Hello blkprnc, All the donabe I have seen in restaurants are do not have any kind of crust inside. That must be from burning. My experience is that once you get that crust in there it is easier to stick and burn. I always scrub mine out the best that I can. By the way, one of my donabe has a few black specks that I have not been able to scrub clean. Let us know how it goes.

Aloha, Patti V

Hello Marc Foo, Please check out the donabe in the photo near the bottom of this KyotoFoodie article.

I got that donabe at Tachikichi, on Shijo Street, about halfway between Kawaramachi and Karasuma Streets. Tachikichi is very famous, but in my mind, not the kind of Kyoto company that I want to introduce and recommend to the world.

I bought this donabe a year or two ago, so they may not have it in stock now. If you bring a print out of the photo to show them, they might be able to order it.

I don’t know where this donabe is from, but I like it very much and it is the perfect for cooking for one or two. Also, it wasn’t that expensive, less than 10,000 yen, I think.

We are in the process of making opening an online store and plan to offer some excellent donabe. Check back in a month or so if you can’t find one that you like in Kyoto.