Of course no trip to Kyoto would be complete for me without a visit to Nishiki Market known as “Kyotos Kitchen.” A narrow street located just off the Teramachi Shopping Arcade, not far from Kawaramachi where I was staying. It dates back as far as 1310 and was originally a wholesale fish market, these days the street is lined with all manner of stalls selling everything from pickled vegetables to dried fish and snacks.
I had been really excited about eating in Gion however when it came to it, all the restaurants were either packed full of tourists or serving dishes like Shabu Shabu or Sukiyaki which I didn’t really feel like. In the end I found an unassuming little restaurant on a side street which seemed off the tourist track for the most part and so decided I would eat there. The menu was written on the walls in Japanese and some dishes were also described in English although for the most part, I ordered by pointing at things on the menu that were in the right price bracket for me. I ended up with a piece of Fried Lotus Root, some Pumpkin, A Shrimp and Cuttlefish as well as some Edamame and a beer (that was one phrase i knew before I went to Japan “Nama Biru Onemashigasu”!!) It wasn’t long before a couple from London came and took the seats at the bar next to me and we got chatting about their trip to Japan and what I should do on my last day in Kyoto. They recommended that I should make my way to the Fushimi Inari Shrine which had been on my list but I was torn between visiting there and Kinkakuji Temple and I hadn’t quite decided which I would do until that point. Talk turned into several extremely large Sakes and we had an extremely entertaining night in this tiny little restaurant along with the local who humoured us admirably as you can see from my photos!
A British Girl Abroad 