It was our last night in Kyoto and we wanted somewhere near to our hotel to eat having walked 16000 steps around Nara during the day.
We walked out and were stood consulting checking our map when we were approached by a young American/Japanese student who asked what we were looking for. He suggested a French restaurant directly opposite which we’d not spotted, but then suggested a Japanese restaurant five minutes away which he offered to take us to. Now in most countries, alarm bells would ring and you’d be highly suspicious – but in Japan you just go with the flow as the people are so incredibly helpful and friendly.
“Japonica Dining Bar and Cafe”:http://www.japonica-cafe.com turned out to be an very informal, causal basement café but the service was very good. We sat at a plain wooden table and started with pate and bread before sharing chicken in a sweet chilli sauce and a stir fried pork dish with vegetables.
All were excellent but as portions were not huge, we thought a cheese plate to share would be ideal. It took ages to arrive and when it did, it contained three of the most miniscule pieces of cheese ever seen on a cheeseboard. However we carefully cut each one into four and had a crumb of each. To be fair they were strong and full of flavour but a slightly bigger portion would have been nice.
The white and red wine was good and the usual ¥3,000. Craft beers were also available but not sampled.
