草喰 なかひがし(Soujiki Nakahigashi)
Soujiki literally means “eating glass”. The owner chef spends 2,3 hours every morning picking wild grass and turnｓ them into wonderful cuisine. My friend told me this is the kind of food that Japanese eat in the past. Somehow I have two serious friends who carried a wild grass dictionary with them and studied it while they ate….Reservation is nearly impossible. My friend’s mom helped to call one month in advance, on the first day of the month starting from 8am…and apparently she kept phoning non-stop for 30 mins until finally she got through the line. It is that crazy.
【前菜】
赤かぶと干柿ときんかんの椿仕立て
いざさ（びわ湖で取れたもの）の炊いたん
さといもとそら豆の白玉
ブロッコリー
甘草
天仁
鹿肉ののり巻き
はまぐりのおこわ
“Camellia” made from red turnip, dried persimmon, kinkan(orange), venison seaweed roll. Close-up of the clam rice.
【口取り】
ふきのとうの白和え、芽の出たつくしを添えて
【お椀】
海老芋と田ぜりの白味噌汁
Fukinoto shiraae(tofu dressing).
Ebiimo and parsley miso soup.
【焼き物】
岩魚塩焼き、のびる酢添え
【刺身】
こいのおつくりと皮
にんじんのわかめ巻き
辛味大根のすりおろし、たんぽぽ、菜の花
おらんだがらし、わさび菜、こいのあらいの煮こごり
Grilled Iwana fish.
Koi(carp) sashimi and skin.
Carrot rolled in wakame.
Radish, dandelion, nanohana.
Watercress, wasabi leaf, koi nikogori(gelatin from cooked fish).
【炊き合わせ】
めかじ、たけの子、ゆば、かに
はたけ菜の煮びたし
Bamboo shoot, yuba, crab etc.
Hatakena.
【おつけもの】
大根、赤かぶ、黄人参、菜の花、昆布
【ご飯】
おくどさんで炊いたご飯
堀川ごぼうのひげ根と人参のごま和え
ねぎみそ
めざしの丸干し
Pickles. Rice.
Burdock root and carrot with sesame.
Leek and miso.
Mezashi(salted dried sardine).
【水菓子】
上賀茂の朝どりいちご
ぶんたん
きなこアイス
Fresh picked strawberry, buntan, and soybean flour.
Lunch course is 5000yen. All the veggy and the grass and the flowers have a kind of natural bitterness, but it is not unpleasant. In fact the bitterness is the good part.
銀閣寺(Ginkaku-ji)
南禅寺(Nanzen-ji Zen Temple)
祇園小石(Gion Koishi)
Famous Kyoto candy shop.
抹茶クリームあんみつ、￥８１０。
Matcha cream anmitsu. Matcha ice-cream is very nice~
黒糖シフォンパフェ、￥９５０。
あめやさんのキャラメルあんみつ、￥８４０
Kokutou(black sugar) chiffon parfait. Kokutou is this shop’s specialty.
Caramel anmitsu.
As souvenir I got this. The kokutou one is super yummy.
瓢亭MARU(Hyoutei Maru)
This is a casual branch of an expensive washoku restaurant.
Part of the menu(J): 1, 2.
暖かキノコと京菜のサラダ。
牛の梅しそ焼。
Warm mushroom and kyona(mizuna) salad. This is good.
Grilled beef with ume and shiso.
カンパチかま塩焼き。
まる鍋（すっぽん）。
Grilled yellowtail(kanpachi) cheek. Fatty and juicy.
Maru-nabe(Turtle hotpot). The soup is nice.
竹の子ご飯。
ぐじ（甘鯛）塩焼き。
Bamboo shoot rice.
Grilled amadai(bream). This one is expensive but a bit normal.
All these food plus 3 drinks, 7700yen. The food is quite izakaya feel. Slightly expensive perhaps.
Patisserie au Grenier D’or (パティスリー オ・グルニエ・ドール)
The cafe space is very cute but too bad we didn’t have time to eat-in. We bought two cakes and ate in the hotel room. Both are very good!
わわわー 京都に行きたくなりました！
Kyoto!!! The wild grass meal looks enticing, but funny that some of the “things back when people were poor” become trendy and $$$ stuffs today X-D Really want to eat that anmitsu~~~
RP>
In the past you have get up first thing in the morning and go to the mountain and pick the grass yourself, but nowadays you just have to pick up the phone and book…^^;;;(though in this case booking is not easy too…)
湯さん＞
私も写真アップしたり書いたりすると、
また京都に行きたくなりました！
These all look wonderful! Ginkaku-ji looks beautiful~ Just as I thought you seems to have the restrain to focus on traditional Japanese food and not try any of the french there…the last dessert one..haha! ^^;; Is it touristy there unless you know where to reserve?
The grass course menu is so beautiful, how they elevate peasant survival food to delicacies~
Oh definitely should focus on washoku in Kyoto~~ French is better in Tokyo I think. Kyoto is of course touristy. Not only foreigners but also Japanese tourists. The friend who drove us around for one day actually comes from Kyoto but she hasn’t been to any of the restaurants we booked. ^^;;;