Kyoto Foodie: Where and what to eat in Kyoto

Tsunoki: Premium Sake Dealer in Nishiki Market Kyoto (津之喜酒舗)

Tsunoki is more than 200 years old and is the place in Kyoto to purchase fine sake, shochu and Japanese whiskey. The friendly 8th generation owner of Tsunoki, Teruo Fujii, speaks some English and is always happy to make recommendations to visitors.

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Shopping for Japanese New Year’s Celebration Food at Nishiki Market in Kyoto

The New Year’s celebration, in Japanese, Oshogatsu (お正月) is the most important celebration of the year, like that of Christmas in Western countries.
The food eaten at Oshogatsu are many and varied. There are numerous traditional dishes that are only eaten at New Year’s, and [...]

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Nishiki Market - Kyoto-no-Daidokoro (Kyoto’s Kitchen) 錦市場商店街

At Nishiki Market there are many old ‘shinese‘ shops selling everything from Japanese pickles (tsukemono) to the finest Japanese cutlery, as well as a number newer and novel shops, such as tofu doughnuts. Shinise come in the form of an old shop renovated and transformed into a vegetable [...]

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hirezake (hot sake with Tiger Fugu fin) 虎ふぐのひれ酒

Hirezake is a somewhat rare drink in Japan. It is often enjoyed by older men at exclusive sushi and fish cuisine restaurants, especially in the autumn and winter.
The dried fin of the fugu (pufferfish, blowfish) is steeped in hot sake for about ten minutes and served.
A hot cup [...]

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aozakana(青魚): Seasonal Autumn Fish Dinner

aozakana (青魚) literally, ‘blue fish’ are in season from mid-autumn throughout the winter. These are such species as mackerel (青魚, saba), pacific saury (秋刀魚, sanma), sardine (鰯, iwashi), and jack mackerel (鯵, aji). Their blue colored backs give these well loved fish their Japanese name.
In Japan, the cold months are the [...]

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