[flushboing]

It was the peak fall season, and a holiday week in Japan, so Kyoto was jammed to the gills with tourists. So trying to get a table at some of the better restaurants was going to be a challenge. For most Japanese, going to Kyoto means eating high quality tofu or yuba. I wanted to try Okutan after hearing about it from various sources, like in this year's New Yorker food issue. But going anywhere near the Kiyomizudera area was going to be a big hassle since it's where all the tourists go. Imagine Rockafeller Center during a weekend close to the holidays, and then imagine several thousand more people and that's what it's like around there. So after consulting a few restaurant guides, the solution was going to Yubani, a restaurant dedicated solely to yuba (tofu skin), in a quiet residential section on the other side of Kyoto station. It wasn't a problem getting in for an early dinner. Yubani basically has 4 multi-course set menus (at 2950, 4200, 5250, 6300 yen). We went for the 5250 yen menu.

The first set of courses are a homemade soy milk, toromi-yuba (fresh yuba with a dashi sauce), and ajitsuke-yuba (yuba that's been simmered with a seasoned soy sauce, then dried). Here's a shot:





The toromi-yuba was a great sign of what was to come. Really fresh clumps of yuba with some residual soy milk, and flavored with the dashi soy sauce. And if you didn't know it was yuba, you'd think it was some kind of dried fish.

Then came the ae-mono, which is yuba mixed with some kind of paste for flavoring, which I believe was sesame.



Next came the yuba sashimi. Clean sheets of yuba garnished with shiso leaves and served with wasabi and soy for dipping.



Then a plate with 3 kinds of yuba preparations. Yuba sandwiched with pickled daikon, fried yuba with salt, and a yuba rolled with vegetables.



After that was the nimono (simmered) yuba with taro and wheat gluten. Along with that came the sunomono (vinegared) dish of yuba rolled with crab and cucumbers.



The next course was the ankake, which consisted of a starch thickened broth or sauce with a rolled yuba with crabmeat (I can't recall exactly what was inside).



Then came the fried course of yuba tempura in several forms with a few vegetables.



The final savory courses were the soup, pickles and rice.



The dessert course was a housemade fried yuba dessert with a touch of cinnamon, which tasted a lot like Mexican churros.



I'm not sure how to describe the taste of yuba since I think it's mostly a texture experience, but I also enjoy its taste. I think you'd have to like a piece of plain tofu with a little dashi sauce to really judge if this is for you, but since this was my first experience at a high-quality yuba restaurant, I can say it's well worth it. But then Yubani is not just any yuba restaurant. They make everything at the restaurant, and they also supply a number of other restaurants and ryokans with their yuba, and they also have a little yuba shop just outside the restaurant. In the cab after the meal as we were heading to one of the temples that were lit up at night (only during peak fall foliage season), our cab driver congratulated us for finding Yubani, telling us that you can go to one of the fancy yuba restaurants around town, but you'll end up paying double the price. And Yubani might even supply their yuba.

[flushboing]

For lunch the next day, I wanted to find a good example of what's called OBANZAI RYORI, which is a specialty of Kyoto cooking. But it's not that highly refined stuff that you'd expect, but more like high-quality comfort foods made mostly with locally produced vegetables. In my Kyoto guidebook, there's an entire section dedicated to just these kinds of restaurants. One place that's been getting a lot of attention recently is a restaurant on Nishikinokoji dori (the famous market street) called Yaoya no Nikai. Translated, Yaoya no Nikai means "second floor above the vegetable shop". Besides the food guidebook, I've heard about this place from an article in the travel section of the NY Times. We decided to get an early start to lunch since this would no doubt be a popular place, so I thought getting there before 11:30 would get us in for lunch, but boy, was I mistaken. When we got there, the sign posted saying "reservations needed" was a bad sign. We were given a 2-hour wait. So that was a foiled attempt to find Obanzai cuisine.

Slightly dejected, and without a plan B, we wandered a bit around the market and came upon Mochitsukiya, a restaurant specializing in mochi (cakes made from mashed glutinous rice). They had an interesting display of the lunch specials and sweets that caught all our interest.



We were in a hurry to eat since we knew there was another big dinner ahead of us, and we wanted to make the best of the rest of the afternoon to visit temples, so this turned out to be our best choice.

Mochi is simple, hearty stuff, not even all that flavorful, and like yuba, it's a textural experience. And these folks at Mochitsukiya make it fresh, so again, it's quite the experience to have something one normally gets frozen or vacuum-sealed, freshly made and served. After the change of heart after the first letdown, I checked out the menu and found... guess what. A good example of Obanzai cuisine in their special bento lunchbox. They only make 24 of these a day, so I knew I had to have it. Everyone else got udon soup with grilled mochi, but I went for the lunchbox. This special lunchbox is actually a good representation of what's available at Nishikinokoji market, since they get items at about a dozen of these shops and do a little prep and serve it.



And they even provide a little literature about all the items in the bento box, explaining what they are, and which shops you can find them.



Here's the translation of the list of goodies.
Goma-nasu (eggplant with sesame),
Ampei (fish cake),
Namafu dengaku (wheat gluten with miso sauce),
Yahatamaki (burdock root wrapped in unagi),
Isazani (the little fish under the unagi roll),
Fukusa (egg with vegetables),
Fushigureni (simmered wheat gluten),
Yakisawara (grilled Japanese spanish mackerel),
Momiji namafu (wheat gluten in the shape of a maple leaf),
Yuba sashimi (raw tofu sheet),
Tsukemono (pickles of daikon and myoga),
Sunomono (vinegared dish),
Gohan (rice),
Misoshiru (miso soup)



These were especially useful to find a few items that we wanted to revisit later.

Everything was pretty wonderful. Some items were a first for me, yet all the flavors were all familiar in that comfort sense. Except instead of having someone's mother making it, it's expertly prepared by experienced pros.

And for dessert with the bento box were one big grape, and soft warabi mochi with kinako (sweetened soy flour).



That's a big grape. It requires a little peeling, but I'm not sure if there anything as sweet and juicy as a big Japanese grape. Really. I had to convince a nonbeliever to taste a little of it after refusing it, but as soon as she took a little piece, she couldn't believe that it's a grape. She went straight to one of the markets to look for some, but they're pretty expensive, and probably wouldn't have survived our afternoon of hiking around the temples. The warabi mochi is a softer silky textured mochi for eating in sweetened preparations. When it's fresh, it's just so lightly textured and kind of fluffy, with just a hint of chewiness. My friend bought a takeout container of it on the way out.

Oh, and this is the udon soup with the grilled mochi. This is the set served with osekihan, glutenous rice with azuki beans.

[Sila]

This looks absolutely delightful! Back in Switzerland now, I should have had your report two months ago. Anyway, your photos are a mouthwatering experience. The tears sprang to my eyes ... I really miss Japanese food.

[beachfan]

Great Post!

It's been almost 9 years, but I had some great eating in Kyoto, Tofu, ramen, and Kaiseki not to mention sampling every type of pickle I could find!

[flushboing]

After our lunch at Nishikinokoji market, we checked out a few temples in the Higashiyama (eastern hills) area. We chose our temples carefully to avoid the mass crowds, checking out a few Kyoto guides for 2005, and especially the mid-November issue of Serai magazine that featured the best of Kyoto for the Fall 2005 season. They highly recommended Eikan-do temple as having the best foliage viewing, which we visited the night before. Trying to carefully select areas to avoid the mass of tourists, we chose three other temples in the Higashiyama area: Shin-nyo-do, Shoren-in, and Chion-in. It was perfect weather and the sights were beautiful, and we did manage to avoid huge masses of people, so it was a day well spent.

Tonight we were staying and eating at Nissho Besso ryokan right in the middle of Kyoto off Sanjo dori (a few blocks aways from Nishikinokoji market, and Teramachi mall). We found Nissho Besso through a few sources, since we were looking for a ryokan that was priced in the mid-range, but we were looking for a place with exceptional food. Many of the guides we saw and a some websites all pointed to Nissho Besso. The ads for Nissho Besso we found through a few sources claim "ryori no jiman", which means that they are proud (or boastful) of their food. Knowing full well that we were going to Kyoto during the peak Fall week, we made sure to reserve a couple months in advance. Having an internet reservations page helped a lot, but we did have to call them to iron out some details. If you look at their English webpage, you get the sense that English might be a challenge. There are a few choices of meal plans that include dinner and breakfast. Plans start at 13,650yen. They also have special dinner menus, a Rosanjin ryori menu, reproducing a menu created originally by Rosanjin himself, or a special Kyoto cha-kaiseki meal served in a special tea ceremony room. The most intriguing was the Rosanjin menu, which was priced at 21,000yen a person, so we chose that option.

For those who don't know, Rosanjin is considered a revolutionary in Japanese art and cuisine. I don't know enough about Rosanjin, but he is credited with bridging Japanese and western cuisine within a traditional framework. So having a menu reproducing Rosanjin's ideas seemed like it would be not only delicious, but educational.

After checking in at Nissho Besso, we also learned that ryokans give their better rooms to those who elect more elaborate service menus and such, so we were surprised to find that we were in such nice rooms. I had heard from other review sites that their amenities may not be so plush, but that certainly wasn't the case for us.

The first set of courses were sashimi served with a homemade ume-shu (plum wine).



Our waitress explained that Rosanjin preferred his sashimi with a light soy with grated ginger and that's why there are two types of soy sauce. The thicker tamari soy with wasabi is the prevalent method of eating sashimi, so we're given the choice here. I see the point of the light soy with ginger, as it does little to overpower the flavor of the sashimi. But I think I'm still partial to the thick soy and wasabi. The ume-shu was deliciously sweet, and worked well as a palate cleanser between pieces of sashimi.

The next course was a set of appetizers.



We have gobo (burdock) wrapped in unagi, gingko nuts, shrimp, baby eggplant with miso sauce, fish (not sure what kind) tsukudani (simmered with soy, mirin, sugar), simmered chestnuts, wheat gluten in the shape of maple leaves, and egg custard with salmon sashimi made to look like little persimmons. That little persimmon thing had me a little befuddled since I had no idea what it was, and only after that first bite did I realize what the ingredients were. Everything was delicious and presented so beautifully, which wasn't a surprise.

Next course was a sunomono (vinegared dish) with matsutake mushrooms and mizuna greens.



Again, really clean flavors and the vinegar was very mild, allowing the flavors of the ingredients to remain in the forefront.

The next course was a thick white miso soup with eggplant.



The white miso was kind of sweet and lacked that highly salty quality that you find with miso. I could have had a few more bowls of this.

The next course was a broiled fish dish.





I'm not sure what kind of fish this is, but I believe it is a fish local to the region. You'll notice that throughout the meal, the courses arrive in lovely pieces of pottery, that represent Rosanjin as well. This vessel is an example of oribe-yaki. The grilled fish is accompanied with a slice of renkon (lotus root) and a sudachi citron. The fish had such a light, sweet flavor. It was perfect unadorned and lightly grilled like this.

The next dish was kind of a surprise. Smoked salmon accompanied with yamaimo (mountain potato) buds.



First, the smoked salmon was like a good version of lox. I couldn't help wanting a bagel and some cream cheese to accompany the salmon. The little potatoes (and they tasted just like potatoes with the texture of beans) were interesting. Our waitress explained that these are buds of the yamaimo plant, and when they fall off the plant, these grow to become the mountain potato (that's the grated oozy long potato).

The next course was nisshin no nimono (simmered sardine in sweetened soy based sauce).



Like all that comfort food I've had during this trip, this is another explicit example of it. Preparing a strong fish in this way, with its sweet sauce, mellows it out and in the hands of a pro, the balance of sweet, fishy, and the tang of ginger is pretty much perfect here. It's accompanied with ebi-imo, a seasonal Japanese potato.

The next course was a dobin-mushi (soup in a teapot) with matsutake mushrooms.





With a little squeeze of the sudachi citron, you pour bits of it in the cup and drink the soup. It's so light and flavorful, and the matsutake mushroom is prevalent in every sip.

[flushboing]

The next course was a nabe (hot pot) course of hamo (conger eel) and vegetables.





Hamo is a Japanese delicacy, but one of those items that are difficult to prepare because these eels have so many bones. Maybe you've seen one of those Iron Chef episodes featuring hamo as an ingredient, but the main part of preparing conger eel is to make hundreds of little slices without cutting through the eel so you break up the bones while keeping the eel in large enough pieces. Our waitress explained to cook the vegetables first, and just when the vegetables are almost done, throw in the eel (or a little at a time) and cook it lightly until they just firm up. This was my first experience with hamo, and the flavors were more subtle than I had imagined. Eel is usually kind of fishy, but the hamo had such a light, clean taste. I wish we had a lot more of it.

The next dish was probably the most interesting of the dinner for me. It's a fig slightly simmered in some kind of flavored broth, and topped with a sweet miso sauce.



Between Hagi Honjin and Nissho Besso, this is the second time having fig as a savory course in a traditional Japanese menu. I didn't realize figs were used in this way. But this fig was enormously pleasing. Like the one at Hagi Honjin, I would have enjoyed this as dessert. It was just sweet enough, and thick with the flavor of fig and a good quality miso sauce.

The final courses consisted of tsukemono (pickles), soup, and rice. The thing about Kyoto is that you just don't get better tsukemono than you get here. I think most Japanese who visit Kyoto always return home with some kind of tsukemono to bring home or as gifts. And this plate of tsukemono was no exception.







And the rice isn't just rice. It's a takikomi gohan with matsutake mushrooms cooked in there. What a way to finish off the meal. By this time there were only a couple survivors, and I was going pretty strong.

The meal ended with fruit for dessert, which was my only letdown. But it makes sense to have fruit instead of some starchy glutenous rice dessert after all this.



And there are those grapes again.

This was my most memorable meal of this trip. Most everything was a revelation or a great example of a traditional dish. I couldn't have asked for a better dinner for a mid-priced ryokan. I'll definitely stay here again. But after talking with the staff at the ryokan and complimenting them on their food, they say that most people who come back and order the regular menu after having the Rosanjin menu are usually disappointed, so we might have to stay with this menu, but probably in a different season. Can't wait.

[Robert Schonfeld]

Great writeups and beautiful pictures. Thank you.

[flushboing]

Breakfast at Nissho Besso was almost as elaborate as dinner. After a terrific dinner in our room, we had dinner in the dining room that overlooks the garden. Here's what it looked like.



A closer look:



There's a piece of grilled salmon with a large bean called otafuku-mame simmered tsukudani style, simmered konyaku and eggplant (garnished with grated ginger), hakusai (nappa) cabbage that's been lightly simmered, okara (tofu curd) simmered with carrots and hijiki, simmered zenmai (fern), chirimen sansho (dried baby anchovies flavored with japanese pepper), and the rolled sliced items are simmered daikon wrapped in abura-age (fried tofu), and nori to eat with rice.

These are the appetizers by the way. Most everything was so expertly prepared that there's really nothing left to say. The otafuku-mame was a first. I thought it was an overgrown fava bean, but it's a special local bean. The two standouts were the daikon wrap and the chirimen-sansho.

On to the next course: yudofu (tofu hotpot)



This is another one of those quintessential items you have to eat when you're in Kyoto. Nissho Besso gets their tofu from Hirano tofu, where Rosanjin himself use to get his tofu. In the nabe is also mizuna greens, enoki mushrooms, and shiitake, along with the tofu. There's also a ponzu dipping sauce (pictured earlier).

Along with the nabe and the first set of courses, came the "hot" courses straight from the kitchen: the soup and the tamago yaki (egg).





By this point, I really wanted to enjoy the food, but there was just so much that it was almost impossible to try to savor everything, let alone finish. But the egg, still warm and quivering was so good, with just a touch of sweetness.

It's widely known that you get small portions in Japan, but this is like eating like royalty. This was the first trip to Japan for two of my companions and they were bewildered with the amount of food offered here and at the other ryokan in Hagi.