Golden Pavilion, market, and izakaya

Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) was on our must-see list this morning, but it required a 45 minute bus ride to get there. Kyoto looks small on a map, but it is very spread out and does not have a sufficient metro system to support it. Buses are often are only option, but as long as the bus shows up, they are easy to use!

We arrived and it wasn’t busy at all, which made it easier to see the beautiful Japanese gardens that surrounded the pavilion as well as the pavilion itself. The gold colour was really spectacular, so hopefully the pictures do it justice.

After exploring the pavilion, we got back on the bus and went to nishiki market. This market used to be shopping for locals, but has recently started catering to tourists more so. In any case, it still allowed us to try food from stalls, which we always enjoy! We had a whole pickled cucumber with lemon (very crunchy!), a red bean paste taiyaki (a fish shaped waffle that is eaten for good luck), and a melon bun (similar to a Mexican concha). In Japan, you cannot eat your food while walking around. So if you buy something, you have to stay at the stall and eat it while standing. We decided that we felt like a sitdown meal for lunch, so we went outside the market to a ramen restaurant.

At a lot of ramen restaurants, you have to order from a machine, which spits out tickets, and then you give the tickets to the staff. We tried the salt ramen, the light broth, and the soy ramen, the dark broth. Each one had different noodle thicknesses in it, and we enjoyed them very much! We also got onsen eggs, which were perfectly soft boiled. Feeling full, we decided to head back to our hotel to cool down and take a short nap.

Brad got us these great little vitamin C drinks to put the pep back in our step. They are sold at 7/11 and are really tasty (and allegedly good for your energy levels). We decided to get dressed up for our last night in Kyoto and then head to a cute, speakeasy cocktail bar, Grace Note, which was in the middle of a very residential area. The door was tiny and there were only 12 seats, but we had the place to ourselves for a bit! We ordered drinks - mine was a slushy drink with raspberry and wasabi and it was incredible! We also chatted with the bartender who learned English when he worked in Melbourne at bars.

Eventually, we needed to leave to make our reservation at Takasegawa. It is a small 6-seat restaurant where the chef cooks, cleans, and serves. Once again, we were the only people there, so we had impeccable service and had a chance to chat with the chef! We chose the chef’s choice menu, which meant he would serve us whatever he wanted.

We started with an array of appetizers - seaweed salad, salmon, eel, abalone, salmon roe, okra, and eggplant. Next course was a broth with poke followed by our sashimi course (mackerel- sooo good! and fatty tuna - always good!). The fourth course was the izikaya, so it was done on a small charcoal grill. We had chicken breast, chicken thighs, and chicken skin skewers - fantastic! Next was an unforgettable course of waygu beef. It was unbelievably delicious! Then, a sea bream soup and finally a creme brulee for dessert. It was an absolute feast and so beautifully prepared that we felt very lucky to have gone!

(I would also like to note that the chef complimented my Japanese pronunciation!)

Back at the hotel and being our last night in town, we went to the rooftop lounge for a final drink overlooking the city. Tomorrow we pack up and take the train to Hiroshima!Read more