Eating Out in Kyoto

In the hunt for our new favorite restaurant (Kura Kura) we stumbled across this really great restaurant. To be honest we are pretty sure they get a lot of tourists through their doors as they are located very close to a hostel, and have an English menu. Regardless, they have a really cool atmosphere. There is a bar for couples, or tables for groups. It can probably hold a max of 30 people, so good luck!

Kyoto tips:
1. If a restaurant is full they do not always have a "wait list." You just have to go elsewhere or come back in hopes of getting a table.

2. Scope out where locals eat, and be sure to try the sort of "hidden" (sometimes, as is the case with Kura Kura, literally hidden) restaurants of Kyoto. Many of the hole in the wall restaurants throughout the alleys and side streets of Kyoto are exceptional for both food and drink.


Anyways, here are some photos of our adventure!

After a long day of sweating, it was nice to sit and relax in some great air conditioning.

 You can see we both have a great sweat-caked glow! 

 Japanese menus and specials. We can tell you what they say but the restaurant was really yummy, so even if you can only order off the english menu as we did, it's well worth it!

An unintended first course of flavored tofu and tobiko (fish eggs). This is sort of like odd-cheese-fish-flavored silken tofu. It's odd to a foreigner, but still really a nice light first course. 

This is the windows of our booth. The bar (the backs of the people you see) was totally packed, but if you can get a seat there you get a killer view of the chef's in the kitchen. The red icon in the glass looks very much like a Gion Matsuri festival float -perfect timing as this is Gion Matsuri month!

First course of tempura. This seven piece set was both fish and veggies and was oh so delicious. It is served with a tempura dipping sauce (possibly bonito or vinegar, soy sauce, and water?). the white ball is daikon (radish) shredded and it is traditional with tempura. You can add it to the dipping sauce or eat it by itself if you enjoy the taste of daikon. There is also salt, this time just plain, but frequently flavored (curry or otherwise). As was the case here, sometimes you also get the treat of a lemon wedge. Fruit is very expensive in Kyoto (and likely all of Japan), so receiving a lemon wedge is like getting a brick of gold as a pescetarian (i.e. fish eating vegetarian).

This was a five piece nigiri set. All 5 pieces were very yummy. By no means the best sushi we have eaten in Japan or the states, but certainly not bad. As you can see the salmon was very rich in color -something of some rarity in the states.