Posts for Tag: kyoto

Komeda Coffee and CoCo Curry

Chain restaurants in Japan are a step above their US counterparts. Komeda Coffee is similar to Denny's but with a more limited but higher quality menu. They have "morning service" sets which you get for free when you buy a coffee or other drink. It's a big thick piece of perfectly toasted bread with either some egg salad, a hard boiled egg, or red bean spread. The highlight for me though is the fluffy and light egg salad sandwiches on the same perfect toast.


We also stopped by CoCo Curry. Better than anything I've had in the States. Comes with side dishes like okra with mountain yam and fried garlic. I even got a beef and onion croquette which was excellent.

Kyoto at Night

After dinner we walked through the streets of Kyoto and made our way to the Kamo River. 


There was a summer festival along the river and it was lit up. We even got some dango (dumplings on a stick) which were sticky and yummy.

Izakaya #1 in Kyoto


We were lucky to have friends in Kyoto to take us around. Our first meal in Kyoto was at a small family run izakaya. This place fit my exact image of a true izakaya - small, intimate, amazing food/drink. Some highlights were large sea snail and probably the best piece of roasted chicken I've ever had. Our friend remarked that it was "ji tori" or craft chicken. Think craft beer versus regular big brand beer. Out of this world!

Off to Kyoto!

We took the bullet train to Kyoto. Went to a bento emporium in Tokyo Station called Ekibenya Matsuri. Had probably 50 different types to choose from. They even had one with a pull tab that heats up your food!

Fall Colours at Kiyomizudera (Karaoke Yoga)

Fall Colours at Kiyomizudera

Akane and I spent a few hours at Kiyomizudera, one of Kyoto's more spectacular temples. This is also the first temple I visited when we came to Kyoto in 2002 a few months before Riku was born.

Even though it was a Monday, the temple was very crowded. These were taken with my camera phone, so they're not great (and I even brought our "real" camera but forgot that I had ...).

30 November 2009

From our friends in Kyoto. Man, that looks amazing.