Touzan

There are many things I love about the Hyatt Regency Kyoto (where my Zenbu Cuisine & Culture Groups stay) but the food and beverage facilities here are truly top notch. Which is a rare thing to say about a hotel. From breakfast through to late night - the team are all over it! 

I adore the Touzan bar - the do fantabulous martinis, the staff know my name and what  I like to drink  (is that a bad thing??) it has a wonderfully cosy, nook like ambiance AND it is right next door to the Touzan restaurant.  

On our final evening in late April the kitchen team put together such a nourishing and delicious meal for us. After a couple of weeks eating everything from the wildly exotic to the simply rich and decadent - we really just wanted something soulful. And that is exactly what we got. 

We started with one of my favourite local dishes - gomadoufu (sesame tofu)  - a creamy, sesame morsel topped with fresh wasabi and good soy. 

Then came these SENSATIONAL gooey eggs marinated in soy then chargrilled. I want this NOW. 

A superb tastette of nigiri zushi (there's a sushi counter inside the restaurant too)

Then a simple nabe (hotpot) of udon noodles topped with grilled local chicken, tempura veg, cabbage, konnyaku and spring onions. Just so nourishing. 

Oh yeah. Just feeling a little bit homesick now. Missing Kyoto town. 

Touzan Restaurant 東山 - Hyatt Regency November 2011

I waxed lyrical about Kyoto's Hyatt Regency Hotel in a previous post on Italian restaurant Trattoria Sette almost a year ago - still serving the best Italian food I have eaten in Japan. Touzan is the hotel's Japanese restaurant and I have eaten there a handful of times. Although it has always been consistently good and the meal below was lovely - it didn't seem quite as fabulous as it has been on this occasion...   Perhaps it was a little expensive compared to other places around town... But we are in a flash hotel so you will get that (it is still very reasonable - don't get me wrong!).  Perhaps I am just getting fussier the longer I am here - also my slowly improving language skills enable me to try places I wouldn't' have dared enter a few years ago so I have many more comparisons of similar level foods  - but if you don't speak Japanese its a great place to experience some real Japanese food in a lovely setting.

Here is a bit of a visual journey for you....  (one of the set menus - 4500Y)

Kyo-yasai (local vegetables) on display in the restaurant

The adjacent sushi counter

The gorgeous bar... I love this wall of books and the clever re-use of various old household objects to form beautiful collage like walls and partitions

Procrastination

I have a mere 2 recipes left to write for the book and 12 to test next week. When it gets to this point in proceedings self-motivation becomes a little more difficult - so close yet still so far!


Day-dreaming of Kyoto.....

Touzan

Wagashi

Sanzen-in, Ohara

Hanamikoji

 All images copyright Jane Lawson