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Nishin Soba at Nama-soba Tokiwa

May 3, 2022 By Michael Lambe

Tokiwa is an unassuming noodle shop in central Kyoto that serves a huge variety of perfectly average canteen-style meals. It’s also the first place that I ever tasted nishin soba. And for that reason it holds a very special place in my heart.

tokiwa noodle shop
Nama-soba Tokiwa Noodle Shop on Teramachi Doori. Nama-soba means “fresh soba,” so not dried or frozen, and therefore full of flavor!

I can’t remember when exactly I first entered this place, but it must have been over a decade ago, just after I had first moved to Kyoto. My Japanese reading ability wasn’t so great at the time, but I could read hiragana, and the words にしんそば (nishin soba) were very clearly written in red on the shop front sign. I didn’t know what it was, but I decided to go in and give it a try. Reader, it was a revelation. And nishin soba has become one of my favorite Japanese dishes.

nishin soba at tokiwa restaurant
A nice hot steaming bowl of nishin soba goodness

So this is nishin soba: a big slab of dried herring, marinated in mirin (cooking sake) and soy sauce, and served on a bed of fresh buckwheat noodles with some chopped green noodles. It is a simple dish, and to my mind it is a little piece of heaven in a bowl. The sweetness of the mirin contrasts nicely with the deep savory flavor of the fish, while those fresh noodles and the light broth they are served in serve as a satisfying complement. Nishin soba is in fact a specialty of Kyoto, having been invented in another noodle restaurant (Matusba over by the Minamiza theater) back in the 19th century. It’s not to everybody’s taste, but I find it quite magical.

Tokiwa restaurant interior
The interior of Tokiwa

As for the shop “Tokiwa”, the place has a real Showa era vibe going on with its simple furnishings and wall-mounted TV. At the front of the shop, it says that Tokiwa was established in Meiji 11. That’s 1878 folks – this place is historic. I believe it is now run by the 4th or 5th generation of the family that established it. This is not unusual in Kyoto, but still I find it hard not to be impressed.

With its unremarkable appearance it would be very easy to walk past this store and never even notice it is there…

You might feel a little intimidated going into a tiny local place like this, but don’t be. Just walk in and someone will ask you how many people you are and then direct you to an available table. They have English and Chinese menus if you need them, and of course you don’t have to eat nishin soba. They have all kinds of soba and udon noodle or rice dishes available and economical set meals. You can see some plastic food models in the window to give you an idea of what is available. There’s quite a variety, but I can’t really recommend any of the other dishes because I’ve never tried them. For me this is a sacred spot where I can only eat nishin soba. And having tasted something so nourishing and flavorful, why would I want anything else?

Yata-dera Temple
Tokiwa is located beside Yata-dera Temple

Tokiwa is open from 11.00 till 16.00 and closed on Wednesdays. You can find it on the east side of Teramachi just above Sanjo and right beside (the very small) Yata-dera Temple. Here is a map showing it’s location.

Text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.



monk: Light and Shadow on the Philosopher’s Path – Reflections and Recipes from a Kyoto Restaurant

May 9, 2021 By Michael Lambe

Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links from which I will earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

As this long, strange interlude continues, many of us are hankering for a trip overseas, craving fresh cultural encounters, and hungering for a taste of authentic foreign cuisines. No doubt many have Kyoto at the top of their “to visit” list once international travel resumes and feel frustrated that they cannot visit sooner. For the present though, if we are forced to simply dream of travel, perhaps we may while away some time with plans for future journeys, the people we will visit, and the food we will share.

monk

Imagine yourself, one day in the not too distant future, strolling with a friend down Kyoto’s tree-lined Philosopher’s Path, and spotting a warm, firey glow from the windows of a small path-side restaurant, you ask your companion, “What do you think? Shall we give it a try?” A new book from Phaidon, tells the story of what you will find in that restaurant, with personal reflections from its chef and a sensory feast of fine photography to help feed your dreams of Kyoto, along with a series of unique recipes to help you bridge the hungry gap.

monk: Light and Shadow on the Philosopher’s Path tells the intimate story of monk, a 14-seat restaurant tucked away on a corner of Kyoto’s Philosopher’s Path, where chef Yoshihiro Imai serves up an ever-changing menu of fresh vegetables and Kyoto-style pizza from his wood-fired oven. Imai opened his restaurant in 2015, and quickly won renown for his innovative spin on Japanese cuisine, with his focus on pizza as a simple dish that is easily shared, and which also provides a versatile canvas on which to present a rich variety of local ingredients. The source of those ingredients is also crucial to the restaurant’s success. As Imai writes on his website, “Every morning I visit farms tucked in the mountains of Ohara and visit markets around Kyoto to collect and gather fresh ingredients. Breathing in the wind, I absorb the earth’s energies which I transport to the kitchen, the dishes, and our restaurant.” For Imai, cooking with fire is also central to bringing out the simple flavors of his ingredients and he states that “roasting vegetables in a wood-fired oven is the most delicious possible way to eat them.”

Fiddlehead fern and koshiabura pizza

Imai doesn’t just serve pizza of course. That is simply the the climax of a 7-course omakase-style meal (decided by the chef) which heavily emphasizes seasonal vegetables, foraged mushrooms, nuts, and herbs, and game meat such as duck, venison, or wild boar. The main dish is your choice from that day’s pizza options which, depending on the season, may be topped with wildflowers, butterbur, or fiddlehead ferns.

Yoshihiro Imai at work

In his book, Imai explains through a series of personal essays how his “primitive” style of cooking with fire, and his “small is beautiful” philosophy is inspired both by Japanese culture and his experiences working at restaurants around the world. The book takes you on a journey through the seasons, with stories of the farmers, fishermen, and artisans who form part of the restaurant’s supply-chain. He also relates how monk has managed to survive the current pandemic, by offering takeout meals and delivery services, that have not only kept his own business afloat and helped support his suppliers, but also enabled him to forge closer bonds with his local community. “It isn’t just the cooking that sustains me,” writes Imai, “but the full monk experience of sharing space with my guests. Everything from the conversations about the ingredients and the farmers to the sight of the burning firewood; the flowers, the music. This period has taught me that it’s the shared feeling of spending time with my guests itself that keeps me nourished.”

Autumn viewed from the restaurant window.

As can be expected from Phaidon, this book is a handsome hardback volume, fully illustrated throughout with color photographs from Yuka Yanazume. And at the end of the book Imai has provided a generous selection of 75 recipes which you can try yourself. Monk: Light and Shadow on the Philosopher’s Path is available from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.jp, and Amazon.co.uk.

All images by Yuka Yanazume. Text by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.



Ramen Factory Kyoto

October 9, 2017 By Michael Lambe

Ramen Factory Kyoto is a new place near Tofukuji Temple where you can experience both making and eating your very own Kyoto style ramen. This shop is a side project of Menbakaichidai, a  famous “fire ramen” restaurant that has been serving and entertaining ramen fans in Kyoto for the last 30 years. Check out the video for Ramen Factory below.

Updated Details
Ramen Factory Kyoto opened on the 14th of October 2017. Since then they have already become a very popular venue so it is a good idea to make a booking in advance (see reservation details below). Three courses are now available:

The Half Course lasts 45 minutes and costs 2,500 yen (1,500 yen for children). In this course you get to make, prepare and taste your own noodles.
The Complete Course lasts 90 minutes and costs 3,500 yen (2,500 yen for children). In this course you get to make and taste a complete bowl of ramen with noodles, soup and roast chicken.
The Luxury Course lasts  90 minutes and costs 6,000 yen (5,000 yen for children), and includes making and enjoying your own complete bowl of ramen + a homaekake Japanese style souvenir apron.

And if those course don’t suit you, you can just order a bowl of ramen to eat!

Vegetarians
Vegetarians should choose the Half Course which does not include chicken. A vegetable soup can be prepared for vegans if you contact Ramen Factory in advance.

Gluten-Free
For those who are gluten intolerant, rice noodles can be prepared for you instead of the usual wheat flour noodles. However, these are pre-prepared so you cannot make them from flour.

Halal Certification
Muslim guests will be pleased to know that Ramen Factory has Halal certification from the Kyoto Muslim Association, as there is no non-Halal food made in the store. Ramen Factory noodles are served with chicken, and no pork and no alcohol are included in any ingredients.

The Muslim prayer room at Ramen Factory Kyoto.

Mulsim Prayer Room
Ramen Factory now has a special prayer room with traditional Japanese tatami mats. Muslims are welcome to use this space even if they do not make an order, and for their benefit there is an arrow indicating the correct direction of prayer. People of other faiths or none can also use the room for meditation or prayer. The room is partitioned into two parts for ladies and gentlemen, and there are facilities available for wudhu ritual washing prior to praying. This room will be kept warm in autumn and winter.

Address: 814-18 Honmachi 15-chōme, Higashiyama-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 605-0981
Tel: +81 75-748-1687
Open everyday from 11.00 – 18.00
Payment Details: Payment in advance can be made with the following international bank cards: Visa, Master Card, American Express, and JCB. Customers who pay in advance will also get one FREE drink.
Reservations: It is a good idea to book online in advance. The reservations page is available in 12 different languages. You can also call the number above to make a reservation.
Location: Ramen Factory Kyoto is a 3 minute walk from Tofukuji Station Here is a MAP of the location and you can download a PDF with super clear walking directions from Tofukuji Station here. For further information check the official Ramen Factory webpage.

Gods, Monks, Secrets, Fish – An Extract from Deep Kyoto Walks by John Ashburne

July 9, 2014 By Michael Lambe

Today John Ashburne takes us on a mouth-watering tour of Nishikikōji market and along the way adds a sprinkling of zen spice from the Buddhist teacher Dōgen Zenji…

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Daiyasu

Maintain an attitude that tries to build great temples from ordinary greens, that expounds the buddhadharma through the most trivial activity, handle even a single leaf of a green in such a way that it manifests the body of the Buddha. This in turn allows the Buddha to manifest through the leaf.

Two and a half decades ago, I would have read the above, and dismissed it out of hand. Buddhist transubstantiation? Temples made of lettuce! Bah humbug! I would have snorted. Not anymore. When the missus announced the other day “If a person is unhappy inside, you’ll taste it in their food”, I just nodded in silent agreement. Reverence. Awareness. Cooking as meditation. Sounds good to me. And I reckon if Dōgen had lit out for Venice Beach, he’d have made a killing.

Whilst you’re in Kyoto, you should push the boat out once and eat at one of the great restaurants. Sakurada is one of the best. Here’s a tip. Reserve a table for lunch. It’s the same with all the ryōtei, you still get the fabulous cuisine they serve in the evenings, just at a third of the price.

Head up Karasuma, across the busy Karasuma-Shijō crossing, until you reach Nishikikōji-dōri and turn right. Head past the Christian off-license advertising ‘Wine for Mass’ and Trappist Butter, and where the proprietors never, ever smile. If you’re hungry but the budget doesn’t stretch to Sakurada, try Eitarō, the noodle shop underneath Irish Pub Field. Their yuzu ramen with Japanese citron is excellent, especially on a cold winter’s day when the aromatic fruit are at their freshest. Or you can just wait till you hit the market. We’re nearly there now.

As you enter Nishiki from the Western entrance, notice the fabulous paintings of cockerels by the market’s most famous son, Itō Jakuchū who ran his father’s grocery, Masuya, before becoming one of the Edo period’s most celebrated artists. Jakuchū’s ‘Colourful Realm of Living Beings’ is a masterful collection of paintings of the very highest level, and it always puzzles me that he hasn’t achieved the fame in the West accorded to the likes of Utamaro and Hiroshige. I’d put him up there with the Old Masters. Not bad for a grocer’s lad from Kyoto.

Known nationwide as Kyō no Daidokoro, ‘Kyoto’s Kitchen’, the Nishiki market has existed here since the 17th century. Back in the day, the market specialized in footwear for samurai, and was known as Gusoku-no-kōji, ‘army footwear alley’, but the locals abbreviated it to Kuso-no-kōji, the rather less flattering ‘shit alley’. Its current name – Silk Brocade Street – was bestowed upon it by Emperor Go-Reizai, in 1054, and the market has been pandering to Imperial appetites, and basking in the approval of the upper class and the wealthy, ever since. And rightly so. Nishiki rocks.

The market is in fact a long, narrow, covered arcade, the 130 or so stores facing each other across a paved walkway of ishidatami ‘stone mats’. As you enter Nishiki from Takakura-dōri the smell of charcoal and roasting shellfish draws you immediately to a perennial favourite, Daiyasu.

Picture 9 Nishikikoji Market View by John Ashburne (Medium)
Nishiki Market View

‘Daiyasu-san’, the old man hauling oysters from a crate, greets me with a warm smile. “This foreigner knows his Japanese food, all right” he tells two young Japanese tourists. They look more bemused than impressed. The phrase Daiyasu-san uses is washoku no tsu, washoku meaning Japanese cuisine, and tsu a cross between gourmet and expert, but not at all snotty unless you use it of yourself. I wish we had a word like that in English. I can’t stand the self-congratulatory element of ‘foodie’, and ’maven’ sounds like a witch. ‘Gourmet’ too posh. I reply with sono koto nai, the diffident denial expected on such occasions, but secretly I feel pretty chuffed.

Those of us long enough in the tooth remember when Daiyasu was just a regular, unassuming fishmonger. Now it’s turned into a fish shop-cum-izakaya, the in-place to eat fresh magaki oysters from Toba, Mie Prefecture, oasari giant venus clams from Aichi, fresh hotate scallops and sazae turbo. The latter are cooked in the tsuboyaki style, ie roasted in the shell directly over a flame. Watch out for their super bitter wata intestines and reproductive organs, the Japanese gourmet’s delight and very much an acquired taste. As a good friend succinctly put it, “Like a shit bomb going off in your mouth”. When I reported this to another mate, he replied “Well actually, in gastropods, the anus is located on the head”. For once, I didn’t know what to say.

At Daiyasu I usually content myself with Toba’s finest, and a cold beer. “Shellfish are the prime cause of the decline of morals and the adaptation of an extravagant lifestyle” harrumphed Pliny the Elder, clearly not a fan. Jonathan Swift deemed oysters cruel and uncharitable. Not these, they are superb.

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Text by John Ashburne. Daiyasu photograph by Michael Lambe. Nishiki Market View by John Ashburne. To read the rest of John’s stroll through Nishiki Market order Deep Kyoto: Walks.

DeepKyoto-cover-0423-finalAbout Deep Kyoto: Walks

Deep Kyoto: Walks is an independently produced anthology of meditative strolls, rambles, hikes and ambles around Japan’s ancient capital. All of the writers and artists involved in this project have lived and worked in Kyoto for many years and know it intimately. The book is in part a literary tribute to the city that they love and in part a tribute to the art of walking for its own sake. It is available as an e-book or paperback from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.jp.

John ASHBURNE for Canon 1About John Ashburne
John writes on Japan, and in particular on its Food Culture, for a host of publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Japan Times, etc. He has lived in Japan for 27 years, and calls Kyoto home. His hobby is extracting ‘dashi’ from a variety of seaweeds, fishes and certain mystical mushrooms that you’ll only find growing half way up a mountain in Gunma.

John blogs at www.johnashburne.com/

See also: “Gods, Monks, Secrets, Fish” – A Deep Kyoto: Walks Movie with John Ashburne


Papa Jon’s Honten

January 21, 2014 By Michael Lambe

On Saturday we took a stroll up to the Shimpukan, intending to grab a bite to eat at Papa Jon’s Eatery. Unfortunately for us, they were hosting a wedding party. However, very fortunately for us, we bumped into Charles Roche (the owner) on his way out, and he offered us a lift up to the 本店. Nice chap, isn’t he?

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I’d noticed this place on the way to events at Impact Hub but never been it. Much smaller and cosier than the Eatery, it’s a good spot for lunch if you happen to be up near Imadegawa station. I enjoyed my fritatta – an Italian dish mid-way between a quiche and an omlette.

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And Mewby really enjoyed her chicken, potato and coconut curry. She was very impressed with how well it went with couscous!

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After that we were quite satisfied, but being greedy ordered some of their famous cheesecake to take home. You can’t go to Papa Jon’s and not have cheesecake! Can you guess which we chose?

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I had the raspberry and Mewby had rum raisin. Absolutely delicious! Thank you for the lift Charles!

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Papa Jon’s have stores in the following locations. Click the links for maps!

Papa Jon’s Honten (Imadegawa)
Papa Jon’s Eatery (Shimpukan)
Papa Jon’s on Kitayama
Papa Jon’s at Shugakuin

Strolling down Kyoto’s Nishiki Food Market

October 30, 2013 By Michael Lambe

Chestnuts
Chestnuts on sale at Nishiki Market

Nishiki Market is an essential sight-seeing spot for food lovers visiting Kyoto. This 400 year-old market extends for 400 meters between Teramachi and Takakura and has the reputation of being a place where you can find anything! Almost everything here is locally produced and reasonably priced. Filled with all kinds of colorful sights, unusual smells and the cries of the market traders this is a lively location and a favorite haunt of photographers! Here below are some photographs, videos and spherical images from our own stroll down Nishiki. [Read more…]

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