Thursday, June 24, 2010

Kyoto 2010

If you dont already know by now, hubby and I are real foodies. A friend was once amazed at the lengths we would go to get good food. Of course, we traveled more widely before the kids came for our food, from Changi to Balestier to Bedok to Serangoon, just to satisfy our local food cravings. This friend said that we were the sort that "Have mouth will travel!"

When we were planning for our trip, we asked our friends for recommendations on the good eats in Kyoto and Osaka.

A name that frequently came up was for this place:

Kikunoi Honten

When we searched it on the net, it go hubby really excited. We found out that it was one of the top Michelin star restaurants in Kyoto!! So hubby got inspired and went out to buy the book in my last post. And thus the itinerary for our travel was based quite a bit on that book.

Hubby called from Singapore to make reservations for a table at this wonderful restaurant for lunch for the day we arrived. I was worried that we wouldnt make it in time for our reservation, coz it meant that as soon as we arrived, we had to start finding our way to the restaurant. And if there was a flight delay ..... it could have meant that we would have to miss our meal at the restaurant.

Anyway, our flight arrived early, and as such, we made our way to the restaurant early as well. We got there before 12 noon, even though our reservation was for 12.30pm. The restaurant wasnt even opened yet. But as our taxi pulled up (we thought we would walk around the area as there were some museums, shrines and park around the area) the staff who was just getting the front door opened, looked at us and asked hubby if he were Mr ...! He then warmly ushered us into the restaurant and served us drinks. He then explained that the restaurant was not open yet, and they would serve us our pre-ordered meal once they were ready to start! What hospitality!! (You would NEVER get that in Singapore! They would probably glare at you and tell you to come back at the opening time!)

Well, we ordered the bento box for the children and this is what they got:



Hubby and I had the kaiseki lunch, a multi-course meal, that is the specialty in Kyoto. And this is how our first course arrived:



I shall not make you hungry by posting more pics of our lunch, but it was one of the most amazing lunches I have had in my life, and for the amount that we paid for it, it was totally worth every cent of it!

Well in Kyoto, this is what we saw:


An overview of Kyoto:



We visited the Imperial Palace:



Golden Pavilion



Kiyomizu temple (clear water temple)

We went to the Gion district for dinner one night, and we managed to see this:


Art on the streets



And a geisha and a maiko reporting for work!

Must say, it was an interesting trip!

7 comments:

Yan said...

You are blessed! Have mouth will travel - yet you are still fitting!

Mommy Lose Weight said...

I went to Kyoto before and Golden Pavilion is a beauty

bp said...

That Bento and "caged" lunch look (and must taste) out of this world! But I guess the warm hospitality you received must have been what made the difference! I've not been to Japan at all, and Kyoto alone of what I glean here from your fruitful visit of its sights, not just the food, makes me want to visit it with the family one day, too! Thanks for sharing!

Stardust said...

So glad that you've had a good trip SAHM! Japan's cullinary experience is always unforgettable indeed.=D I'm sure you had many other mouth-watering meals to remember too. =)

Hopefully, we'll get to travel Kyoto someday, been thinking about for so long!

Constance Chan said...

this post makes me think how badly i want to go to Japan.. always wanted to.. and to be able to try a michelin star meal...wow..

Jo said...

Lovely pictures! And you have succeeded in making me very hungry (since it's also close to dinner time now)... Wish I can have some sashimi and sushi right NOW! :)

NomadicMom said...

Very interesting...Japan is also one of the countries that is steeped in their culture.

And the food at the restaurant must really be out of this world!!