A meal so good it deserves it's own entry. No joke. Since most of our Japanese meals were from local convenience stores or cheap noodle shops we quickly jumped at a chance to splurge on our last dinner in Kyoto. The restaurant was nice and cozy and located about a ten minute walk from the Kyoto train station. The Kouan Dinner (not sure what that means, Kyoto specialities...name of a person...name of the restaurant perhaps?! Not speaking Japanese makes researching frustrating and impossible at times....grrrr) cost 3,000 yen ($35) each but it was well worth it! All local Kyoto specialties paired with good ole sake!
The appetizer consisted of pickled pumpkin, tofu and pickled radish. A bit strange and mushy but the massive bottle of sake we ordered helped to wash it down. Next came an awesome sashimi plate with seaweed. Yummy! Our waitress was awesome, anytime she brought out the next course she would have her Iphone ready and translate the dish. Gotta love technology and Japanese hospitality.
Grilled fish with minced radish on the left and grilled tofu on the right. Both absolutely A-mazing! They even made little pink sakura (cherry blossom) designs out of the tofu.
Salad, tempura shrimp, tempura vegetables and tofu soup.
Last but not least, yummy udon noodles with soy sauce, radish paste and wasabi.
And of course to end the night, here is my mom posing with the massive bottle of sake....sake galore...but rest assured, we did not drink the whole thing. It was just a decorative bottle the waitress brought out ;) Kamapi to an awesomely memorable trip to Kyoto!
If you are interested in checking out the restaurant (which we highly recommend!), this is the best address I could find online: Kyōto-fu, Kyōto-shi, Shimogyō-ku, Minamifudōdōchō, 3−1