The first day in Kyoto was as good a day as any to pay a visit to some famous Kyoto shrines. We decided to try to wake up a bit early and head to the shrines to dodge some of the crowds.
Thanks to our gracious host, we got a nice toast and banana breakfast to start our day off. Then it was off to the Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) to enjoy one of the most popular tourist attractions in Kyoto, the land of shrines and temples.
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| Green Tea and Japanese Red Bean Tea Cake |
After getting to the shrine, we decided to take a break and enjoy a cold bowl of Japanese matcha and a tea cake.
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| Japanese Red Bean Tea Cake |
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| Matcha |
The Japanese tea cake has a thick layer of compacted sugar on the outside and a sweet red bean paste center with two gold leaves adorning the top. The tea cake should be enjoyed slowly with the tea. The sweetness of the tea cake compliments the bitterness of the matcha. Ducky ate the tea cake in two bites and was left with a bowl of bitter matcha. This tea and snack costs about 500 yen. Definitely something to do while at the Golden Pavilion.
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| Matcha Soft Serve |
More matcha? Of course. The walk through the Kinkaku-ji would not be complete with a nice cool matcha soft serve cone at the end of it. The cone costs around 300円 and it was a bit smaller than what we expected.
We then headed over towards Yasaka shrine. Ducky really wanted to try this exclusive Kyoto sushi from the Izuju restaurant at the near the Yasaka shrine. The restaurant supposedly has been around for over 100 years. What we know about sushi is largely a Tokyo style. The Kyoto style is a bit different using pickled/preserved fish instead of fresh fish. This is mainly due to the history and location of Kyoto. Tokyo is by the ocean and can get a steady supply of fresh fish, but Kyoto is a bit more inland and refrigeration was not available back then.
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| Kyoto Style Sabazush |
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| Special Bamboo Shoot Wrapping |
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| Large Roll of Sabazushi |
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| Close up |
The sabazushi is a mackerel based sushi. The pickled fish is placed on top of vinegared rice and the whole thing is wrapped in a kelp instead of the usual thin dried seaweed. This was definitely a different experience compared to what Ducky was familiar with. Izuju packs a lot of rice into their sushi and one stick can possibly be two meals. The rice was much more sticky and soft when compared with other styles of sushi. The mackerel is slightly sour and salty which adds flavor to the rice. Trying to eat each piece in a single bite was an experience in of itself. Each piece was gigantic with roughly the circumference of a Pringles and was quite a challenge. Ducky had to resort to biting through the kelp, which was a bit tough and chewy. Overall, it was a must try for all fans of sushi. One big log like this will set you back 2000 円, but they have lunch sets. Personally, Ducky prefers the fresh fish sushi more because of the soft and delicious otoro (fatty tuna cuts). However, this style would be a great lunch item or bento item. Izuju is also known for their inari, but Ducky forgot this detail at the time and did not order any.
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| Cold Salty Pickle |
We ran out of time so we scuttled over to Kiyomizu Dera and on the way among the many shops Kitty grabbed a "Lemon Cucumber". There wasn't anything lemon about it though. Just plain salty. But it had the mot wonderful and cooling crunch with every bite. It was a love hate relationship with this one.
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| Fanta Grapefruit Soda |
Fanta, why do you not have more flavors available in USA? Definitely a must try soda for lovers of the big citrus. It just tastes like grapefruit juice with bubbles. Nothing more, nothing less.
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| Ice Cream and Red Bean Monaka |
Kitty met up with an old friend from her studying abroad days and we settled into this very cozy cafe. To describe monaka...it's like a thin wafer cookie and in between was red bean, vanilla ice cream, tea ice cream, mochi, and mangoes. It was presented very beautifully (and tasted as beautifully as well).
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| Fig Tart |
The fig tart was served with frozen fruits including a cut of fig. Ducky has noticed that many tarts in Japan have a very thick pie like crust layer. He prefers the thin crunchy crusts that we are familiar with back in the States. Nonetheless, the tart was quite delicious. The figs added a nice sweetness to the tart and there was a brown sugar syrup that was drizzled over the tart. It looked delicious and tasted quite delicious.
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| Vegetarian Curry |
We also ordered a vegetarian curry with five grain rice. It certainly had a home taste and the pumpkins were a good addition. But I think Kitty can make it just as well at home <3
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| Mikan Fruit Jelly |
Still spoiled from that delicious Seibu yuzu fruit jelly from a couple days ago. This jelly was not as delicious and was noticeably more watery than the Seibu one. But, this mikan jelly was also half the price.
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