After our lovely tour of the Kyoto Imperial Palace and the Nijo Castle, it was time for dinner. We had heard so much about Pontocho, and the area which was full of restaurants and different things to eat. We had also heard about the Yuka seating in Kyoto, where you sit on a balcony or terrace, built of wood over the river. This is only done in the late spring and summer months to cool down. In addition, the seating is traditional tatami seating.
After searching for something that was local Kyoto cuisine, we just took a chance and wound up at 卯柳 (Uryu), which had yuka seating and a Kyoto kaiseki meal.
Off to sit on our yuka and on the tatami!
It was time for our meal to start. Served by waitresses in kimonos and in very classy style.
First up, our appetizer. Some tofu, a sweet rice cake wrapped in leaf, some pickles wrapped in egg, and some other pickled items. Topped off with a very citrusy ice cold sake.
Next course was sashimi, with genuine self-grated wasabi. So fresh and tasty, and so much fun to grind your own wasabi!
Next course was a rice cake mixture, in a fish broth topped with uni. So good.
Inside you see the contrast of the rices used. The outer layer infused with green tea, the inside more sticky and dense.
Next was grilled fish, a very small, eat the whole thing fish. The fins and tail were salted and then grilled. And then there was a pickled plum with it. Very tasty.
Next up was some sort of yuba, that’s what they called it. It’s the stuff that’s created right before soy beans become tofu. Very spongy, creamy tasting, it came with some soy and wasabi. It definitely needed that to add to it.
Next was the fried dish. A tofu tempura, in a broth with eggplant and chili peppers. Wow, so good.
Next is the vinegared dish. This was a vinegared mixture of some vegetable and cucumber. Eaten cold, it was a little slimy, but ok.
Then rice with miso soup and some chili pickled vegetable. The vegetable with the rice, real good.
And dessert! A type of mochii dusted with macha and peanut.
It doesn’t look like a lot, but it was. A little expensive, but it’s all about experiences right?
