Food Highlights
So there’s this restaurant that we stumbled across during our first trip to Japan in 2015. It had no English name so we really had no idea what we were getting into, but we fell in love with it. The place had a wonderfully traditional interior design, and the beef tongue was so flavorful and tender. It was a pleasant surprise to find it again during our second trip in 2016.
It felt like a long shot to find it this time. The only marker I could remember was to “turn left at Baskin Robbins” and I had no idea what part of Kyoto it was even in. By a stroke of luck, however, while we were on the bus to a tourist attraction, I saw it. The pink and purple neon sign called out to me like a lighthouse at sea. I had no idea where we were but I just had a feeling. And lo and behold, when we turned left, we saw it.
I felt a wave of nostalgia as we ascended the familiar wooden staircase and deposited our shoes at the lockers. We were even seated in the same exact room we were in the first time. I ordered the Beef Tongue, my order every time.
The beefy umami flavor was still great, but admittedly it felt tougher than I remember. I don’t know if it’s just because I had Kobe beef the previous day, or if their cuts really weren’t as tender as before.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the gustatory trip down memory lane. And, thanks to a friend who knows Japanese, I can now find it again even without Baskin Robbins!
For dessert, we doubled back to the crepe place we had passed earlier because I was intrigued by the Cream Cheese Brûlée Crepe that was prominently advertised. I was scared I would get ‘umay’ because I’m not a sweet tooth, but I shouldn’t have worried – the whipped cream and torched sugar were perfectly balanced by cream cheese, strawberries, and crispy bits (called ‘pie’ in their posters). It was so incredibly satisfying. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the stall, but it was in a side street near the Shijo Kamawarachi bus stop. Or maybe other crepe stalls have it too!
Others
On our way to the famed Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, we passed a couple of stalls selling food. We hadn’t had lunch, so we tried some out!
- Assorted fried things on sticks – we tried beef, sausage, and pork mince. They tasted as you would expect, nothing special
- Beef sushi – this tasted okay but I think the quality of the beef could have been better, it was a little chewy
- Takoyaki – the cooking was a little on the gooey side, but it’s hard to dislike any takoyaki here, to be honest
- Yakisoba – this had a weird surprisingly tomato taste to it. You look at it expecting a soy-based kind of flavor, but it tasted like spaghetti. The ginger did well to balance it, and I like that it had a lot of toppings, but it was, overall, just really confusing.
- Taiyaki with custard cream filling – this began my sister’s obsession with all things custard cream. I would’ve liked a crispier outside for the batter, but the filling was good because it was creamy and not too sweet
- Strawberry mochi – the sweetness of the mochi and the tartness of the strawberry made for a really yummy dessert, but I would’ve liked some sort of strawberry-based or cream filling to round it off
None of them really stood out to me, but I still enjoyed trying all the different food stalls. And at least now I know what not to get next time.
Takeaways
If you’re meant to find it, you will.
Don’t regret trying new things, even if you end up not liking them.
Don’t regret trying new things because sometimes, it turns out to be worth it.
Check out for the rest of my Japan 2019 series! After all, the best part of traveling is the food ❤️
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