[Japan-Kyoto] Exploring Kyoto in Autumn - Spring Valley Brewery Kyoto (SVB) | Sotetsu-Fresa Inn Kyoto Shijo Karasuma

After enjoying Nagoya (and Takayama), I arrived in Kyoto on a weekend. If you ever intended to visit Nishiki Market on a weekend, hmmm, please think twice unless you don't mind jostling with other tourists. It was so packed that I turned back after looking in from the outside of the market entrance! Hahaa, no worries as I had a few days in Kyoto, hence decided to visit Nishiki on a weekday instead.

Booked a couple of nights stay at Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto Shijo Karasuma and it was about 12 minutes walk to Nishiki Market.

Famished and was looking for a place to have late lunch. Walked around the area and stumbled upon a place that looked like a machiya and it sign says, "Spring Valley Brewery".

facade and entrance

The place looked super duper cool, and after a quick browse of the menu, decided to lunch at SVB. The service staff was welcoming despite I was a solo diner.

weekend lunch set menu

Was surprised by how reasonably priced its Weekend Lunch Set was. One could have a meal there for about ¥1500 to ¥1800 and it comes with a small glass of craft beer! Wow!

beer list

Guess what I had chosen for lunch. It was the roast beef bowl!

interior

looking out from the inside

The place was pretty relaxed on a Sunday, but that's maybe because it was way past lunch hour when I was there. The other table had two young adults that probably had completed their meal and looked like they were learning about beer brewing from the staff at the bar.

The roast beef don was to be paired with "Afterdark" but they can change it to something else based on your preference. I was hot from all the walking and wanted something more refreshing. The staff was able to converse in English, so ordering was not an issue. Moreover, the menu had English text on it as well.

I went for "Copeland" beer and it tasted hoppy, mild sweetness and not too bitter. Cold beer on a hot day. So good.

Copeland 5.5% ABV

Then, the salad was served. Ooh, this was a pleasant surprise as I thought there'd only be beef bowl and then the small glass of beer. Oh wow, the salad came loaded with flavours. Loved the mild dressing (tasted of olive oil and balsamic), the walnuts, croutons and cheese toppings. Enjoyed the salad and while I was halfway through, the roast beef bowl was served.

salad (part of the set)

Roast Beef Bowl Set

Such a pretty looking bowl with a wobbly yolk sitting ontop, just waiting for the moment to burst out of its membrane.

golden moments

Beneath the slices of pink roast beef, was a mound of rice drizzled with shoyu and wasabi. Mix it well with the golden yolk for a glorious mouthfeel. Tasty too. Kudos to SVB for being so generous with its customers. There were enough slices of roast beef to cover the ratio of rice.

like a roast beef sushi

After I was done with my meal, the staff came over and asked if I'd like coffee. I'd say yes to that!

after meal coffee

For just ¥1500 (less than SGD20), there was the main dish of roast beef bowl, a side of salad, a small glass of beer and a coffee. Definitely value for money! Highly satisfied and would recommend for a visit when you're in the vicinity.

The Sotetsu-Fresa Inn Shijo Karasuma hotel had one of the nicest facade/walkway that I've ever come across in 3 to 3.5-star hotel thus far. Classy. Like any other Sotetsu-Fresa Inn hotel, the hotel lobby had other complimentary amenities such as ladies/gents pack that guests could help themselves to if required.

entrance to Sotetsu-Fresa Inn Shijo Karasuma

nice walkway, like walking into an onsen or high class restaurant

home sweet home

hotel breakfast

loved the eggs and the cold somen

I tried the hotel breakfast and there weren't many varieties. However, they do serve some special item such as croquette and cold somen. The dashi for the noodles was quite good. I'm good as long as they have scrambled eggs or omelette.

Spring Valley Brewery Kyoto

Location: 587–2 Takamiyacho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, 604-8056, Japan
Website: https://www.springvalleybrewery.jp/pub/kyoto/
Contact: +81 75-231-4960
Business Hours:
Mon-Sat: 11am to 11pm
Sun: 11am to 10pm

Sotetsu-Fresa Inn Kyoto Shijo Karasuma

Location: 60番地 Dojishacho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, 600-8421, Japan
Website: https://fresa-inn.jp/en/karasuma/
Contact: +81 75-284-2031

[Japan-Takayama] An Autumn Day Trip to Takayama 高山 (Mission to View Autumn Leaves and To Enjoy Hida Beef)

One of the things that I did while in Nagoya, was to take a day trip to Takayama. Main reason? Because I was looking for Hida beef. Wahahahha! Yes, will travel for food. Well, not all the time though. But I was already there at the northern part, so why not travel up further since I had the JR Pass.

train is approaching

onwards to Hida-furukawa

Since it was going to be a 2.5 hours long journey, naturally I'd brought food onboard to eat first. Just a random bento from Nagoya Train station.

itadakimasu~

miso katsu

It was supposedly miso katsu of pork/chicken and shrimps, I think. But the miso was really salty. The onsen egg was interesting. Least enjoyed this bento.

lovely scenery

美濃太田駅 Mino-Ota Station Train Master

autumn view from train

Takayama Train Station

Reached Takayama in the late morning, and I wanted to take a look at the autumn leaves first, so went to purchase the bus ticket to Hida Folk Village (飛騨の里).  The bus station is right next to the train station, so it was rather convenient. The destination was about 20 minutes away so lunch will have to wait.

bus ticket + entrance fee

small bus

let's go explore!

thatched roof!

lovely to walk around and enjoy the view

autumn is here~

close up view of the roof

beautiful colours

After admiring the beauty of autumn, it was time to head back to the town. However, there was a bit of traffic, and hence, lunch was delayed yet again. Was walking round and round in search for Hida beef. Only one chance, so need to decide wisely.

さるぼぼ Sarubobo

In Takayama, one will encounter Sarubobo which can be translated as monkey baby. Oh wait, I was supposed to be looking for food! Found a few, like beef sushi (pretty famous with long queues) but I didn't want to eat tiny piece of beef. Beef udon curry, hmmm but no, I think I want a steak.

the famed spot for tourists

I walked and walked, looked and looked and finally decided on one but the shop was closed! *gasps* Didn't realise that it was already 3pm where most restaurants or food places close for mid-day break. NooOOoo! Does this mean I will go back to Nagoya without ever tasting Hida beef? NooOOOooOO!

Luckily, one shop was still open for business so I hurried in. The place was empty saved for an elderly Japanese couple having their meal. Almost finishing, in fact.

interior

The restaurant was of a nostalgic western styled and the ambiance was cosy. Feeling hungry but slightly out of place and a little awkward. いらっしゃいませ！I heard the greeting from the lady at the counter. I was alone so she asked if I could be seated at the counter. Yes, of course.

Chef 

There wasn't any English word nor picture on the menu and I was too shy to ask for one. But I think I know the words on the menu with the price tag of 3,600 yen (about SGD46). "ステーキ", I said. The lady smiled and as there was no other order, the lady repeated it to the Chef, who looks like he is in his seventies.

green tea and menu

The place also serves sashimi as I could see the chiller at the counter but I didn't come all the way to have fish! The Chef cooks slowly and he melted the butter first, before seasoning it and then in goes the meat. He poured sauce onto the meat before covering it to cook for a little while. Meanwhile, the lady goes and scoop up some rice on a plate. Seems like I'm going to have steak and rice. Which is a first for me.

Finally, it was ready! Hahaha, it was rather amusing having rice with knife and fork. It was East meets West with miso soup and rice paired with beef steak and salad!

Hida Beef Steak Set Meal (rice and miso soup)

Hida Beef

The meat was tender but not fatty. Very gentle to chew. The sauce was similar to HP sauce with a tangy twist to it. The salad was fresh and miso soup was just nice for something to warm the tummy.

yummy

the shop signage

It was a good meal and I was full. But I still had an hour to spare before the train arrives. Decided to get a cup of coffee. Walked into Streamer's Coffee Company and the place was so spacious! There's a chic feel to the cafe.

Streamers Coffee Company

high benches

There are charging points on the table top, so that was really useful for us travelers. The baristas are young and cheerful looking. Polite and friendly. Plus, able to converse a little in English.

order at the counter

They have seasonal coffee but the flavour then was "Bubblegum". Hmmm, a tad too exotic for me to try so I opted for a safer drink called "Takumi", which is essentially, a latte.

Aya-san concentrating on the latte art

Thank you Aya-san for the beautiful cup of coffee. But the coffee was really a large cup and after having drunk half, I was already about to burst.

Takumi

Coffee was smooth and not too acidic. Milk was not too overpowering too. No sugar was needed. After taking that last sip of the coffee, it was time to head to the train station to return to Nagoya.

Was lucky I didn't wait till last minute to head back to the train station because found out that there was a queue at the gate to enter the platform. I was somewhere in the first 20 of the queue and the gate remained steadfastly closed even though the train was to arrive in the next five minutes. Uh, felt a bit gancheong already because usually I'd already be waiting at the platform. Some other commuters were feeling the same and they went to enquire if it was really necessary to queue. The station master just motioned for commuters to wait in the queue.

With just 2 minutes remaining, the gate opened and we went in as quickly as possible. Took the escalator up to the platform and was able to board on time. Did not encounter this anywhere else as one usually just enters the gate with the ticket and then wait at the platform to board the train when it comes.

Was a nice day trip to Takayama and am missing the Hida beef and the cute barista there. Would like to go back there some day and to stay a night or two to explore more.

[Japan-Tokyo] コンビニ Konbini foods, are they as good as what others say?

The term Konbini/Conbini/Combini コンビニ means convenience. Hence, konbini food simply means convenience store foods. Yes, food/snacks from stores such as 7-Eleven, Lawson and Family Mart, amongst others. Japan's combini culture is attractive as everything is so convenient. We all know that convenience stores in Japan has everything. Well, almost. But it does have things that most travellers would want/need in some point in time.

For me, that'll be foood~ and yeah, an umbrella too.

Family Mart @ Kinshicho

I bet you have heard about their fried chicken. And, you'd probably had eaten them too but pardon me for being late into the game. Haven't been visiting Japan for the longest time.

fried food counter at Family Mart

Nope, does not know what those words are but I knew what I wanted. A piece of that golden fried chicken square. Of course, I didn't know which was which because there were two that looked similar. So I just pointed to the one at the top tray.

Family Mart Chicken @  ¥180

Ate this baby as soon as I bought it. And, it was still piping hot! Of course, I was a tad famished by that time, which was close to 1pm. Oh boy, it was an amazing first bite. So juicy, tender and tasty! There were some fair amount of fats surrounding those meat, hence it could get oily. But so good eating it at 22 degrees celcius. Yums!

love at first bite

Also tried Lawson's version of the fried chicken (I got the spicy version) when I was in Nagoya but Famichiki was the better version, hands down. Reason being Lawson's version had slightly drier meat and slightly dough-y taste of the flour. Oily-ness level was almost the same for both.

Lawson's Spicy Fried Chicken @ ¥150

Having a Family Mart so close to the hotel (5 minutes walk) that I was staying in Kinshicho, meant I could do breakfast or a light dinner or midnight snack on a whim. Another combini food that got me intrigued, is the tamago sando (egg sandwich). I just got to try it myself.

I was at the store around 8am and bought an egg sandwich a cup of Family Mart's latte. The store has a small section where customers could sit and eat their food. The seats are facing the outside of the store, so one could watch the world go by while sipping coffee.

たまごサンド とコーヒー Egg sandwich and coffee

egg mayo sandwich on fluffy white bread

Lovely taste from the egg sandwich and loved the fluffy bread. Not too heavy but enough to fuel the first few hours of the day.

Another must-buy from the konbini would be the oden. Oden is a one-pot dish consisting of several ingredients, much like our yong tau foo. The oden in convenience store can be easily found at the front of the cashier counter. The styrofoam bowl (of two different sizes) and tongs to pickup the ingredients and ladle for the soup are all there. Self-service.

Let's take a look of what I had for dinner. It was my first time having oden so I think I was a tad excited to try. Went for 5 items and placed them all in the large bowl. Put in the soup and go to the counter to pay. They'd put on the cover for you and pack the sauce, if you need. There's hoisin sauce and yellow mustard in tiny packs.

Oden おでん

Had picked out daikon (because I heard that this is a must-have ingredient for oden), the tamago (hard boiled egg), two Nerimono (some kind of fish paste/meat paste item), and the Kinchaku (the one that looks like a fried beancurd pouch).

The daikon was expectantly soft and had absorbed the flavours of the dashi. Juicy and easy to eat. It was kind of hard to stop myself from drinking up all the dashi. It just tasted so flavourful.

I think I got a deep fried hanpen which is a type of fishcake but I was also confused because of the airy and fluffy texture that it has. It has seaweed in it, and everything about this piece was just so intriguing! Amazing. Oooh, the pockets of air in that piece was good to bring up more dashi with each bite. Just dip and bite. So goood!

半片 so good!

Here's a video of the oden feast.

Was kind of surprised when the weight of kinchaku was felt when I tried to pick it up with the chopsticks. Why was it so heavy? Took a bite and there was mochi in there! Wow. Unexpected but it was still a good combo, surprisingly.

Another surprise was the meatball piece. It had a cheesy center. So cool!

The only not surprising item was the egg. It was a regular hardboiled egg. I thought it was going to be a lava egg.

cheesy meatball

To end the meal, wash it off with with a Chu-Hi which is a shochu based cocktail. When drinking, might as well get a snack to go along with it. All in all, a very filling and satisfying meal, complete with an alcoholic drink and a 'dessert' of sorts. About $10 for dinner.

Horoyoi ほろよい

seasonal snack of butter sweet potato crackers

I love konbini foods so much, I got to have it again and this time with onigiri.

breakfast in bed - oden, onigiri, juice and coffee

Being a noob in onigiri unwrapping, it was a mess once I got it wrong. Amazing how the seaweed stayed crispy. Lovely flavours and good for breakfast.

mentaiko onigiri 

Yes, I love my convenience store foods and drinks for its adequate selections, affordable pricing and fuss free.