Japan in July

Day 2 in Kobe

We spent the second day tootling around Kobe and went up a cable car to a herb farm which was not terrifically interesting. It had a lovely view at a cafe in which one was not able to drink beer or indeed, anything, which marred it a bit for me.

Kobe has a lovely feel to it, very European really and the people seem very worldly. We went down to Harbourtown which is right on the bay. Kobe port is the 41st largest container port in the world which comes in just ahead of Melbourne at 47.

There are a remarkable number of patisseries in the town. I was looking for a particular one called Le Dimanche which has a great reputation. But alas, we were defeated and headed back to the hotel.

This is down at the port:

And we finished the day with another Kobe beef meal:

Okonomiyake

Alex likes a substantial meal. Who doesn't? However, during his work trip he had been eating a lot of very fancy meals of kaiseki which is Japanese haute cuisine and extremely amazing but also rather modest in portions (probably because it is INCREDIBLY expensive). We decided to find something more hearty for him and opted for okonomiyake.

We found a recommendation in Jess' Lonely Planet and set out optimistically to the cab rank. When we explained to the taxi driver where we wanted to go, he was completely non-plussed. I really pushed the limits of my nascent Japanese and managed to explain that it was a restaurant and showed him where it was on the map of Hiroshima. He even tried phoning them but the number in the guide seemed to be wrong.

So I then rocked out a bit of "Where would you recommend for okonomiyake?" and he took us to presumably his favourite place and said it was number one (Ichiban!) so we walked up to the door with enthusiasm. There was quite a lot of people outside and I asked them whether they were waiting and they said "kekko" which is a terrifically useful word which means something like "not necessary" so we hunkered down and it wasn't long until a guy came out and gave us an English menu and shepherded us into a waiting area. If there's one thing Japanese restaurants know, it's how to make you feel like your waiting is GOING somewhere.

We chose a veritable feast from the menu including edamame, a spring onion pancake for appetizer and a version of okonomiyake each. Three of us chose the "Most popular" which was basically "with the lot" and Jess chose the corn and bacon version. The menu indicated that all versions except Jess' came with pork and bonito flakes but not Jess' because hers had bacon.

The chefs cooked on a hotplate in the restaurant so we could see what they were doing. The food was fantastic and Alex was a happy man.

Kyoto - final night at ZuZu

For our final night in Kyoto, we went to a fantastic izakaya in the Pontocho area called ZuZu. Outside it looked alarmingly kitschy and touristy. When they said it would be a 10 to 20 minute wait, we were a little uncertain whether it would be worth it but we popped into one of the hundreds of nearby bars and had a cocktail before making our way back.

When we returned, there was still no table available and the waiter blushed bright red and bowed lower than I've seen anyone else bow so we felt compelled to wait. Happily, inside it was actually a lovely izakaya and had absolutely fantastic food. We had Korean pancakes, fried chicken, tempura, and slow cooked pork ribs. We also had this fantastic Japanese apricot brandy type drink which I wish I had managed to get the name for (I just pointed to the kanji on the menu and crossed my fingers)!

If you are looking for it, it's very hard to describe where it is. Basically the Pontocho is one long street of bars and restaurants. It is on the main part of Pontocho. If you are coming from the end of the Pontocho with big gates, you need to keep walking until you hit a small park - it's a little way past there on your left.

Thursday Night at Bamboo Bar

Tonight we went to dinner at Bamboo which is an izakaya which was absolutely BRILLIANT. Izakaya is like Japanese tapas and you get a whole lot of small dishes. We ordered “chef’s choice” and they brought amazing sashimi, some tofu and bacon salad, some cook at the table Wagyu beef and a range of other delightful treats. We also had some Shocho which is a sort of Japanese vodka. They served it with grapefruit juice which was great.

This is a terrible photo but I highly recommend the bar. It was tops. Click here for details of location etc.