustling five block long market lined with shops and restaurants. There are Kyoto specialties galore with pickles, dried seafood and sushi.  As we meandered our way through the narrow street, sampling local delights as we went we foraged for our lunch. We opted for simple and fresh sushi and inari. We perched on small stools in a side street, with our lunch on our laps, and watched the crowds of locals and tourists whiz by.

Pontocho

A lively alley packed with restaurants & bars just of the main shopping district. The coveted Eastern side of the alley overlooks the Kawayuka river with outdoor dining. After a day full of temples, we took a seat on a terrace overlooking the river towards Gion (a cool $20 surcharge for the privilege), and watched the locals go about their day-to-day lives.

On our way to dinner, Robbie, being blessed in the height department spotted a geisha from far off. Having spent the last hour wondering around Gion willing a Geisha to emerge from a teahouse with no result, we felt incredibly chuffed to have seen one walking with quiet intent down the busy street.

We dined in one of the restaurants specialising in sukiyaki. We were quickly, de-shoed and whisked upstairs by our waitress dressed in a kimono and shown to our private room. The thinly sliced, highly marbled beef, cooked at the table with tofu and leafy vegetables with the addition of soy sauce, sugar and water was a taste sensation. Our waitress prepared our first serving, instructing us to dip our meat into a lightly beaten raw egg before devouring. We obliged and combined with sake aplenty, we had a great meal.

Favourite bites 

Green tea ice cream

The weather in Kyoto was surprisingly warm (given I had packed for the Antarctic) and after a full day of great sight seeing (Kinkaku-ji & Kiyomizu-dera) we thought we’d treat ourselves with a green tea ice cream. We asked for a small serve in a cone but what we were presented with was the Colosseum of ice creams, complete with crushed green tea biscuits. We were in green tea ice-cream heaven, which was followed closely by a green tea food coma.

Green tea matcha latte

My green tea obsession continued with this smooth and delicious latte made from the powdered leaf. Combined with a brioche bun filled with sweet red bean taste, it made the perfect Japanese breakfast combination. Sugar loaded I was able to attack the day and the sights wholeheartedly.

Takoyaki (Octopus Balls)

A snack born in nearby Osaka, made of a flour-based batter and filled with diced octopus, cooked in a special pan and topped with takoyaki sauce (thick, dark and sweet), mayonnaise and sprinkled with dried bonito. They’re a staple in street food stalls and although I burnt my mouth by scoffing the unexpectedly molten centred ball in one, I’d do it all again and can certainly see why they’re one of the city’s favourite snacks.

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake, the main ingredients being flour, yam, dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage adorned with various meats, vegetables or seafood. When our taxi driver delivered us to our restaurant (Donguri) he said “ahh Japanese pizza”.

It’s another dish that is meant to have originated from neighbouring Osaka. The batter and toppings are pan-fried on both sides and topped with a thick, sweet Worcestershire like sauce, seaweed flakes, bonito flakes and Japanese mayonnaise. We sampled both the pork and mixed seafood variety, both of which were delicious and left us wondering when next we could sample this again back home.

End of the journey

That takes me to the end of our Japanese adventure. The vibrant and energetic cities, combined with a rich cultural heritage and the kindest, friendliest locals, made for a wonderful trip. Not to mention the amazing gourmet delights which the country is famed for! Our eyes, ears and tummies were not disappointed.

Bri xx

The Land of the Rising Sun – Part 2 – Takayama

Takayama

As this was our first trip to Japan, we wanted to not only experience the cities it is famed for, but to immerse ourselves in some of the more traditional aspects of Japanese life. Takayama, a city in the mountainous Hida region, with its preserved old town and buildings dating from the Edo Period (1600-1868), it seemed like the perfect place to spend a couple of nights.

Ryokan dining

We opted for traditional accommodation: a ryokan complete with tatami matted rooms and communal baths. When you first enter your room, lovely tea and biscuits are set out on a low table setting as a welcome offering. As is the custom in this type of accommodation, when you leave your room for dinner, the table is miraculously replaced by an inviting futon.

On our arrival we were pleasantly surprised to find that both dinner and breakfast were included in the price of the room. This provided us with a great opportunity to sample some very traditional Japanese cuisine, with the meals all involving a number of small dishes, including regional specialties.

In our case, Hida beef featured on both evenings we dined. Hida gyu (Hida beef) is the name given to beef from a black-haired Japanese cattle breed that has been raised in Gifu Prefecture for at least 14 months. We enjoyed it thinly sliced as sukiyaki.

Other small dishes included tempura, sashimi, smoked fish, miso soup and rice. We opted for house sake to accompany our meal and also tried some local plum wine.

 

Breakfast followed a similar formula with grilled fish, fermented soy beans on steamed rice with soy sauce (more delicious than it sounds), a poached egg, miso soup, sweet tofu, salad and pickles. Of course washed down with green tea.

Favourite bites

Tempura –Udon

Sometimes the best meals are the simplest. After a morning strolling around the daily markets and the historic town centre, we popped into a restaurant overlooking the river that divides the city. With the help of a beautifully hand written English menu, I ordered the tempura-soba. Unfortunately they were out of soba noodles, but I wasn’t bothered as the udon that they were replaced with were plump, silky and delicious against the crisp tempura prawn and vegetables.

Tonkatsu-Teishoku

From the same restaurant, Robbie opted for their pork tonkatsu. What emerged was a lunch set with crispy crumbed pork, various pickles, salad and rice. The pork was tender and once dipped into the luscious tonkatsu sauce, it was a winner on all fronts.

Hida beef steamed buns

Robbie proclaims this was one of his favourite mouthfuls of the entire trip. Bought from a street vendor for around $4, the bun itself was light and airy and the beef and vegetable mixture was rich and flavour-packed. I had a small sample of what Robbie was willing to share, and from what I tasted, I don’t blame him for wanting to have it all to himself!

Sake

Sake, a traditional Japanese drink made from fermented rice, is a local specialty of Takayama. It can be served chilled, at room temperature or heated. Sake is drunk from small cups or masu, boxes which were originally used for measuring rice. A masu holds exactly 180ml and is filled to the brim as a sign of generosity (which actually makes it quite difficult to drink from without spilling, but we soldiered on).

As we wandered around the old town, we stumbled upon several sake breweries. Robbie and I are always keen on a little tipple, so we made sure to partake in as many free samples as was polite, and a few more substantial tastings of the ones we liked. We were instructed to drink our sake with a pinch of salt, “just like tequila” to enhance the flavour, which was new to us but we did as we were told!

Matcha green tea

Matcha refers to a finely powdered green tea that can, along with drinking, be used to flavour foods and as a dye for things such as soba noodles and green tea ice cream. It’s a high quality tea and is feature in Japanese tea ceremonies. I found the taste more round and less bitter than regular green tea, making this one of my favourite, unexpected finds of the trip.

Next stop the enchanting city of Kyoto!

Bri xx

The Land of the Rising Sun – Part 1 – Tokyo

Whenever I am jetting off to a new location, part of my pre-departure ritual is to Google the country I’m visiting and read aloud to Robbie the key facts I believe we should know. In this instance, such Googling revealed that Japan has the 10^th largest population in the world with 126 million people, it is the 3^rd largest economy by GDP and Japanese women have the second highest life expectancy of any country!

First stop: Tokyo. A bustling, vibrant and impeccably clean metropolis with 13 million people. boasting the most Michelin Starred restaurants of any city in the world. Despite our budget being slightly more street food than fine dining, our foodie expectations were high and this amazing city’s culinary delights certainly didn’t disappoint.

I quickly learnt that my Japanese skills were wildly inadequate (I’ve failed my lovely high school Japanese teacher Miranda Broadbent) and relied on the far superior broken English of the locals and some really good pointing at picture menus. In Australia, I’m an over-informed consumer/eater; I read menus online before I visit places and often have my entire menu in my mind before I’ve even set foot in the door! It was quite liberating to choose a random restaurant, sit down, order a bento set with what you believe to be a chicken stir-fry and wind up with a glorious egg and stir-fried cucumber dish instead!

We arrived quite late into Tokyo to find out that our hotel serves complimentary bowls of steaming ramen noodles from 9:30-11pm, which was a great start in our book!

Nobu Tokyo

Nobu had been on our restaurant radar for quite a while, but prior to this trip we had never quite made it. We seized the opportunity to give the Tokyo branch a go and we were not disappointed. The busy restaurant had great ambience, with a lovely bar and bustling open kitchen and sushi counter.

We ordered a palate pleasing selection of dishes, from sashimi mini tacos with tuna and scallop, wagyu beef gyozas, mixed vegetable tempura (my first tempura avocado experience), spicy tuna sushi and “fish-n-chips” Nobu style. All of the dishes were well executed; my favourites were the sashimi tacos with the perfect contrast of the crisp shell against the silkiness of the sashimi and the flavour packed gyoza.

 

Harjuku Gyoza Ro (Shibuya)

After a busy afternoon of shopping on my part (thanks Alister Palmer for pointing me in the right direction) and a technological expedition to Akihabara on Robbie’s, we joined the queue for Harajukugyozaro (sound familiar??) which I had spotted on our initial wander around Shibuya. The menu was short and sweet with a selection of sui (boiled) or yaki (pan-fried) gyoza, bean sprouts with meat sauce, chicken soup with rice and stir-fried cabbage and cucumber (smallish portions meant we could sample it all!). Washed down with a couple of icy yuzu sours, our meals were simple, delicious and worth the wait, not to mention very budget friendly! It would appear we were too busy eating the gyoza to photograph them!

Favourite bites

After a long stroll around Ueno Park checking out a few temples and gardens, we had a lovely lunch of yakitori and karaage (Japanese fried chicken). For some reason when the Japanese fry chicken it seems less naughty than the regular variety (well that’s what I told myself as Robbie and I both dived for the last piece). Our enthusiasm didn’t extend to our accidental order of chicken sashimi, however.

 

Tsukiji Fish Market

No foodie’s visit to Tokyo would be complete without a trip to the biggest fish and seafood market in the world. It has two sections: an inner market where the business of auctions, official wholesalers and fish processing takes place and an outer market with a mix of wholesalers and shops selling various Japanese goods such as hardcore chefs knives, chopsticks and bowls, plus food stalls and sushi restaurants.

We walked the breadth of the market, every inch overflowing with super fresh seafood and large frozen tuna being portioned with band saws and monstrous cleavers!

Our visit to Tsukiji culminated in a trip to a sushi counter serving beautiful fresh tuna, salmon and scallop sushi, all of which were, you guessed it, crazy good.

Next stop..

From here we loaded our gear onto the Shinkansen and bulleted our way west towards Takayama. Stay tuned!