Kyoto - Day 15

Another epic day. We started with a visit to our local café, Kissa Kishin Kyoto, where I had an omelette, siphoned and coffee and Judy had a granola bowl. Both sets of kids went there after we were there.

We then went off to visit the imperial Palace used in the TV series Shogun. The palace was a little spare on furnishings, but you did get a sense of the grander. Pics 3 - 7.

Sarah, Matt and I then took a long trek to the Genji Museum. The museum itself is beautiful with glass corridors leading around gardens. However, the museum was better at showing what life was like in Heian times than delving deeply into the Genji stories.

The three of us then walked over to a famous Heian temple of the Pure Land sect of buddhism, Byodo-in. Pic 8.

We jetted back to The Beer Lab near our Ryokan for a quick pint and fried chicken snack. Pic 9.

Twenty minutes of rest and we went off to our one Michelin star restaurant experience. Pics 10 - 19.. There were only eight seats at the restaurant and we occupied six, the other two were vacant!

The chef and his sous chef were in front of us the whole evening. We exchanged many Google Translate messages back-and-forth. As often is the case, I found Japanese to have a great sense of humor. The chef explained each course to a very enthusiastic crowd.

We negotiated with the chef that we would get three different sake which they served over the course of the evening. Margot and I also split a half bottle of champagne, Each sake had its own special cup, which we selected from three large chest drawers.

The kaiseki meal was exceptional. At one point, the sous chef brought out a bag of living fish, which we later ate after they had been both grilled and fried. Video and Pics 12 - 14. The fish were amazing, and you eat the whole fish head and tail included.

For the rice course, the chef offered us a choice of rice dishes from a menu of 13 different dishes. Sarah chose unago (exceptional) while Margot chose duck.

It was warm and festive way to celebrate our last meal together.

Not to cut the evening short, Ben, Sarah add I returned to The Beer Lab where we met Uraka and Akira for festive beers and lively conversation, as usual, closing the bar down just before 11:00.Read more