Asian Chample Foods Goya is an Okinawan/Asian style eatery recommended to me quite some time ago by Barbara Stein. I went there yesterday and fell in love with the place. The atmosphere of cheery colorful comfort, the super friendly staff, and the great tasting food combined to make me very happy indeed. Barbara swears by the salads there, but it was the Nasi Chample … [Read more...] about Goya
Restaurants
Goya
Ushinohone Anaza
Here's another comfy, little izakaya style restaurant in an old machiya building on Sanjo. There are lots of simple but tasty Japanese dishes to choose from here. Behold the food! Appetizers. Unusually (but happily for me) none of them contained meat! This Crab and tomato tartare was luscious... Potato Salad with Mentaiko (marinated roe of pollack) - a very … [Read more...] about Ushinohone Anaza
Soba no Mi Yoshimura
蕎麦の実よしむら is a great place Mewby and I only recently discovered, though we must have passed it hundreds of times. I'm not sure why we didn't go in before. Perhaps we thought that soba (buckwheat noodles) was all they did. Or perhaps we thought it was too expensive-looking. We were wrong on both counts. Though the prices are surprisingly reasonable, Yoshimura certainly … [Read more...] about Soba no Mi Yoshimura
Kerala Indian Restaurant
Mewby and I ventured over to this fine establishment one evening when we were badly in need of a curry fix. Hands down this is the best Indian food I've eaten in Kyoto. The service is excellent too. The waiter (a charming, soft spoken chap) actually took the time to talk us through the various items on the menu and give his own recommendations. Here's what we … [Read more...] about Kerala Indian Restaurant
Thilaga Indian Restaurant
Mewby found this place one night on the net when she was really craving curry. The first thing that struck me was "They can't spell Indian." But somehow that only made me like them all the more. And besides spelling* is not important in an Indian restaurant. Curry is. Curry is everything. However, I'm not quite sure what to say about Thilaga's curry. The food is … [Read more...] about Thilaga Indian Restaurant
Apollo Plus
Apollo has become one of our favorite places to eat over the last year or so. It's an izakaya-style restaurant, but the food is just a little bit nicer and the atmosphere just a little bit quieter and calmer than some of the bigger chain izakayas around the Kiyamachi/Kawaramachi area (where you might have to scream to make yourself heard). Even so the prices are pretty … [Read more...] about Apollo Plus
Hamacho
I had a wafu Christmas dinner at Hamacho, a nice traditional Japanese style restaurant just north of Sanjo on Kiyamachi. I had a little peak at the first floor before heading upstairs... … [Read more...] about Hamacho
antighseinnse
There's a Scottish pub in north Kyoto named antighseinnse (a.k.a. Horie's Bar). The name (pronounced "an ti shayn jay" I think) is Gaelic and means simply "Inn". The owner Toshiyuki Horie named it after a favored pub on the isle of Islay in Scotland and still proudly wears a T-shirt celebrating "The best pub in Portnahaven". Horie-san, a self-described whisky otaku or … [Read more...] about antighseinnse
Omuraya
Omuraya is a cheerful izakaya style restaurant in an old wooden machiya house just off Hyakumanben. I love it! Cooks and waiting staff bustle about behind counters piled with colorful seasonal vegetables to the background sound of the Blues. The food is simple, healthy and rustic. I recommend the nama fu dengaku: moist, lightly fried strips of gluten in a smoky miso sauce. I … [Read more...] about Omuraya
Zac Baran
I first met Yoshida Koichi in the music bar Hawkwind. A shakuhachi player, he told me he plays in many styles, not just traditional, but jazz, folk, avant garde, new age, pretty much anything. In Hawkwind we were listening to some hip-hop. "How about this then?" I challenged him with a grin. And do you know, he stood up immediately, he played, and it was wonderful. I was very … [Read more...] about Zac Baran
Hale ~晴~
Hidden away in the heart of the bustling market on Nishiki Dori is a tiny little alleyway that leads to Hale (晴). This is a fully organic and vegan restaurant, specializing in seasonal dishes, yuba tofu and Kyoto's famously distinctive vegetables. For lunch you can have a set meal or the "Special Lunch" which costs a bit more. I settled for the standard set lunch which you can … [Read more...] about Hale ~晴~
