Burnt soy ramen@Goygo, Kyoto

We stumbled upon Gogyo during a stroll at Nishiki market. The top foodie choice in Kyoto voted by Tripadvisor. I was in luck! The heavy rain shoo-ed away hungry patrons. Apparently the queue is usually long on normal days.

We immediately got a nice spot to sit by the window facing an inner garden. It is also useful to know that the waiters speak a little bit of basic english.

We dashed right into ordering Gogyo's trademark ramen. Cooked with burnt soy gravy.

Honest opinion, looking at it at first glance..the ramen did look rather unappetizing because of its black soup colour.

Taste wise took some getting used too as well. The burnt taste was rather pungent, the first few scoops really hit right to your cerebral. But after awhile, it morphed into deliciousness! This style of ramen cooking is definitely a first for me. Ill never find it in Malaysia.

The gyoza however... no words could describe how amazingly yummy it was. The size of each gyoza was actually small...about  3-4cm length. It may not look special in the picture, but it was definitely super duper special.

The skin was so soft it melted in your mouth the moment you put it in. The minced meat was super fine and tender that they melted along with the outer skin. Sniffs. It almost made me shed a tear eating it.

What else can you ask for? Seeing that your ramens are being cooked by dashing looking young japanese men all sweaty and spinning away the wok and pan behind the hot stove. :)

Best tonkatsu ever@Katsukura, Cube restaurants, Isetan Kyoto

This restaurant was highly recommended both in Tripadvisor and food blogs. On our final night in this beautiful city, the gang did their final shopping at Isetan.

While the rest did their shopping, myself and another colleague hurried to look for a place to dine. I was thrilled to bump into Katsukura here but a little less thrilled when I saw the long queue outside. The agony of waiting for an hour before my turn came was all worth it.

The tonkatsu was. the best I ever ate. We were told to grind our own sesame seeds with a wooden pastel and mortar, before pouring in the sauces.

The pork cutlets were lean, juicy, tender and you could see that not a single layer of batter was seen. It was all porky goodes and thinly coated bread crumbs fried to perfection. Each bite was unforgettable.

The set came with a prawn as well..and a gigantic one too! The length was easily 12 - 15 cm. In fact, by having the prawn alone was already filling.

Unforgettable experience... I have no other words to describe this. Each set cost about 1700 yen.

Crap..my standard for a good tonkatsu has leveled up. I have yet to try one this good in klang valley.Oh no.......

 

Green tea overdose@streets of Kyoto

The city is filled with all things green tea. Green tea cakes, green tea biscuits, green tea ice cream, green tea bread, green tea mochi, green tea chocolates etc. This crazed fame is likelyhood induced by tourists as we had meals in several old skool japanese restaurants and they do not serve hot oocha. They have oolong instead. Hmmm?

Anyway since we were foreigners in this land, we joined in the crazed fame of trying all things green.

Green tea cream puff was yums! The puff was made of cinammon and do not be fooled by the big puff. In fact it is very hollow in the middle and filled with creamy fully green tea custard cream. They were so generous with the cream that one bite, the cream just oozes out.

A puff you don't wanna eat in front of your cute first date.

Another rolled layer cake but mixed with a butter flavoured layer in the middle. This wa average, no where near the Fa Baum's green tea cake.

More green tea stuffs to come... Green with Happy Envy!

Grilled pork burger@McDs, Kyoto

This was the best pork burger I ever had from a fast food joint. McDs porkie grilled burger.

The size of the burger is as displayed on the illustration. Unlike ours in Malaysia where the burgers are shrunk.

The pork patty was juicy, drizzled over teriyaki sauce. Even the egg was thick and fluffy!

Awh... worth every penny! 660 yen per set meal

Greentea layer bliss@Fu Baum, Kyoto

I was recently at Kyoto for a meeting and this city proved to be a city of gastromonic adventure as well!

Came across this shop by chance and the baker was in action at the front side of the bakery. The cake batter was rolled on a long thick metal roller pin and baked to yummy perfection.

There are two flavours, butter or green tea. I chose the green tea.

Each layer falls off nicely with each bite and you can taste the sweetened thin sugared coating which holds the layers together. Skillful!

The bitter after taste of the green tea leaf lingers in your mouth after eating.

Each cake cost 1155Yen. Pretty pricey but it was all worth it knowing I might not eat this ever again. A must try in Kyoto!