Soba Boro Package

I didn’t realize but I buy soba boro (蕎麦ぼうろ) fairly often. I like them. My dog likes them. I think that they have a distinctly Japanese taste yet are not challenging to the non-Japanese palate like tea ceremony namagashi might be. I reviewed Kyoto handmade soba boro ice cream here on KyotoFoodie and that is some wonderful stuff!

While soba boro is not a distinctly Kyoto confection, there are a number of shinise shop in Kyoto that are famous for them. One of my favorites is located near the Kyoto Gosho Imperial Palace and is called Kawaramachiya (丸太町かわらまち屋). In addition to soba boro, Kawaramachiya also is famous for their soba manju confections.

Kawaramachiya Soba Boro

How does Soba Boro Taste?
Soba boro has a very pleasant taste and texture and is not high in calories, for a sweet. It is hard and crispy but far less dense than traditional biscotti. Though it is very crunchy, it melts upon meeting the mouth very quickly. The soba and sugar creates a slightly earthy and caramely taste.

ingredient list:
wheat flour, sugar, egg, soba buckwheat flour

Kawaramachiya 'Honten' Store

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English:
English menu/signage: none
English website: none
Service/Staff: so-so
Price: 300 – 1,500 yen.
Location and Access: Kawaramachiya is located on Marutamachi Street between Teramachi and Kawaramachi Streets, on the south side of Marutamachi. The closest station is Jingu Marutamachi Station on the Keihan Railway, just across the Kamo River. The Marutamachi subway station on the Karasuma Line is about a 10 minute walk to the west. Many bus lines pass through this neighborhood too.
Address: Kyoto-shi Kamigyo-ku, Marutamachi-dori Kawaramachi Nishi-iru, Shintomi-cho 331
(京都市上京区丸太町通河原町西入信富町331番地)
Telephone: 075-231-2146
Near Sightseeing Spot: The Imperial Palace (5 min. walk to the north-west) and Shimogoryo Jinja Shrine and Teramachi Street

Map:

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Asuka is a restaurant that I have been going to since even before I lived in Kyoto. It has never disappointed me. Asuka serves ‘teishoku‘ set menu meals and offers ‘ippin‘ a la carte dishes. The atmosphere is friendly, the prices are reasonable, the home cooking style food is delicious and it is located near the museums and Heian Shrine in Okazaki Park. Asuka is very popular with locals and foreign visitors.

Downhome and Tasty in Stuffy Old Kyoto
Asuka, run by several yakety-yak older ladies, is down home and low key in a way that very few restaurants are in Kyoto. Asuka reminds me more of an Osaka restaurant than one in Kyoto.

As the restaurant is just a 30 second walk from the Higashiyama Subway Station on the Tozai Line, which is the jump-off point for the museums in Okazaki Park and Heian Shrine, Asuka always seems to have several foreign customers. Asuka is about the most foreigner friendly place I know in the city. A wholesome and tasty teishoku meal can be had for under 1,000 yen, which makes Asuka a good deal.

I stopped in the other day on an early winter day for a late afternoon lunch. I ordered a set meal that included simmered fish head chunks, however most dishes at Asuka a lot more conventional and ‘foreigner friendly’.

Buri-ara Nitsuke Teishoku

Buri-ara Nitsuke: Yellowtail Head Chunks Simmered in Shoyu

Buri-ara Nitsuke: Yellowtail Head Chunks Simmered in Shoyu – detail

Teishoku
Teishoku, literally ‘set meal’ in Japanese, is very common and economical, especially for lunch. Teishoku usually includes fish, a rice or noodle dish with 3 or 4 other small side dishes and miso soup. Asuka offers several Kyoto-style noodle dishes and always several seasonal teishoku meals, usually featuring fish.

I had the seasonal buri-ara nitsuke teishoku, that is chunks of yellowtail head simmered in sweetened soy sauce and ginger. The other dishes included rice, miso soup, tofu, simmered vegetables and pickles. Plucking out the bits of meat from a fish head is not for everyone and Asuka offers plenty of other dishes that are far easier to eat.

Ippin
Ippin, literally ‘one dish’ is popular fare at drinking establishments such as izakaya. Asuka offers a huge menu of seasonal, ippin dishes that go well with beer or sake or add some bulk to a teishoku. (If you are a sake aficionado, Asuka’s sake selection is nothing to write home about. You might want to stick with beer.)

If you are going to Asuka for a leisurely dinner, you can order a number of ippin dishes and split them among your party. This a very popular way to eat out with friends in Japan.

Asuka Interior

Asuka offers a small counter with chairs and four tables on tatami mat. If the restaurant is smoky you can ask to be seated upstairs.

Asuka Storefront

English and Access

English menu: yes (understandable English)
English website: none
Service/Staff: Very friendly
Hours: 11am-11pm, closed Mondays
Location and Access: Asuka is just a few steps from the North exit of Higashiyama Station on the Subway Tozai Line.
Address
: Kyoto, Higashiyama-ku, Sanjo-dori, Jingumichi Nishi-iru Nishimachi 144 (京都市東山区三条通神宮道西入西町144)
Telephone: 075-751-9809

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Near sightseeing Spot: Asuka is about a 5 minute walk from the museums in Okazaki Park and Heian Shrine. The start of the Philosopher’s Path at Nanzenji Temple at the foot of the Higashiyama Mountains is about 25 minutes away.

Well, once again the department store food court turns up some yummies! Paku and I bought this, I think it was from a demise (出店) from Ishikawa Prefecture, it is called ika meshi. Ika means ‘squid’ and meshi is one of several ways to say ‘cooked rice’.

Ika meshi is a simple dish in which a whole squid is stuffed with seasoned rice and cooked. The stuffed squid can be steamed or grilled, or both. To serve, the squid is simply sliced and then tare (thickened sweet shoyu) is drizzled over the top.

Like a l lot the offerings in the department store food courts, ika meshi is another yummy treat that could make a tasty, reasonably priced meal for travelers at their inn or hotel or just along the river bank.

Ika Meshi Served

Related articles
demise (出店)
tako meshi (タコ飯)

Toriyasu serves several donburi (ricebowl) dishes that are unbeatable. This tiny and charming restaurant with about 50 years of history is an offshoot of the 120 year old poulterer just next door.

Toriyasu serves three classic donburi dishes and the most famous of which is karaagedon.

Toriyasu is located on Karasuma Street just north of the Oike Street intersection. It is within easy walking distance of the Imperial Palace and Imperial Gardens (Gosho) and is right across the street from the new Kyoto International Manga Museum.

Toriyasu’s donburi are unsurpassed in taste, generous in portion and are very reasonably priced between 680 and 780 yen. Surely the cheapest shinise I have visited. By the way, the ‘yasu’ in Toriyasu means both ‘cheap’ and ‘peace of mind’ (safe to eat).

Karaage Donburi (からあげ丼)

Kaage is deepfried food, usually chicken. And donburi is a rice bowl with various ‘toppings’. Toriyasu’s Karaage Donburi is unique because the karaage is served over rice (as usual), but then on top of all this is a generous serving of egg cooked with dashi (soup stock) and tender Kyoto scallions. Karaage Donburi comes with red miso soup and tsukemono.

Karaage Donburi

Served with miso, tsukemono and tea.

Karaage Donburi

Notice the pieces of deepfried chicken under the layer of egg. The brownish powder on the egg is sansho.

Toriyasu Interior

This restaurant is tiny. The counter seats about 6 people and there are two tiny tables to the left, out of view in this photo. You might have to stand in line but customers usually move through in a timely fashion.
The restaurant interior is about 50 years old. The cook told me that they was an older interior, but that was before the war when the restaurant was smaller — being smaller than this is a little difficult to imagine.

Toriyasu Menu

Toriyasu lunch set
Oyako-don, Karaage-don, Tamago-don
Sake, Beer
Other chicken dishes

Toriyasu Exterior

Don’t be put off by the exterior.

The Original Toriyasu Poulterer Exterior

If you want to buy fine chicken meat for cooking at home, this is the place to come! This tiny shop is probably the most well known place to buy chicken in Kyoto. It is so tiny that they don’t even have chicken and eggs on display. You tell them what you want and they bring it out from the back room.

All the dishes at Toriyasu are cooked and portions are generous, so we have included this in our ‘budget’ category.

Famous Dishes:
Oyako-don 親子丼 (chicken and egg simmered in dashi) 780yen
Tamago-don 玉子丼 (egg) 680yen
Karaage-don からあげ丼 (deepfried chicken and egg) 780yen

English: No English menu, no website, staff does not seem to speak any English. The cook is a warm and polite young man and the staff is very friendly.

Hours:
11:30 – 2:00
5:00 – 8:00

Closed: Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and National Holidays.

Near Sightseeing Spot: Gosho, Kyoto International Manga Museum
Also, just south of Honke Owariya

Access: Two minute walk from Karasuma Oike Subway Station

In Kyoto and looking for a quick and cheap (by Kyoto standards) bite to eat that isn’t Japanese or looking for a veggie meal?

Falafel Garden, is good, though not gourmet, not the kind of Middle Eastern food you could probably find back home.

Falafel Garden is located just to the east of Demachiyanagi Station. If you are on the way to or from Kurama or Kibune, or you just want a break from Japanese food, Falafel Garden is great.

Owned and operated by an Israeli ex-pat and staffed by Japanese, Falafel Garden has a good (and basic) selection of falafel and some nice fruit and yogurt based shakes.

Near Kyoto University, Falafel Garden is popular with students and foreign residents. The atmosphere is casual.

Most all the dishes are veg.

Falafel and Banana Shake

Falafel Garden, 出町柳、京都

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