Kyoto Diet

We asked Matsui-san, our driver and tour guide, to join us for lunch at the Chinese restaurant at the Kyoto Brighton Hotel. Andy and I had the One Plate Lunch featuring fried rice with beef, mackerel, salad, and soup. We were quite hungry after touring the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) and Kitano Tenmangu (Ume Plum Trees).

We ended the day at Ikumatsu on the personal recommendation of Hiroyuki Kato. Ikumatsu is over 100 years old and beautifully decorated. You walk down a short pathway between buildings with stone steps and bonsai trees. After removing your shoes you cross a wonderful clear stream with koi and enter a private dining room. Our menu accompanied by Sapporo beer, Saki, and Chardonnay was:

Aperitif:
Unrefined Saka

Sakitzuka (Appetizer):
Sweetfish with Japanese apricot

Hassun (Food from mountains and sea):
Grilled ground Japanese conger with Japanese pepper, Rolled salmon with Canola, Soy sauce with Citrus fruits and child fish, Buds of Japanese angelica, Ume jam, Ocellated octopus, Bracken

Mukozuke:
Tuna, Horse Mackerel, Sea bream

Suimono (soup):
Kudzu, Shiitake mushroom, small turnip, carrot, Yuzu

Yakimono (Grilled Dishes):
Fried Spanish Mackerel marinated in seasoned vinegar, Pond Smelt, Fresh ginger pickled in sweet vinegar, cooked yuzu

Takiawase (assorted simmered foods):
Salted Pollack roe boiled down with soy sauce and mirin, Bamboo shoot, Butterbur, Leaf bud of Japanese pepper

Kobachi (small dishes):
Bean tofu skin, raw sea urchin, Okura

Sunomono (dishes with vinegar):
Crab, Egg cockie, cucumber, Tosaka Laver, Mioga ginger

Atojiru (Soup):
Water shield, bean tofu skin, Japanese hornwort, Miso paste

Gohan (Steamed Rice):
Small fish rice with Japanese pepper
Mizumono (Dessert):
Orange wedges, strawberries