Lunch at A Womb

I have posted about this place before so won't repeat myself except to say that A Womb is a very cool space with great food and friendly hosts (some English is spoken and you can book via email) - it is one of the few places in Kyoto that I keep returning to. I also had dinner there recently and will post the images of that "course" shortly. 

 menu

 Vegetables and yuba with roe

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A mixed plate of small obanzai - inlcluding fish 'scraps' cooked in soy and mirin, rolled duck, nama fu,  pumpkin simmered in dashi, aka(red) konnyaku with yuzu miso, salmon sashimi and 2 excellent "pressed" sushi - one with leeks and cucumber pickle the other with pickled daikon and shiso leaf

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Sake Kasu (sake lees) soup with daikon, tofu, yuba, ginger and spring onions

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Hot sushi, steamed in a fragrant hinoki (cypress) box with anago, fried tofu and grated yam

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Dessert was a small piece of baked apple, kuri (chestnut) cooked in syrup, matcha icecream and a spice cookie leaf - too cute!

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UPDATE: Early March 2011 - "plate lunch" - great prawn and veg tempura donburi with ankake sauce - plus, as you can see  - a few other tasty morsels - great little salads, furofuki daikon with nama fu, aka konnyaku, yuba etc, miso shiru with sake kasu.... Oooh and a chestnut, pear and castella parfait for dessert. oishii!!

Nanzen-ji

 

A little taste of Kyoto's Central Wholesale markets

Guilo Guilo Hitoshina (Giro Giro) ギロギロ ひとしな

A really good entry point into contemporary Kyoto Kaiseki/Kappo style cuisine - the staff here are relaxed, friendly and welcoming to foreigners and even speak a little English so you are not completely in the dark about what you are eating if its all new to you. The website could make it look a little intimidating - but its not so don't be put off. 

Sometimes the kind of establishment that serves this level of nosh can be a little stiff but there is a real sense of fun at Guilo Guilo - which comes through in the food. While there is some experimentation with flavours - mostly it works and doesn't come across as too "try hard".  

There are two sittings so if you don't want to feel rushed opt for the 8:30  time slot. Its located on the western side of lower Kiyamachi - closer to Gojo than Shijo. You can see the chefs working their magic through a large window wall into the restaurant from the river running along the western edge of Kiyamachi - but you actually have to enter the restaurant from the street that runs parallel to and west again of the river. There is also seating upstairs so if you like to be part of the action - request a seat at the counter. 

The menu changes regularly but our February menu involved a starter plate of baby ayu, duck and bamboo, yamaimo and yuba,  beans with creamy natto dressing, an unusal bubbly seaweed and a jellied ginger palate refresher.  Ingredients ranged far and wide - turtle, chinese lily bulb, deep fried fuuki leaves, various shellfish, daikon, greens , nama fu, quails egg. 

Although it looked gorgeous, the dish that was least successful for me was the oyster baked in the little fish shaped ceramic below with apple, cheese and a chrysanthamum leaf sauce (that's edible Chrysanthamum so don't run out to the garden just yet). The sauce was pleasant but the apple a little sweet with the oyster , masking its flavour , and the cheese just confused it even more - but it wasn't unpleasant. 

Dessert was a charming but tiny selection of houjicha panna cotta with raw grated apple and red beans, a cumquat bavarois and a cassis ice cream. All lovely and a perfectly refreshing end to the meal.

The whole experience was most enjoyable and both my dining companion and I agreed we would have expected to pay twice the actual cost which was about 4000 yen each including sake.  

Okuoka - yuba lunch おくおか

I am mad for nama yuba - fresh soy-milk skin. Its like the thin layer of stuff that forms on top of milk when it boils - only non dairy... and much more delicious. It is possibly one of the most unattractive foods I have eaten but it tastes like heaven.

Kyoto - the land of quality soybeans and water so pure it blushes  - where tofu is king and yuba its queen.  There will be more on yuba - both fresh and dried - in the new book so I won't prattle on here but if you are in Kyoto and up for trying a local specialty (not to mention a food rarely, if ever, found outside Japan - well except in private homes perhaps...) then get yourself to OKUOKA on Higashioji dori - a few minutes walk south of Shijo on the western side of the street.

The sashimi, rice, fried nama fu ( wheat gluten) with miso, pickles etc were all fresh and flavoursome and the course was really well priced - plus its a fun experience making the yuba yourself. Friendly staff  - very welcoming of Gaijin. More info on the EDK ( Eat Drink Kyoto) website through which the lunch was organised. They are a food passionate team who regularly gather local and visiting foodies to eat, drink and do Kyoto! Thanks Sally and Eric.