Kiyomizu-Dera Junsei Okabeya 清水順正おかべ家

Had a lovely visit to Kiyomizudera Temple but then it started to rain and thus, had to seek shelter. Coincidentally, it was lunch time so we decided to go somewhere to fill our stomach. Had earlier passed by this place which looked like it had a restaurant so went back to find my friend and suggested to dine at Junsei. When in Kyoto, eat tofu!

Kiyomizudera Temple

Didn't take the entrance of the restaurant as it was raining, but here's a photo of the shop at the front. Junse is just round the corner of this shop.

at the left of this shop, turn in

The shop is tourist friendly, but had to wait abit for the staff to usher us in.

warm tea

Friend had the Namafu-no-TempuraDengaku while I had the Oborodoufu-to-Obanzai. Both are priced at ¥1850. The menu states that Obanzai is a typical ordinary meal in Kyoto. Hehe.

おぼろ豆腐とおばんざい @¥1850

It has a lot of things actually. A flower-petal like dish with 7 small items (this is the obanzai), one big block of tofu (oboro doufu), a small dish of jyako sansho (small fish and pepper), vegetable tempura and clear soup.

so many things to eat

Loved the simplicity and the variety in this set. The rice tasted good with all the small side dishes. There are some meats actually in the 7 small side dishes. There's fish and pork. The pink coloured ball is actually fish-cake and some simmered vege. But the tastiest, was the jyako sansho. Savoury, salty and goes so well with the rice!

love these small fishies

This place seemed to be quite popular with tourists from Taiwan.

Kiyomizu-Dera Junsei Okabeya 清水順正おかべ家

Location: Japan, 〒605-0862 Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, 東山区清水２丁目２３９
Contact: +81 75-541-7111
Website:  http://www.to-fu.co.jp/en/
GuruNavi: https://gurunavi.com/en/k001901/rst/
Business Hours:
Monday - Sunday 10:30 - 17:00
 

Ramen Hiwamatanoburo ラー麺 陽はまた昇る @ Fushimi Inari Station Kyoto 京都 伏見稲荷

Had chosen to stay at Airbnb while in Kyoto as the price was more affordable in comparison with a hotel. Arrived around 430pm and explored our accommodation a bit before venturing out to find food. Luckily, I suggested to eat nearby and we walked up and down that area for a while before deciding on ramen.

shopfront

Slide open the door to reveal a small cosy ramen shop. Think the staff was a tad too busy to entertain us so we just figured out what we needed to do.

Saw a small vending machine, so instinctively that'll be where we purchase our meal ticket. Ok, was feeling adventurous so had chosen one that had no picture. Item number two on the first row.

choose your dish

Just sit where you like and wait for your ramen to be served.

Chef at work

table seat

Niboshi Tori Tonkotsu Ramen ¥780

handmade noodles

thin, tender chashiu

Loved the ramen there. The soup was strongly flavoured and thick but yet slurpilicious. Friend thought it was a tad too salty but I thought it was just fine. The chashiu was of the thin, almost ham-like and so tender. Lava egg cannot be faulted. Delicious!

If you're ever there, don't forget to order the tori karaage. It looked so good!

Ramen Hiwamatanoburo

Location: 38-15, Fukakusa Ichinotsubocho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, 612-0012
Contact: +81 75-642-5705
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hinobo915
Business Hours:
11:00～22:00
Closed on Thursdays and the second Wednesday of each month
 

Yakiniku Toraji 焼肉トラジ 名古屋セントラルタワーズ店 JR Central Towers Nagoya

It was a quick lunch before heading to Kyoto. In the morning we were exploring Inuyama and returned to Nagoya for lunch and to get our luggage bags before continuing to Kyoto. As usual, we went to find food at JR Central Towers at Nagoya Station. All looked pretty enticing but we were in the mood for some meat. Hard to choose between steakhouse and this BBQ place. In the end, decided to just try Toraji.

We were given window seats but it was so hot, haha! Heat from the grill and heat from the window. Double grilled! The view was overlooking the tracks of the train station. Quite cool.

window seat

Ordered a yakiniku lunch set (S) for ¥1700. It has two prawns and some pieces of beef. For that price, there wasn't any Japanese beef included though. My friend had the Toraji lunch set at ¥2500 and that has Japanese beef.

charcoal grill, yay!

Yakiniku Lunch Set (S)

Was pretty happy with my set. Loved the seaweed soup, the small side salad and the kimchi. So yums. The meat was tasty, well marinated and tender. Lovely and value for money. It doesn't matter if it was not Japanese beef. Still loved it!

close up of the meat

let's get cooking

The meat only needed that quick sear and it was good to eat.

yummy in my tummy

Was surprised that there was dessert included in the meal. All diners got a complimentary ice-cream (like our ice-cream potong) of milk flavour.

ice-cream to end the meal

The service staff was friendly and helpful. The food was good and prices reasonable. Would love to return one day.

Yakiniku Toraji 焼肉トラジ 名古屋セントラルタワーズ店

Location: 〒450-6012　12F JR Central Building, 1-1-4 Meieki, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi

Contact: +81 52-589-8989

Reservation: opentable.jp

Business Hours: 

Lunch: 11:00 to 15:00

Dinner: 15:00 to 23:00 (Last order 22:00)

Tetsuemon てつえもん JR Nagoya Station

Funny how I had compiled a list of restaurants with food to eat before the trip and once there, it was all discarded. Yup, decided to be lazy and just eat around the hotel area or the station area.

But I had a clear idea of what to eat. For Nagoya, that would be hitsumabushi, oyakodon and tebasaki. So we did the grilled eel earlier that day, hence for dinner, we went to the basement food street and found a shop that has oyakodon and tebasaki (and drinks..but that's irrelevant).

menu

I wasn't feeling very hungry so shared the chicken wings with friend who was having the set with oyakodon. Imagine my disbelief when he said he hasn't tried any oyakodon before. I mean, how was that even possible!? Hmm, but I guess it is somewhat possible even in food haven like Singapore.

oyakodon

tebasaki

The chicken wings were nice but they were just fried wings. Think we got the wrong Nagoya wings. Hmm.

But anyways, I ordered a Chita highball. Feeling thirsty after visiting Nagoya Castle earlier that day.

Chita Highball with yuzu @ ¥510

And ordered some yakitori to go along with the drinks. Unfortunately, they ran out of hearts. Never mind, liver will do as well.

pork belly skewer

momo and reba

Tetsuemon てつえもん

Location: JR Nagoya Station Nagoya umaimon street, 1-1-4, Meieki, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi, 450-0002
Contact: 052-589-1255 (+81-52-589-1255) 
Website: https://tabelog.com/en/aichi/A2301/A230101/23058354/ 
Business Hours: 

11:00～23:00(L.O.22:00)

Lunch, Open on Sundays


 

Tokyo Chikuyotei 东京竹叶亭 JR Central Towers Nagoya

Our first meal in Nagoya was at this place at the 12th floor of JR Central Towers at Nagoya Station. One of the things that I wanted to try was the Hitsumabushi or grilled eel bowl. Authentic ones, please.

As usual, we were hungry. Hotel was nearby Nagoya Station and we were too tired to go hunt for food. Was walking around and saw the directory for restaurants at the station. Hmm, Din Tai Fung? No thanks. But it was pretty popular amongst the locals there. Steak? Ooh, maybe. Grilled eel? Yes please!

this was how we decided on lunch

So having locked on our target, we went up to recce the restaurant. Thankfully, the queue wasn't too long and so we put our names down and sat quietly awaiting to be called.

Chikuyotei shopfront

Once seated, we were served hot tea and wet towel.

We were quick to decide on the Hitsumabushi lunch course. One could choose amongst two styles; Nagoya or Tokyo style. Friend chose the Nagoya style so I had the Tokyo one. We enquired on what's the difference and was informed that the difference was only in the sauce. Nagoya-styled has sauce glazed onto the eel.

Tokyo-styled Hitsumabushi @ ¥3,640 (incl. tax)

One could read the instructions from the card on the 3-ways of enjoying the Hitsumabushi dish. Or, do it free-style as you like!

can't wait to dig in

I liked the Tokyo style and so did my friend. The Nagoya styled eel had a more crispy exterior and a tad tougher. Mine was all soft and nice. Yummy!  But I think mine had more rice, judging from the size of the bowl.

Nagoya-styled Hitsumabushi

eaten with soup

There's sansho peppers powder on the table to jazz up the taste if you think it was a tad too boring. It has a slight numbing effect much like the peppercorn in mala-hotpot so exercise caution!

sansho pepper 山椒

It was a satisfying meal. Made a mental note to try this in Kyoto to check out the difference or simply, to enjoy grilled eel again.

Tokyo Chikuyotei 东京竹叶亭 

Location: JR Central Towers 12F, 1-1-4 Meieki, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 450-6012, Japan
Website: http://www.chikuyotei.com/nagoya-en.html
Tel: +81(52)589-0112
Business Hours:
Lunch: 11:00～15:30 (Last order 15:00)
Dinner: 17:00～23:00 (Last order 21:30)

Shodoshima Daigi Ginza Core 小豆島 大儀 銀座店 - 銀座コア

It was by chance that we stumbled upon this shop. Wanted to eat sushi buffet at Tsukiji Tama Sushi but unfortunately we arrived without reservation and by the time we queued, the buffet wasn't available. Wandered around Ginza Core and chanced upon this udon shop.

The shop has various condiments and somen packs displayed at its store front and we were greeted by the proprietress, an elderly lady. Decided to dine there and sat ourselves down. The place was rather quiet and we were the only customer at that time.

Japanese menu

quiet shop

Wet towels and hot tea were served immediately while we pored over the menu. Request for an English menu and it was rather easy to order. Just point at the picture!

English menu

Was feeling famished so ordered a Tenzaru set. The shop only has udon or somen, so make your choice. Friend was having the Gyuniku Udon so I got myself a somen.

Gyuniku Udon ¥1274.40 (incl. tax)

Was very happy with my choice of the somen. It was very good. The noodles were cooked just right and retained its bouncy-ness. Cold somen dipped into the soy sauce and sometimes eaten with minced daikon, ginger paste or spring onions. So yums!

Tenzaru Somen ¥1566 (incl. tax)

The tempura portion was rather generous too. It had prawn, brinjal, white fish, sweet potato, ladies finger, and asparagus.

天麩羅

素麺

It was a happy meal! ごちそうさまでした！

Shodoshima Daigi 小豆島 大儀 銀座店 - 銀座コア

Address: B1F Ginza CORE, 8-20, 5-Chome, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Business Hours: [Mon-Sun]11:00～20:00 (Last Order 19:30)
Website: http://www.ginza-core.co.jp/shops/gourmet/gourmet_09.html

Exploring Telok Ayer - Royz Et Vous and Fu Lin Bar

Got a chance to explore the Telok Ayer area a little bit more the other day in November when a few of us (Kris, Jennifer and myself) trooped down there to meet up with Tiara for lunch.

For first timers to the area, the famous landmark to look out for would be the Thian Hock Keng temple. It's a Mazu (Sea Goddess) temple and is one of the oldest and important temple for the Hokkiens. Rebuilt in 1839.

Thian Hock Keng Temple

Next to this landmark, is Chong Wen Ge cafe. Hmm, a cafe in a temple-like structure? Instagram-ready with its beautiful tiles.

Chong Wen Ge Cafe

Directly opposite of the temple would be Royz et Vous cafe that serves decent cuppa. The cafe is spacious and serves halal-food.

Royz et Vous Cafe

interior

Mocha and Piccolo

For lunch, we had yong tau foo at Fu Lin Bar. That place would be packed by 12pm so head on down early. Otherwise, the wait for a table would be at least 20 to 30 minutes.

Fu Lin Bar

Yong Tau Foo in a hipster looking bar but with traditional signboard. Interesting. The interior had dim lightings and crowded on weekdays as the office workers nearby seemed to like this place by quite a bit.

To order, just pick your ingredients and pay at the counter. Indicate whether you'd like rice or noodles. Pay and wait. You'll be buzzed once the order is ready. Most items will be deep-fried after payment.

wait

interior

Got myself the minimum pieces (6) and the noodle was good. Doused with meat sauce and pretty Q.

Fu Lin Yong Tau Foo

If you're still feeling peckish, there's always Frankie's Peanut Pancake to fill the gap.

peanut pancake - ban chiang kueh