2018 ZENBU TOURS

Our 3 scheduled Zenbu Tours for 2018 are filling up fast! 

You'd best be quick not to miss the Earlybird Specials! They end in early July 2017.


In fact they've already been snapped up for the Spring Tour in May - which is almost full! There are a couple of spots left on this gorgeous tour if you'd care to join us! 

There are still spaces on both the ever-popular 12 day Zenbu Zen Tour  of Kyoto in early January and the new and even more immersive 15 day Zenbu Setsubun tour of Kyoto and Tokyo. 

Please head on over to ZENBU TOURS for more details 

If you prefer DIY travel (but with a whole lot of groundwork done for you - including lots of direction pointing with places to eat, visit, experience you'd never find on your own...) then check out our detailed, personalised itinerary options. 

Oh and Ps - if you'd like to take a peek at the types of meal we enjoy on Zenbu Tours - take a look HERE. 


Interested in what other people have to say about Zenbu Tours? 
Well we'd very much like to share our TESTIMONIALS HERE and a little bit from the MEDIA HERE.

Escape's Top Food Tours for 2015

Er... more than happy to be included in the Daily Telegraph's Escape travel section's top FOOD TOURS FOR 2015!!!! woo hoo!

Thank you Angela Saurine for including me. 

You can see the top destinations article HERE

And the TOP FOOD TOURS HERE!!!!!

And for details on my Kyoto Cuisine and Culture Tours - either take a peek at my TOUR PAGE or email me for e-brochures

janelawsonfood@bigpond.com.au 

But please hurry as bookings close soon!

Sobaya Nicolas

Reading about Sobaya Nicolas I noticed it had been awarded a Michelin star... so I must admit I went in with rather high expectations. I wouldn't say I was disappointed  - but I wasn't bowled over.  I WAS disappointed by the fact they didn't have the dish I was most keen to try - the soba with foie gras.... 

The rest of the meal was nice enough - and when they brought the nutritionally rich and comforting soba cooking broth to the table to pour into the remaining dipping sauce once we'd finished eating our noodles (one of my favourite part of the soba experience)- I was pretty happy. 

 The handmade soba itself was good as was the dipping sauce but the gimicky stuff didn't really cut it for me. Believe me - I wanted it to. I've heard the soba with fruit tomato - when in season - is very good. 

Our 4200 yen Autumnal course included an appetiser plate including some marinated mackerel, duck breast, pumpkin salad with tofu dressing and sushi rolls using soba noodles in place of rice.

A rice dish with buckwheat and mushrooms and a simmered dish with chicken, chestnuts and ginko

I love this little square dish - one of the added joys of finishing a dish of food in Japan is finding hidden artwork underneath

Taro, lotus, ginko and a steamed buckwheat flour manju (dumpling) with pork

Zaru soba - Chilled soba on a basket  with dipping sauce

My friend Emilee - I've known her since she popped out of her mama. So cool to hang out with her as a grown up.

Annindoufu (almond tofu) with buckwheat honey

and below

buckwheat dumplings in sweet red beans

A late summer's Kaiseki in Kyoto

As summer ends in Kyoto town I thought I'd post some images of a summer Kaiseki meal in a nod to the gods of seasonal cuisine! 

This atmospheric venue is one of my favourite restaurants in Kyoto . Now if you have been on one of my tours you will recognise the place and the people immediately. Shhhhhh !!! 

For everyone else... I'm going to leave you guessing for a little while. A girl has to keep some things to herself.  But if you'd like to visit with me and be walked through the dishes, ingredients and stories behind them and meet the gorgeous chefs and owners  - you will just have to join one of my Kyoto Cuisine & Culture tours in winter.  These images will give you a little taste. Or should I say tease?