Somushi is a beautiful Korean tea shop on the north side of Sanjo, a short walk west of Karasuma. John Einarsen and I have gotten into the habit of meeting up here whenever a new issue of Kyoto Journal comes out. These pictures were taken in the spring. … [Read more...]
Deep Kyoto & Tadg’s
Right then! I'm off to Bali for a week and will be resolutely offline during the interval so there'll be no more posts for a wee while, but before I go a short word of explanation. The astute among you may have noticed the appearance of a black box on the upper right of this page which proudly bears the name "Tadg's". It looks like this (only smaller): I'm pleased to … [Read more...]
BAR F.S.N.
UPDATE: BAR F.S.N. has moved and is now located here. Recently I heard that an old friend Philippe Goulier, had opened up his own bar. I was curious to see it. Philippe had always talked about running his own little cafe, or tea house, or restaurant... or something, but it always seemed like it was just talk. It's awfully nice when people exceed your expectations. Philippe … [Read more...]
Tadg’s Irish Bar and Restaurant
The Home of Craft Beer in Kyoto Four years since it first opened, the Irish pub formerly known as Mc Loughlin's has been renamed as Tadg's. Not a big change really, as I think everyone was calling it that anyway. I've written previously about this pub; its friendly hospitality and the fantastic views over the river and city. And Tadg's cooking is also justifiably renowned; … [Read more...]
Sunday at the Vegan Earth Festival
The sun was out and so were the crowds for Sunday's Vegan Earth Day festival. Now obviously, the big thing at this kind of event is the food (apparently there's no meat in it - but it still tastes ok!), but even if you aren't hungry, just wandering around people-watching is pretty entertaining. I saw some familiar faces - like Falafel Garden's Amir for example. And … [Read more...]
Vegan Earth Day Festival 2010
"...now that people in Japan understand what it means to be vegetarian, we hope that the next step will be that people understand what VEGAN means..." ~ Chiko The people who organize Kyoto's Vegetarian Festival every autumn (since 2003!) have decided to up the pace and add a spring vegan festival to the calendar! The very first VEGAN EARTH DAY festival will be held next … [Read more...]
Speak Easy
UPDATE!! JUNE 14th 2010: Hankering for a gluten burger and onion rings yesterday, I went along to the Karasuma branch of Speak Easy only to be deeply disappointed. It's not there any more. Presumably the Shugakuin branch is still intact though. Mewby and I intend to venture north next weekend and find out. Every now and again I am overcome by a terrible yearning for junk … [Read more...]
Yoramu
Last Thursday Nick Coldicott, was in town and invited me out to sake bar Yoramu. Nick is the editor of Time Out Shortlist Kyoto and also writes a drinks column for the Japan Times, so when he said that Yoramu was his favorite bar, I was naturally intrigued. Yoramu lived up to his promise. The master, Yoram, a quietly spoken Israeli perfectly fluent in English and Japanese, … [Read more...]
Kyoto Vegetarian Festival 2009
It's that time of year again! The 7th annual Kyoto veggie-fest will be held again at Okazaki Park this Sunday (October 4th) from 10 am till 5 pm. There’ll be plenty of entertainment on stage, NPO booths and of course plenty of tasty scran from a variety of local eateries, including Deep Kyoto favorites like Sunny Place, Falafel Garden, Mikoan and Cafe Millet. Here’s a word … [Read more...]
Kei’s Cafe Oggi
Our Mewby was very pleased with her lunch yesterday. We ate at Kei's Cafe Oggi on Gojozaka. It's famous for its antique furniture and for its light and fluffy rice-filled omelettes. Neither of us was in an オムライス mood though. I went for the vegan option and got myself a fantastic vegetable sandwich instead. Just look at the way the colours of those fresh vegetables leap … [Read more...]
BEE Japan in Kyoto
BEE Japan’s Cross-Country Eco-Cycling Tour is coming to Kyoto! Come support BEE and learn about how we’re trying to create a new era of sustainability! Salem Willard of BEE Japan writes: My name is Salem, I've lived the past 3 years in neighboring Shiga, and currently I'm leading a team of amateur cyclists across Japan. We're riding from Wakkanai to Okinawa over … [Read more...]
The Wild Cards & Vegan Food @ McLoughlin’s
Tadg of Mc Loughlin's writes: Dear Friends, If you can read this you have survived the Piggy Plague and to celebrate this momentous occasion we have washed, disinfected and bleached the Fab "Wildcards" and after severe water boarding they have agreed it is not torture and will gladly play this Friday night @ McLoughlins from around 9pm. To further add to the … [Read more...]
In the mailbag…
Every now and again I get an email like this that makes everything seem worthwhile: As a vegetarian, I found your website SO HELPFUL! And I was happy to see you featured in the current issue of the Kyoto Visitors Guide. In that guide, I found the name of Mariko's Kitchen Japanese Cooking classes, which I attended last night. It was such an amazing, special night, and I … [Read more...]
Na no hana
Out for a stroll last night I stumbled across health and whole food shop 菜花 (na no hana). They have plenty of organic vegetables and fruit here, all kinds of natural cooking ingredients, vegan food supplies and earth-friendly cleaning products. 菜花 sits about halfway between Demachiyanagi and Hyakumanben. If that isn't convenient, they do deliveries. To find it, just walk east … [Read more...]
