This post was written in 2006. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
On the first morning I looked around Tofuku-ji, and by the time I came out it was lunchtime. While wandering around deciding where to eat, I went into a place that for some reason had a long line out front. I think it was called Tanbaya. Something like 120 years of history, if I remember right.
The udon set meal.
Pretty ordinary. Not bad, though.. ^_^ The udon broth, made with duck, was tasty, but the noodles were a bit soggy. I showed up at a tourist spot without any research at all, so I should be grateful it was even this good..
On the second day I went to Tsuruya Yoshinobu, a Kyoto wagashi (Japanese confectionery) specialist. It’s one block north of Seimei Shrine.
This place seems to have been around quite a while too.. ^_^
Inside.
Almost all of their wagashi are delicious. Kyoto Station and most department stores and malls carry their sweets. But at the main shop you can taste samples, so I got to try every kind they had ^_^ Really, really good~~ There weren’t many mochi-type sweets, and the ones with red bean paste were the best.
Konohana, where I went in for a late breakfast-slash-lunch.
A small cafe and eatery right in front of Kitano Tenmangu. When I came out of Seimei Shrine I was starving, so I rushed to the closest place I could find. Of course, the free samples had taken the edge off a bit..
The lunch special: kayaku gohan (mixed rice).
It’s a simple set meal, but the side dishes, the oden, even the miso soup all tasted like real care had gone into them. Places like this are where I felt that Kyoto has great vegetables and real skill in cooking them. A simple menu, but I could feel that neat, refined Kyoto atmosphere. A very satisfying lunch.
After a quick bite of rice ^_^ I order the house specialty, anmitsu.
Anmitsu is a dessert with sweet red beans, a traditional sweet that’s a bit like Korean patbingsu. At a proper anmitsu shop in Japan you get to experience their formidable skill with red beans.. The anmitsu here was very sweet. The good places make it sweet yet light and fresh, but this one didn’t quite get there..
For my last dinner I tracked down a place called Sengaryu Ramen that serves Kyoto-style ramen. “Kyoto-style” doesn’t mean anything special: it’s just a place where you sit on tatami to eat your ramen ^_^
The photo is the basic ramen + fried rice.
Ooh.. the ramen bowl and spoon are wooden~ And it comes with a tasty vegetable side dish too. Nothing major, but each little thing adds a bit of Kyoto-style formality.
The miso ramen.
The rich miso broth goes down clean without leaving any aftertaste. The noodles are standard chuka soba noodles, and the chashu and menma didn’t look specially prepared, but you can feel that no care was skimped on. Not the best miso ramen I’ve ever had (Junren was probably the best), but it was ramen that felt very Kyoto.
The fried rice had a great smoky wok flavor too.
If I ate this well on a trip to Kyoto, I’d like to think I did pretty well for myself ^_^