3 bowls in Kyoto

Been a while since I posted anything.  Life happens.

Was in Kyoto for just over 24 hours, and it was a few days after the largest typhoon to make landfall in Japan in like 25 years.  It rained the entire time.  On this trip, I wanted to checkout some udon places.  It was too late in the day for Yamamoto Menzo that I heard about, but Okakita that is right next to it should still be open.  Walked in the rain for about half and hour to get there, got a little wet, and it was of course fucking closed early for the day.  On the way back to the hotel, stopped in this place near 紙園 called Mimikou.  The shop was empty when I got there, maybe not surprising as it is Sunday night and the weather is nasty.  Enjoyed a bowl of curry udon here, nice thick and chewing noodle, thick flavorful soup that is a bit sweet and a little spicy.  They have 4 different kinds of peppers you can add if you want it spicier.  A few groups of tourists trickled in during my visit, not surprising given its location (the restaurant has english and chinese menu).

The next day I was up early because of the time difference, so had breakfast at one of my favorite place to eat here, 本家 第ㄧ旭 (Honke Daiichiasahi).  Everything is the same as usual, the Tokusei Ramen did not disappoint, the scene is again pretty interesting at 5:30 am, old dude drinking large bottle of Asahi, couple of big truck driver dudes crushing ramen with a side of rice, plus a couple tables of young people that may have stayed up all night doing whatever (one girl fell on her ass on the way in).  I did something that I have not done here before, that is adding condiment about half way through.  This chili paste is quite thick, and took a bit of stirring to get it dissolve.  It wasn't very hot but added a nice kick.  

I didn't have to work until later that day so for lunch, I visited Fumiya near Nishiki market for another taste of udon.  This is described as Kyoto style nabe-yaki.  It was served in a ceramic pot like what I ate is Nagoya, but the stock was dashi instead of a chicken based soup.  The broth was a bit sweet for me but has a nice rounded flavor, especially after you break the egg into it.  The grilled rice cake has a nice chew and the piece of mushroom is super meaty.  You can tell right away that even though this was only 680 yen, the ingredients were top notch.  The only slight disappointment for me was that the noodle is on the softer side and I like my noodles a bit more chewy.

Wish the weather was better but enjoyed my visit to Kyoto once again nevertheless.  Being solo has it advantages, but perhaps next time I will share the experience with family and friends.

make sense?

When I visited Japan for the first time a few years ago, you can get cigarettes, alcohol from vending machines that are all over the place. But things seemed to have changed since then. This time, after I put in some money into a cigarettes vending machine and made my selection, nothing came out. I couldn't figure out what was going on at first, so I tried a couple other machines down the street, same shit. Then I realized that it needs to read your ID before it will spit out the smokes, that make sense.

But a few days later when we were wondering around town (me, the Iranian, and douche MD - DW) one night, we saw a beer vending machine and proceeded to put some money in it, and it promptly released three cold cans of Asahi, no questions asked. That is the way I like it, but then if dumbasses like us can get beers from a machine without supervision, then so can an 8 year old ....

noodles in Kyoto

About 6 years ago, bunch of us (including the columbian, duan, curly, Janine etc) went to Kyoto for a conference. While we were lost searching for our hotel (google map either hasn't been created or we just didn't know about it), we stumbled upon this little noodle shop near Kyoto station. We had ramen there for breakfast nearly every morning during our visit, it was that good. I don't think Kyoto is known for its ramen, but what was served at this place was awesome. They also serve pot-stickers and a couple cold dishes (a plate of pickle vegetables, or think slices of pork dressed in sauce and green onion), but everyone is clearly there for the Ramen.

I was fortunate enough to return to Kyoto earlier this month and I went there the very first chance I got. I was able to grab a seat at the 3 seat counter facing the open kitchen a couple times during the 4 visits on this trip and I got a closer look at what made this humble bowl of noodle so delicious.


There are three pots, two of them have broth, one with just boiling water for cooking noodle. Pig parts (large bones and slabs of pork belly) bob up and down in one of the broth pot. A slow drip of cold water runs into the noodle pot to keep it calm and at the right level. They only cook about 4-5 servings at a time (well, the place seats 25 at the most, uncomfortably). When order(s) come in, they line up the empty bowls to the right of the pots, ladling some boiling water into the bowls to warm them. Fresh noodles from wooden crates go into the water and swim freely (no wire baskets here). They don't take their eyes off the pot while the noodle is cooking. when the noodle is nearly done (no timer, no tasting), the bowls are emptied of the water, then bit of a dark sauce (most definitely soy based), and a small spoonful of what looked like lard are put into each bowl. Noodles are added next, then bean sprouts and slices of pork are arranged on top of the noodle, then comes the broth. A pile of very thinly slices green onion finishes them.


What I love about the noodle and the place is the simplicity: No bowl crowding toppings, just perfectly cooked noodle with the right chew and a deeply meaty, salty broth and decent, fatty pork; super friendly efficient service (just one dude) and not expensive (650 yen for a regular size bowl). I am sure that even a soft cooked egg will not improve this bowl. On my last day in town, I ate a small bowl of noodle there before taking the shinkansen to Tokyo, one of the dude cooking noodle who have seen me coming in a couple of times during the week, try to say goodbye to me in chinese.

As ramen places popping up in large cities in north America, I really hope there will be one as good as this (I don't think that has happen yet), so I don't have to go too far to enjoy a good bowl of it.

Clams in a bar

A little place near shijo subway station in kyoto where people stand around to drink beer and eat little screwers of fried food.  What I think is cool is the small acquarium of clams on the counter awaiting their fate.