We haven’t put up detailed posts on our dining experiences over our Japan 2022 trip, on account that while we enjoy good food, blogging about culinary experiences is beyond us! The most we can probably say is whether the food was good or bad, value for money or not, and observations about service. With that in mind, here is a curated collection of pictures and notes about where we ate, what we ate, and brief notes about it. This is a pretty picture-heavy account, so we’d need to split it into two posts.
Katsukura @ TheCube (Kyoto, Day 01)
We last visited this Tonkatsu restaurant at The Cube that’s adjacent to Kyoto Station in 2010, and liked the tonkatsus so much we visited it twice that trip.The tonkatsus are offered in different cuts and weights, and the restaurant provides free flow of barley rice, cold tea, cabbage. Queues build up fast though, even for early dinners.
Yayoiken Nara Station Restaurant (Nara Station, Day 02)
We had a casual lunch here after visiting Nara’s attractions on Day 02. They serve a variety of cuisine, and you purchase tickets of what you want at the entrance.
Rokujoan (Uji, Day 02)
A small eatery that specialises in Matcha delicacies, including matcha ice-cream, and even gyozas and ramen.
Shijo Nishinotoin (Kyoto, Day 02)
We visited this little eatery near Shigeharu Knife-Makers also in 2010. Basically, it’s the Japanese equivalent of mixed rice-veg: you pick-up small plates of varied cuisine items at the counter, pay for them, then bring them back to your table to tuck in. There are also microwave ovens available for you to heat up the food items.Food plates are replenished quickly, so if you like additional helpings of an item and don’t find it anymore at the counter, just wait a little for it to come out of the kitchen.Many items are affordably priced at around ¥200 to ¥300.
Hamburg Works (Mint Kobe, Day 03)
Mint Kobe is a shopping mall that’s adjacent to Kobe Station, and we stopped here for lunch after the morning visit to Kobe Animal Kingdom.Hamburg Works is located on the seventh floor – there are also numerous other restaurants on the level – and specialises in hamburger patty meals.
Ippudo Ramen (Kyoto Station, Day 03)
Ippudo, the well-known ramen chain with numerous stores around the world, including Singapore. The outlet we went to for dinner on Day 03 was in Kyoto Station.The chain is well-known for its tonkatsu broth ramen, and their bowls did not disappoint. Prices are reasonable too, with their special bowls costing around ¥1,200 – much cheaper than their equivalents in Singapore.
Sen-Hime (Himeji, Day 04)
We’d just arrived at Himeji at almost 2PM from the visit to Engyoji Temple in the morning, and was just looking for a place for a quick lunch.Sen-Hime is an unassuming little eatery on the side of the road opposite Himeji Castle, and seemed like it was run by an elderly couple. The very sweet lady could manage conversational English, and the restaurant whips up beef katsu meal sets like the above.
Tempozan Market Place (Osaka, Day 05)
Tempozan Market Place is a small shopping mall that’s opposite Osaka Aquarium. On the ground floor of the mall is a food court with a number of small food stall operators, offering Japanese cuisine and also fast food e.g. KFC and Wendy’s. We had lunch here after our visit to Osaka Aquarium.Had the Deluxe Tempura set that cost ¥1,530. This was a large helping with an Cold Soba noodle side. I didn’t find it particularly good value for money though: we often have the Tempura sets at Maccha House @ Paya Lebar Quarter, and their serving size is huge, and costs quite a bit less too at SGD12.90.
Sushi no Musashi (Kyoto Station, Day 05)
Another restaurant from 2010 that we re-visited again. This outlet is situated near the Hachijo Exit at Kyoto Station.It’s conveyor belt sushi, with different colored plates priced differently from 146 to 634 yen.
Ramen Miyako (Gion, Day 06)
We’d gotten up very bright and early for that early morning visit to Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, then Fushimi Inari Shrine, then Gion. And we were hungry for Ramen!Their Miyako Ramen comes in two types: normal, and with extra thick soup.The thick soup version is really sumptuous and filling. The soup here is viscous and almost like gravy. But super worth it at ¥1,080 for a large bowl for hearty eaters: but be warned, it’s a huge helping!
Kyo Kinana (Gion, Day 06)
The ice-cream parlor that we revisited again from 2010. The wife loved the exquisite ice-creams here, but in my opinion, it didn’t present good value for money. These three not particularly big scoops cost more than ¥1,000 (can’t remember the exact price).
