Kyoto Cafe: Jouvencelle Gion and Maccha Chocolate Fondue

I have received requests for more Kyoto cafe reviews. Here is one of my favorites: Jouvencelle. Japanese Western-style cakes and confections, called yogashi, in Japanese, I am not a fan of. They are nearly alaways fluffy, puffy, airy things, short on taste and soul. Western-style cakes and confections available in cafes or for take out in the department store food…
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Dinner at Yoshikawa Ryokan: Tempura Kakiage O-chazuke

The other day I was fortunate enough to be invited for a wonderful tempura kaiseki dinner by some new friends from San Francisco at one of Kyoto’s most famous ryokan inns: Yoshikawa Ryokan. While Yoshikawa Ryokan is a fine place to stay, it is perhaps more famous for its tempura cuisine. Many Kyotoites go there just for tempura dinner. Now,…
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Kyoto Mountain Ramen Joint: Wild Boar ‘Inoshishi’ Ramen

Meet lumberjack ramen! In the North Mountains above Kyoto, in a village called Keihoku-cho, there is a ramen shop that specializes in wild boar ramen. I passed by this shop some years ago and really wanted to try the ramen but as luck would have it, it was closed that day. Well, today, I finally got to try wild boar…
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Izuju: The Best Kyoto Style Sushi in Kyoto

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series Do Not Miss
Sushi in Kyoto has a long history but it is quite unlike the nigiri sushi that we are used to abroad. Unlike Tokyo, Kyoto was landlocked and that required somehow keeping fish edible after the journey here. Kyoto sushi required some smarts and ingenuity, it also had…
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