A&W

One of my fondest memories as a child was going to A&W to have waffles and the root beer float with the family. I loved the crispy golden fluffy waffles with syrup and root beer float. It has been a long time since I have had A&W waffles, and I was really craving it.

I was excited to find out that there are A&W restaurants in Okinawa. There are several branches in Naha. I went to the A&W branch on Kokusai street. It is located on the second floor of the building. You definitely get the A&W vibe with the orange and brown counters, chairs, and tables when you enter the restaurant. I was greatly disappointed when waffles were not available, only waffle sundae. Anyhow, at least there is still the root beer float. So I ordered a root beer float and an apple pie.

To my dismay, the root beer float came in a plastic cup when it should be served in a chilled mug. Furthermore, there was too much ice cream and too little root beer. Finally, the apple pie was too sweet, and the crust was too thick and overdone.

Despite my disappointment, A&W is quite popular among the locals and foreigners.

A&W (Kokusai street)

Website: https://www.awok.co.jp/

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 9:00 a.m. – 22:30 p.m.

Address: 1 Chome-1-１ Matsuo, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0014, Japan

Odakyu Hotel de Yama, Hakone

I was very fortunate that on two out of the three days, I was at Lake Ashi, the weather was clear and beautiful, which allowed me to bask in the beauty of the lake and its surroundings, including the view of Mt. Fuji.

This villa-turned-hotel resort has a 70-year history. I love how the hotel has maintained its charm and history. The hotel has two restaurants and a café. Vert Bois serves French cuisine, Tsutsuji no Chaya serves Japanese kaiseki cuisine, and Salon de Thé Rosage is a dessert restaurant with a premium shop by the lake.

When you check-in, you are asked to choose what cuisine you would like for each day of your stay and time. I decided on having French on my first night and Japanese Kaiseki on the second.

Vert Bois

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I enjoyed my meal at Vert Bois. The table was beautifully set up. All waitresses were well-dressed and mannered. There was harmony between the waitresses, setting a calm atmosphere in the restaurant.

I liked that each table had a menu. I personally like to know the name of each dish I’m having. Sometimes it is hard to make out what the waiter said, especially if English is not their first language.

As I don’t like eating raw fish, they replaced the marinated tuna with abocado’s tartare with a Paté dish. All the dishes served were delicious. My favorite would be the fish of the day. It was really fresh and cooked to perfection. The fish was accompanied by a sweet red wine sauce, just the right amount that didn’t overpower the fish’s natural flavor. The dishes were served at a good pace; I didn’t have to wait too long between each dish.

Tsutsuji no Chaya has a calm and soft environment with a violet-colored carpeted floor, wooden tables, and chairs, with soft lighting and neutral walls.

Sadly, I had to skip the kaiseki dinner as I felt pretty sick after two cable car rides earlier that day. I am highly susceptible to motion sickness, and it was pretty windy that day. As I was looking forward to the kaiseki meal, I made my way down to the restaurant when I felt a bit better. Shortly after having the first appetizer, I felt nauseous. So I told the waiter to just serve me rice and miso soup.

The menu was pretty impressive. As you can see from the picture on the right (excuse the blurriness), there is quite a variety.

There is the option of an American breakfast or a Japanese breakfast. The American breakfast is served at Vert Bois, including juice, coffee or tea, croissant, pickled vegetables, sausages with toast, salad, and your choice of eggs. It was so relaxing and serene to have breakfast with the stunning view of the lake. A great start to the day.

Odakyu Hotel De Yama

Website: http://www.hakone-hoteldeyama.jp/en/

Telephone: +81 460836321

Address: 80 Moto-Hakone, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun,
Kanagawa Prefecture 250-0522

+81

Simple meal in Nagoya

I had one day in Nagoya. It was a stopover before I headed on to Hakone. I usually plan ahead and look for good places to eat, but I decided to wing it in Nagoya.

After checking into the Mitsui Garden Hotel Nagoya Premier, I ventured around the area to look for a place to have lunch. It was windy and cold, and a bowl of hot ramen quickly became my top choice.

ラの壱名駅店 ranoichi ramen

The ramen chain store restaurant is just two streets from the Mitsui Garden Hotel. The staff was friendly. Unfortunately, there is no English menu. Not all the staff can speak English. I had to order blindly. As I read some Chinese characters, I noticed on the top left of the menu that the restaurant was serving two types of ramen for a limited time. I wasn’t sure what type of ramen it was, but the picture looked good, so I ordered one. If I heard correctly, the waitress mentioned miso when she served me the noodles. The ramen was surprisingly good. It had a thick creamy miso broth, slightly sweet with a hint of spiciness, but nothing like the miso soup where the miso flavor is the dominating taste. Other than the miso flavor, I could also taste the meat broth. The toppings differed from the ramen I had in Kyoto and Osaka. It was perfect for the cold day. A satisfying meal, indeed!

Ranoichi ramen

Website: http://www.ranoichi.com/store/meieki/

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 11: 00 AM~ 23: 30 PM, Sundays and public holidays 11: 00AM ~ 22: 00PM

Telephone: +81 52-446-5581

Address: Nagoya-shi Nakamura-ku Nominami 4-27-7 Noda-ya Building 1F

Craft Works Cafe by Hand Bakes

I had been walking for hours, tired and cold, to the point where I wanted to fill my stomach and head back to the hotel to rest. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to eat. I couldn’t be bothered to walk around in the cold to look for a restaurant; I thought most malls have a floor where it’s all for dining, so I headed over to Parco mall, the nearest mall.

I got to the 7th floor of the Parco mall, looked at the list of restaurants, and randomly picked this restaurant. The color scheme and pictures on the wall gave me a warm and homey feel. I ordered the grilled chicken and veggie plate with gorgonzola sauce which was ¥950. The food was decent. The rice was a little dry. A simple average meal.

Craft Works Cafe by Hand Bakes

7th Floor of Parco West building

Website: http://nagoya.parco.jp/web/restaurant/craftworks/01/

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00 AM to 22:30 PM

Telephone: +81 52-264-8058

Funatsuru, Kyoto style French restaurant

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Funatsuru is a Kyoto-style French restaurant set along the Kamo River with views of the Higashiyama mountains and nearly 150 years of history. The building itself was built almost 100 years ago. You can read about the history of this restaurant here.

I made a reservation for a window seat. When making the reservation, the staff could not guarantee a window seat for me but will try their best. We were fortunate on the day of our arrival that we were given a window seat. The view was beautiful – The river, mountain, and sky. The staff who greeted us was graceful and pleasant. She could speak decent English.

There are two different lunch courses. One is for ¥ 3,000, including an hors d’oeuvre, soup, main dish, dessert, bread, coffee, or black tea. The other is for ¥ 4,500, including an hors d’oeuvre, soup, a fish dish, a meat dish, dessert, bread, coffee, or black tea. We decided on the ¥ 4,500 lunch course.

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The course started with a turkey mushroom pâté followed by a soup. The soup was interesting. It tasted like a saltish and mild cafe latte with cocoa nibs. The waitress did describe that it was some kind of coffee soup.

Next, we had the flounder wrapped in pie pastry. I love this dish! The flavors in this dish were mind-blowing. The fish was cooked to perfection. The buttery, flaky crust accentuated the natural flavor of the fish. The tomato-based sauce further boosts the already delicious flavor of the pie. Even now, I can remember the flavor. A very memorable dish!

We had the duck with apple and root vegetable sauce next and a white chocolate cream cheesecake.

I really enjoyed the food. Each one was delectable and beautifully presented. I would recommend this restaurant for the food. However, it was noisy in the restaurant, probably the noisiest restaurant I have been to in Japan. Most of the customers were rich middle-aged women, and they were loud. I did not enjoy that. Lucky for us, we got there around 1 PM, and the noise began to subside half an hour later as some were finished with lunch and left. The last order for lunch at the restaurant is 2PM.

Funatsuru

Website: https://www.funatsuru.com/en/restaurant/

Opening hours: 12 PM to 22:00 PM (closed on Tuesdays)

Telephone: +81 75-351-8541

Address: 180 Minoyacho, Kiyamachidouri Matsubara-Agaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto

The living room with sky bar, Nagoya

The living room is on the 18th floor of the Mitsui Garden Hotel Nagoya Premier. The hotel is just a 5-minute walk from Nagoya station. As I stayed at the hotel, I enjoyed dining at the restaurant. The restaurant has a chic decor with earth-tone color base colors. For hotel guests, the breakfast buffet price is ¥ 2,220, and for non-hotel guests, it is ¥ 2,400.

A good healthy selection of local and western food incorporating flavors and ingredients unique to Aichi. The ingredients were very fresh. Of course, you get the usual hotel breakfast buffet spread. There was bacon, sausages, french toast, scrambled eggs, pastries, toast, and salad for western cuisine. There was congee, rice noodles, steamed vegetables, tamagoyaki (egg rolls), grilled chicken breast, and salmon for Japanese cuisine. I had an enjoyable hearty breakfast with a fantastic view of the city.

The restaurant also offers lunch and dinner courses.

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The Living Room with Sky Bar

Website: http://www.livingroom-skybar.com/ , http://202.32.204.49/nagoya-premier/eng/breakfast/

Breakfast hours: 6:30 AM to 10:00 AM

Telephone: +81 52-446-5422

Yasube, Okonomiyaki, Pontocho

Yasube is a family-run restaurant in Pontocho that serves Okonomiyaki. The menu offers many variations, and you can add different ingredients to your Okonomiyaki. The prices are very reasonable, and it is one of the cheaper places to eat in Pontocho. The son speaks good English, and there are English menus available.

We had the yaki-udon with pork and kimchi (¥ 950) and pork and seafood combo with egg okonomiyaki (¥ 950). It was served on the hot plate on the table. I liked that we could put the sauce and toppings on the okonomiyaki. I have had okonomiyaki, and sometimes the sauce was too much for me. This would be the best one of the okonomiyaki I have had both in Kyoto and Osaka. I think the minced pork made a big difference. I had added pork slices instead of minced pork in the previous okonomiyaki. The minced pork made the okonomiyaki less dry and gave it a savory sweetness.

Yasube

Opening hours: Monday to Wednesday, 12:00 PM to 19:30 PM; Thursday to Saturday, 16:30 PM to 23:30 PM, Sunday, 15:00 PM to 22:30 PM

Telephone number: +81 75-221-2613

Address: 142 Umenokichō (Pontochōdōri), Nakagyō-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 604-8012, Japan

Gion Karyo, Kyoto

Set in an old Kyoto house, Gion Karyo is a kaiseki restaurant located in the heart of Gion. It is a great kaiseki place for people who are not as familiar with Japanese cuisine or not adventurous (like myself). The food served at Gion Karyo is nothing bizarre or unique to the taste buds. If you have any food restrictions or allergies, you can inform them in advance, and they will prepare your food accordingly. The staff speaks sufficient English, and there are English menus available.

The interior decorations were simple, with not much ambiance.

I made reservations in advance. When you are presented to your seat, a menu will be ready on the table. The price for the lunch course is ¥ 5000.

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The dishes were beautifully presented. However, for me, it lacked taste. Most of the dishes tasted similar and were a bit bland. There was no wow factor for me.

The highlight for me was the dessert and coffee. I had some matcha arrowroot dessert accompanied with ice cream and caramel cake. My brother had the Crème brûlée. The matcha arrowroot dessert tasted like matcha jelly with evaporated milk and soybean flour – very fragrant.

Overall, the food was basic and average, especially for the price. But it is definitely a foreigner-friendly restaurant.

Gion Karyo

Website: http://www.karyo-kyoto.jp/gion/

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday, 11:30 Am to 8 PM

Telephone: +81 75-532-0025

Address: 605-0074 Kyōto-fu, Kyōto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Gionmachi Minamigawa, 東山区祇園町南側570-235

Gontaro, Kyoto

Gontaro is a famous udon noodle restaurant in Kyoto. It has three branches. I went to the main branch, located downtown on Fuyacho Dori, between Nishiki Market and Shijo Dori.

The restaurant had a Kyoto machiya-style exterior with a stone path leading to an automatic sliding shoji door. The interior is decorated in Sukiya-zukuri architectural style, which is common in many Japanese tea houses and creates a tranquil ambiance. There was only one waitress dressed in Kimono. She did not speak much English, but she could understand some of the things I said. She was nice and had a smile on her face the whole time.

The restaurant offers a variety of Soba and Udon noodles with some side dishes. The prices are reasonable. There is also an English menu available.

As I was craving fish, I ordered the Nishin udon (¥ 1200), a Kyoto specialty. It is a piece of dried herring placed on top of the udon. At the time, I did not know it was a dried herring. On the menu, it stated sweet stewed herring. The soup was delicious, but I did not like the herring. It was dry and chewy. I guess I was not used to eating dried fish.

This is a good place for Soba and Udon noodles if you are in the area.

Gontaro

Website: http://gontaro.co.jp/english/kyoto/index.html

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday except for Wednesday 11:00 AM to 21:00 PM

Telephone: +81 75-221-5810

Address: 604-8053 Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward, 麸屋町通四条上ル

Kichi Kichi, Kyoto’s famous Omu Rice

Located in one of the alleyways in Pontocho, a small and cozy restaurant was established in 1978, serving one of Kyoto’s best Omu rice. It took us a while to find the restaurant, even with the help of google maps. We went back and forth along Pontocho main street, trying to find the right alleyway. Finally, we got to the restaurant around 6:15 PM, and customers were already waiting outside the restaurant. The restaurant has 8 counter seats and a table accommodating about 5 people.

I read about this place’s popularity, so I made a reservation in advance. You can make reservations 6 weeks in advance on their website. I emailed them to make a reservation because the date I wanted to make was unavailable on their website. I recommend making a reservation, especially for the counter seat, where you can watch the magic happen.

Besides their famous Omu rice, Kichi Kichi also serves salad, soup, beef stew, casseroled chicken leg, and croquette. Since we were there for the Omu rice, we ordered a potage soup of the day (¥ 650) and salad (¥1500). The Omu rice comes in standard (¥ 2700) and half-size (¥ 1450). I ordered the standard, which was a little bit much for me. However, I think half-size would be sufficient for the ladies.

The potage soup of the day was creamy corn soup. It was creamy and light with a lovely smokey bacon flavor. The salad was lovely, not the usual western salad. It had assorted vegetables drizzled with a light citrusy dressing. I love the array of colors of the ingredients.

Chef Yukimura Motokichi puts on quite a spectacular show for his customers. He knows people will be filming him making his famous Omu rice. So he will position himself where you can take pictures or film him. He definitely has skills! The way he tossed the rice up in the air and how he made his omelet in the perfect shape every time. Motokichi makes it look so easy.
To make the Omu rice, Motokichi first prepares the fried rice. Then, he adds chicken, onions, mushrooms, green soybeans, and beef bouillion sauce to the rice. Once the rice is cooked, it is placed in an ellipse mold on a plate. He subsequently prepares the omelet, which is then placed on the rice. Motokichi makes a slit down the middle of the omelet, and the egg wraps around the rice so elegantly. To complete the Omu rice, Motokichi adds beef bouillion sauce. He does different tricks with the omelet. For the second Omu rice dish, he threw the omelet up in the air, and it landed on the rice, covering it perfectly; pretty impressive!

The omelet was smooth and fluffy. It was delicious and eaten with chicken fried rice. Compared to other Omu rice prices, the prices here are higher, but I feel it’s worth it. It is one of the best ones I’ve had.

I highly recommend this restaurant. You will definitely have a great time and an enjoyable meal.

Kichi Kichi Omurice

Website: http://kichi2.net/

Opening hours: Lunch ( Weekends and national holidays 12:00 PM to 14:00 PM), Dinner ( Monday to Sunday 17:00 PM to 21:00 PM)

Telephone: +81 75-211-1484

Address: 604-8017 Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward, 材木町185-4

Kishin Kitchen, an intimate culinary experience in Kyoto

I got to know about Kishin Kitchen as I searched through google for a place to have breakfast. This place was on the list, and the reviews were positive. As my brother will be accompanying me on this trip, which is his first trip to Japan, I thought it would be nice to try a Japanese-style breakfast.

Kishin Kitchen is attached to the Hana-Touro Hotel in Gion. The interior gave me the impression of a dining and kitchen area in a house. It had a warm and homey feel. The staff was welcoming and friendly. Two of them spoke good English.

The restaurant offers its signature breakfast for ¥ 2,500. The breakfast includes a starter, white rice, and a choice of soup. The meals were prepared by a young chef. He gave an explanation of each dish after it was served.

We had kumiage-yuba, a cold soy skin dish, as a starter. The texture was delicate with a refined taste. It tastes like cold soy milk with a hint of saltiness. I, however, was not too fond of the texture.

Before serving the rice and soup, we were asked to choose one out of five handmade bowls by different Japanese artists for the rice. They first served us about a tablespoon of ‘almost’ cooked rice to taste. One of the staff explained that the rice has a different flavor and taste before it is completely cooked. It had a stickier texture. The rice was cooked in a donabe, which is a special Japanese ceramic pot. We were then each served a small portion of rice. You can ask for refills.

The white Miso soup was one of the best I’ve had. The soup had a rich milky pork stock with a subtle Miso taste, garnished with thinly sliced scallions and a small dollop of mustard.

After everyone finished their rice and soup, they served us some scorched rice with a pinch of salt to taste. It was fragrant and delicious, kind of like salty rice crackers.

We were served pickles, Charcoal-grilled Maruboshi Sardine, rice, and soup. The sardines were a little salty, which went great with the rice.

There weren’t many customers when we were there, but I do recommend making a reservation. You are asked to choose a time slot when you make a reservation. Five different time slots are available each day; each time slot is an hour and 20 minutes. So do be punctual, we were 10 minutes late, and the other customers had to wait for us before they began serving the meal.

Though the meal was simple, I had a very memorable and intimate dining experience here. This was probably the first time that I paid attention to every bite, savoring every subtle flavor of the food. Every aspect, from service to ingredients to food preparation, was done with care. I look forward to my next visit. I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to taste high-quality local Kyoto cuisine.

Kishin Kitchen

Website: https://www.kishin.world/

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 7:30 AM – 12 AM

Telephone: +81 75-525-8500

Address: 555-2 Komatsuchō, Higashiyama-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 605-0811, Japan