Tempura Matsu

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Thanks for your patience. Cheers, Jane 

Kurashiki

Hello we are currently in the process of transferring all Japan-related material to Jane's ZENBU TOURS site. This post has already moved to HERE. Thank you.

Kaiseki who?

This is one of my favourite Kaiseki restaurants.

 I so wish I could share the name with you - but if I did I'd have to kill you. 

However, that doesn't mean I can't SHOW you...   it is too beautiful not to.

I'm keeping this one a little under wraps for now but if you happen to come along on one of my tours it might be on the itinerary... just sayin'.

For those of you who came on the inaugural Zenbu Ryori tour - shhhhhhhh!  

                                                                

Gion Karyo - Kyoto

Hello, we are currently in the process of transferring all Japan-related content to Jane's ZENBU TOURS site. 

This page has already been moved - you will find it HERE

Thank you. 

Tankuma Kitamise - Kyoto

So if you read my last post you will know I am just a little time poor at the minute and therefore postings will be very light on content/detail for the next little bit.... Apologies. But it's the option of sketchy or... nada - and nada's not really ideal for keeping a blog alive. 

So, here are some beautiful Autumnal dishes from a meal I ate a couple of weeks ago in Kyoto. This lunch was around 10,000 yen with some sake. Just over $100 AUD.

The image above is the Zensai - or substantial appetiser plate consisting of items such as salmon roe and pickled flower petals, rolled duck breast and wasabi,  fish rolled around beans and simmered in a sweet soy mixture, ohitashi of mushrooms, greens and chrysanthamum petals, fresh soybeans cooked in smoky dashi, mini sabazushi like sushi  - using Kamasu - a type of Baracuda instead of saba (mackeral) - detail below. And a small sweet made of sweet potatoes and red beans. 

The chef entertains a group of Japanese women who were fascinated by the Gaijin chick who was asking him for details about the food... although they knew I could speak some Japanese they spoke about me as if I wasn't sitting directly next to them. A surreal experience.  Lucky for me they were being polite.

Sashimi of Tai (red snapper), Maguro ( tuna) and ika (squid)

A young chef with a focus on preparing a broth for my next dish below - containing a fish paste dumpling wrapped around prawns, matsutake mushrooms, sandomame ( green beans), konnyaku and scented with green yuzu zest

Chef prepares a takeaway wooden bento for one of the customers. It was stunning. 

Gindara (black cod) marinated in saikyo miso before grilling and Tai grilled with salt. Turnip greens in sesame dressing. 

Working on a small radish flower for the above-mentioned bento.

Takiawase - simmered dish - seasonal vegetable, fish and tofu dish  containing a maple leaf of nama fu (wheat gluten), turnip with yuzu miso, pumpking, ko-imo (a type of taro/potato), thin pieces of sweet/smoked fish and yuba (soy milk skin)

concentration for the perfect duck slice to pop into the takeaway bento

Indulging the ladies once again... this time with a photo

Agemono - the fried course of tempura including hamo ( conger eel) , manganji peppers, prawns, their heads, shiso, pumpkin, sweet potato and lotus

The gohan or rice course was quite fancy here and contained seasonal matsutake, shiitake, shimeji, jako (tiny dried sardines) and manganji peppers. The pickles were  made from eggplant (which tasted remarkably like black olives), daikon and cucumber (detail below)

Bye bye ladies...

Refreshing dessert of Black sesame kuzu mochi, nashi, wine jelly, muscat grapes and crisp persimmon

Exterior of the restaurant - if you happen to be looking for it...

Here's the link to the restaurant site - you will see there are a few in the family....

http://www.tankumakita.jp/en/

If you don't speak Japanese - I recommend trying the branch at the Kyoto Tokyu Hotel. Or check it out when you are in Tokyo - however I have eaten only at this venue in downtown Kyoto  ( which, by the way, was really excellent as you can probably tell from the pictures.)

Psst!

Like the look of this ? then you might want to hop over to my KYOTO WINTER TOURS PAGE!

My mornings at Kikunoi

We're moving all Japan related posts over to ZENBU CUISINE AND CULTURE TOURS

You'll find this post HERE 

                         

Return to Soujiki Nakahigashi そうじき なかひがし

This post has been moved to ZENBU TOURS. You will find it HERE

Jiki Miyazawa じきみやざわ

As is common in Japan the restaurant is named after its proprietor - and according to a Japanese Foodie friend Jiki Miyazawa is one of Kyoto's finest young chef's. (the link is in Japanese but the map shows you it is two blocks east of Daimaru and about half a block north. It is on the east side of the street)

The photos of this meal are from the vault I'm afraid - I ate here almost 18 months ago when my oldest friend (and sista!) Vanessa came to visit.  Here she is in the restaurant entrance - playing tourist ...

We were first offered our choice of beautiful sake cups. People travel across Japan to dine off the dinnerware - many of them extremely valuable antiques....

Seasonal starter of tiny firefly squid - smaller than a broadbean!

Fresh wakame - "scratched up" which makes it more porous and slightly... er slimy. It is served in the dashi it was cooked in with some bamboo shoots and garnished with kinome - the leave of the sansho (pepper) plant

My nemisis - namako shiokara - the fermented (raw) guts of the seaslug, on rice, hiding under a sakura leaf

Chef preparing a beautiful sashimi dish with a very soft variety of uni (sea urchin) and a sweet soy dressing

On of the most divine renditions of goma dofu (sesame tofu) - grilled and served with a sesame dressing (yaki goma dofu)

Kinome yaki sakana  - Grilled fish with kinome

This Akagai (red ark shell clam) was slammed down, live, onto the bench  - where it tried to slink away before being quickly sliced into submission

With fine shreds of udo and slices of raw okra it was a particularly refreshing, elegant dish - if somewhat brutal...

Grilled anago (conger eel)  in thickened dashi

rice and pickles

custard apple

Sakura monaka  - a cherry blossom shaped wafer filled with cherry blossom flavoured anko (red bean paste) - it is being warmed in the background above

Chef preparing Matcha ( whisked, powdered green tea) for serving with the Sakura sweet.