Lunch, Tuesday 12 February 2008

Koanosuke Thai cafe, second floor of the building where Peace Cafe used to be, Western side of Higashi-oji at Hyakumanben.

Green curry level four spice (spiciness can be ramped up or down)
with extra bits (+50 yen)
and Chai afterwards (+150 yen)

Spicier than expected, tasty green curry. Vegetarians ok, as contains nothing but vegtables and frozen potato wedges, that may contain meat. I like the potato wedges because they remind me of that lyric for the ages (with thanks to Mr White): I got a backyard with nothing in it, except a stick, a dog and a box with something in it.


Basic curry: 680 yen
extras 100 - 200 yen.

Tea, Monday 11 February 2008

Cafe Sua, near joufuku-ji, Senbon-ichijouji.

Machiya, not sure of time period, Showa by default. Converted to cafe-ness, but wonderfully not prettied up. Bare pine plank for a table. Tatami bar.



Thai and Vietnamese food menu, ~850 yen lunches, Dinner courses from 2000 yen. Just tea today. Bitter milky chai 500 yen.

Dinner, Saturday 9 February 2008

Chinese place on the east side of higashi-oji dori between the railway line and mikage-dori

Suitably filthy noodle den with hunched, jacketed types reading comics. Ramen noodles aren't eaten with a spoon, so it would be incorrect to call it a greasy spoon, and in any case why single out spoons when it could equally be called a greasy wall or a sticky counter?

More or less the same, then, as every other grotty chive-reeker in the country. Except that the moment I walked in the man in the ghetto-blaster (greasy) on the counter knew, just knew, it was time to put on Beat it and then Billy Jean in a row. At which point the roof opened to let in a disco ball and let out the fireworks, the windows divested themselves of their muck and threw it up in a fog of disco steam, and the overcoats box-stepped their way in formation across the counter. Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it precisely one bonus point for you, greasy noodle lady.

Chashumen 550 yen.

(Late) Lunch, Saturday 9 February 2008

Cafe Sora / Dog Salon Wonderful. Nishi Oji-dori, south of Kinkakuji, Kyoto.

May be the best prog rock song title ever. Even better, it's literal. Through the second, interior door for depraved canine experiments with ribbons. Left for small-ish bossa nova-ish cafe. Daringly, no bossa-nova music. Comfy couches. Nice warm timber floor we flooded with melting snow from damp shoes.

Atsuko complained her waffles weren't hot enough. Victor liked his Curry Gratan.

Miso stew with Kyoto vegetables and yuba (the skin they take off the top of the vats when they make tofu)
Came with yuzu-kosho (citron flavoured pepper sauce). Hot but tangerine-y and apparently a Kyoto specialty. Never heard of it before. Resolution: Eat more yuzu-kosho.

1200 yen. + coffee 210 yen.

Dinner, Friday 8 February 2008

Daitoryu yakiniku, Takahara-dori, Sakyo, Kyoto

Pig tongue
Thin pork strips
Beef pieces
Chijimi
Pig stomach
Fried rice
Fried noodles

Cooked on the grill in the middle of the table (except the chijimi)

Two people, with two drinks each, 6000 yen

Dinner, Thursday 7 February 2007

Dragonfly cafe, Shinsaibashi, Osaka

Non-smoking cafe. In Osaka. Osaka, Japan. Non-smoking. No, really, no smoking. Not even a little bit. Not even lights. Or milds.

Basil pasta - expected bog standard genovese, but the basil is in the pasta, not the sauce. Bright green. They should give this to kids who don't eat pasta. What kid doesn't eat pasta? They should grind up vegetables that kids don't eat and put them into pasta. Especially the colourful ones.

Since the basil was in the pasta, they couldn't very well use basil as a garnish as well, so instead they used.... Bacon. Bacon, the universal condiment, as the Chinese have known for 5000 years. Why didn't they bring that piece of wisdom back from the east when they were busy carving it up? What the hell were you at, Marco Polo? Where was your head, Francis Xavier?

Run by a nice Swiss chap who gives French lessons if you ask, and may also be a DJ (rumour not confirmed.) DJ events on weekends, apparently, and occasional exhibitions. Current exhibition was of not-especially-interesting photos of Kyoto and Nagasaki. Not bad, just not interesting. The sort of photos they use as ads in train stations. Unfortunately deserted on Thursday night. Deserves more people, since:

1> non-smoking
2> understands the place of Bacon on top of every meal

Bacon on a bed of green pasta, one beer, one coffee, 1090 yen. (Any drink is yours for 100 yen with a meal)
Coffee came with actual milk instead of that UHT anti-freeze you usually get.