Fushimi Inari Taisha is accessible via train, and just a few minutes walk away from the station. This was one of the most beautiful and memorable sights of Kyoto and definitely not to be missed, even if time is short.
Comprising hundreds of orange-red shrine posts, painstakingly mounted one after the other, it's hard to take a bad picture of this beauty. The trick of course, is having to wait for a moment where there is no one standing in the picture. A scene in Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed here too.
 |
| Fushimi Inari |
Kid alert: Surprisingly, this place is not difficult with a child. Yes, it is a mountain (maybe more of a hill), and there are steps. But these are very gradual and almost hard to notice as you're busy admiring or photographing the site. You also don't need to climb all the way up unless you feel like it (since it's one orange pole after the other).
The city of Uji is a 20-minute train ride away from Inari on the JR line. The main heritage site there is Byodoin Temple, but for us, the green tea cafes were the main draw while the temple was more of a by-the-way.
 |
| Byodoin |
Once in the temple compound, there is a nice flower garden and landscaped pond which makes the site worth visiting. On the road to Byodoin, you will see tons of green tea shops lining both sides of the road, with the smell of roasted tea in the air. The most famous ones are Nakamura Tokichi (there are two - both with shops and cafes - on that road) and Itoh Kyuemon (the Byodoin branch only has a shop, while the main one near the Keihan station has a shop and cafe). Be prepared to wait for long if you want to eat at the cafe!
Kid alert: Byodoin Temple is about a 15 to 20-minute walk from the JR station. It's even further if you approach from the Keihan station.
After Byodoin, we made our way to the Itoh Kyuemon main outlet (shop + cafe), which is a 15-minute walk, over the bridge near to the Keihan station.
Kid alert: Do not expect much options for mains here - there were only three when we went (hot chasoba, another hot version with some fish, and cold chasoba). The desserts are its main highlight, especially the green tea parfait. Be prepared to wait for long, once again, but you can while away the time by shopping for green tea products (Itoh Kyuemon special edition Kit Kat, daifuku / mochi, cheesecake, Swiss roll, langue de chat biscuits, puddings, and lots more). It's VAT-free for tourists. Itoh Kyuemon was in Singapore briefly for the Rakuten Japan Gourmet Festival.
By the way, there is also an Itoh Kyuemon shop (no cafe) opposite the Kyoto Station. Nakamura Tokichi (shop and cafe) is also in the Kyoto Station Suvaco shopping mall. The queues for Nakamura Tokichi cafe are not any shorter than those at Byodoin.
 |
| Itoh Kyuemon |
After that, we made our way back to Kyoto to rest as we were going to have kaiseki for dinner!
We chose Kiyamachi Sakuragawa for our first taste of kaiseki in Kyoto as it was just a 3 or 5-minute walk from the hotel. We had asked the hotel concierge to make a reservation for us the day before, and also as part of a kid alert, this is what we would recommend on "how to ace a kaiseki with a toddler in tow":
1. Have the hotel call up to reserve unless you speak fluent Japanese
2. The restaurant will usually ask you to set a budget in advance. In Sakuragawa's case, they had a 10,000 yen and 15,000 yen menu to choose from
3. Ask if the restaurant can accept kids. Sakuragawa said yes, but they do not have a children's menu. They said that the child can share from the parents' meal, meaning we only had to pay for 2 adults set meal. Great!
4. There are unlikely to be high chairs. Sakuragawa has about 10 counter seats (which are high chairs, you could say) and one private room with four chairs. They kindly said they could provide cushions to elevate the child, though in the end, ours was tall enough so it was ok.
5. If your child is picky with food, go somewhere else to fill his tummy first before going to have the adults' kaiseki. Kaiseki takes about 2 hours (about 9 courses), so the kid has to eat before, or eat at the kaiseki. Thankfully, ours is not fussy with food and he liked the green tea tofu, tempura, shrimp rice, fried fish, salmon and soup.
We had a really good time at Sakuragawa. The food was very creative and delicious, and the manager and chef could speak some English to explain what the dishes were.
 |
| Kaiseki at Kiyamachi Sakuragawa |
When the hotel concierge called up for a reservation, they said they only had counter seats left, which we thought was okay. But when we got there, the nice lady manager showed us to a private room for four, which was even better considering that it was a two-hour affair and the counter seats were full with Japanese businessmen anyway.
All in all, we enjoyed our first Kyoto kaiseki very much, thanks to Sakuragawa. It's also located on a very atmospheric street, which made for a lovely pre- and post-dinner walk. Highly recommended!
The complete itinerary:
Day 1: Osaka (Kuromon Market, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori)
Day 2: Osaka (Shitennoji, Sumiyoshi Taisha)
Day 3: Kobe, Himeji (Himeji Castle, Mount Rokko, Harbourland)
Day 4: Nara (Todaiji, Kohfukuji, Nara Park)
Day 5: Kyoto (Arashiyama, Tenryuji, Bamboo Grove, Kinkakuji)
Day 6: Kyoto (Kiyomizudera, Sannenzakai, Ninenzakai, Ishibe Koji, Maruyama Park, Shoren-in, Chion-in, Nanzenji, Path of Philosophy, Ginkakuji)
Day 7: Inari, Uji (Fushimi Inari Taisha, Byodoin Temple, Kaiseki)
Day 8 & 9: Kyoto (Nijo Castle, Kyoto Station, Pontocho, Gion)
No comments:
Post a Comment