The Weekly Whisk 12/12/17
Musings from a foodie...
We recently had the opportunity to visit Kyoto, Japan - a wonderful city and far better than the "pass through" city of Tokyo. First, there was one consistent observation about Kyoto - it was about the traffic. The majority of vehicles on the road are clearly hybrid because it was incredibly quiet even when there was substantial traffic. Second, it's a very walkable city with a very large number of temples from various Asiatic religions. It is quite the city! Then, there is the food...
Our first visit was to Higashiyama Nijo Nanahachi [ * * * * *], a boutique restaurant that offered up seafood as their specialty which they did with aplomb. The head chef was "Bab Kinji" who was assisted by "Hara Ketivo". The restaurant opened in 2011. What was interesting is that the two of us were the only patrons that evening. We were told that our weekend in Kyoto was one of the slowest of the year because it was the week before the height of the change of colors - a major event in Kyoto. The dinner started with a shashimi of sea urchin, bonito tuna and sea bream served with a wonderful flow (= "perilla") and freshly grated wasabi. This was followed by red horsehead (a local fish) served with tofu of steamed wheat flour and mushrooms. The third dish was a smoked sea bass - cooked to perfection - with sea salt and lime sauce on the side but, we never made it to the sauce. The bass was outstanding. The fourth setting was taro accompanied by salted fruit from the ginko tree, which looked like a small grape but tasted like a chestnut with a bean-like flavor. From there the menu continued with all variety of seafood, seafood broth, miso and very special rice which was harvested from only two fields near Kyoto. The finale was a perfect (my description) pear and grapes. The only downside was the use of plastic glasses. The food was outstanding with only the occasional misstep and the banter with the chefs offered up a perfect evening. The place deserves more than two patrons in an evening; however, so I heartily recommend if you get to Kyoto - check it out!! Higashiyama Nijo Nanahachi - 7-8 Okazaki Tokusei-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto - https://savorjapan.com/0006065085/map.php - 075-771-7168.
The next night was dedicated to checking out a traditional Japanese steakhouse. We were able to secure a seating at Askyia [* * * * *], - the "oldest" traditional steakhouse in Kyoto. It was started nearly 65 years ago by Tokiko, the 86 year old patroness of the restaurant. She was more than delightful. In fact, our discussions with her - throughout the evening - were the highlight of the visit. The dinner started by first finding the place J. It was located down a back area pathway off of a quiet street in a neighborhood with few signs. Even the taxi driver had a hard time locating the place. The evening started with a tour of the top floor where we experience a review of the picture gallery of famous types who had visited the restaurant. It included Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, both Bush I and Bush II, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks and various other movie stars, a bevy of industrial icons and miscellaneous others. She committed to hang my picture if I sent one (so far, I've demurred). Following the picture gallery, there was a review of the picture and sculpture gallery of various local artists. We then started dinner in a classic steakhouse fashion with a salad of egg tofu with crab and a 1000 island-type dressing. This was followed by drunken chicken which had been marinated in sake for at least 24 hours. Then, we got down to business - steak!! It was Japanese Waygu steak which was incredibly tender and bit more fatty than its American counterpart and rich in flavor. The steaks were cooked to perfection and served with Okido potato, garlic chips, Japanese eggplant and - of course, tea! It was a fabulous dinner but the real experience was our constant companion - Tokiko. Again, there were only two of us in the restaurant for the entire evening and so we received her full attention. It was one of "must do" Japanese experiences. There was no "show" - which was one of the best parts of the experience. The "show" was replaced by talking with Tokiko and, she was fabulous! The ending was green tea ice cream served with grapes soaked in Mandarin orange juice. Check it out: Ashiya Steakhouse and Gallery - 172-13, 4 Chome Kiyomizzu Matsubara - Higashiyama-ku - Kyoto 605-0862 Japan +75 541-7961.
Finally, on the food front - we fell in love with Yatsuhashi (八ツ橋 or 八橋) is a Japanese confectionery which is evidently mainly sold a sweet morsel (miyagegashi) for tourists. It is one of the best known meibutsu (= famous regional products) of Kyoto. It is made from glutinous rice flour (上新粉 jōshinko), sugar and cinnamon. Our favorite was the raw, unbaked version (Nama yatsuhashi) which has a soft texture cut like a ravioli serving and is often eaten wrapped around red bean paste (餡 an). My favorite; however, were the chocolate and strawberry versions. Oh la la...
