This is the sixth post in the Tokyo – Kyoto – Osaka series. Other posts in this series include the intro post: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, Matsugen (soba), Sushi Iwa, and Ramen Honda (Tokyo Ramen Street), and Ryugin.
The first time I ever visited Kyoto was in high school with my mom and my sister. I don’t remember too much from that trip except for a few things.
1. It cost a lot of money to visit each of the temples, so we limited ourselves to just a handful
2. There was a cool looking temple covered in gold that was worth the 500 yen entrance fee
3. We dressed up in yukata (Japanese robes) and stayed in a ryokan (Japanese traditional inn)
I had absolutely no recollection of the food.
Obviously I had to rectify that on this second trip.
In a lot of ways, Kyoto feels like a completely different world than Tokyo. Instead of the bright lights, crowded streets, and ultra-modern technology that define Tokyo, stunning Japanese gardens and beautiful temples are heart and soul of Kyoto.
It’s a zen oasis away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
This ancient city was the capital of imperial Japan for over a thousand years. It is richly full of the history that made it what it is today.
There are countless temples, shrines, and gardens to visit in Kyoto. The Japanese are meticulous about keeping these historic buildings and the surrounding grounds immaculate.
It is a pleasure to visit these beautiful, extremely well-kept grounds.
One of the most famous sites in Kyoto is Ginkaku-ji, or Temple of the Silver Pavilion. Originally built as a place for the Shogun to rest, this Zen temple is most famous for its elaborate sand gardens (pictured above) and the famous two-story temple.
Silver Pavillion
Yoshimasa, the shogun who built this temple, had intended for it to be covered in silver foil. However, due to various delays in construction (partly due to a war, among other things), Yoshimasa died without ever seeing it completed. The temple still stands today in that unfinished state.
A popular place to have lunch while visiting Ginkaku-ji is Omen, a fantastic, reasonably priced udon restaurant that is a super short walk away from the zen temple. I would recommend making a reservation, since lines can get very long during lunchtime (see photo above!).
We made reservations through our hotel. Although there was a bit of a mix-up when we first arrived (we were told after showing up that the restaurant did not take reservations), we eventually found someone who spoke better English who also was able to confirm our reservation.
Omen has all sorts of udon as well as appetizers on the menu.
We decided to start with a fun mochi appetizer, which consisted of three different kinds of mochi on a stick. My memory is starting to escape me, but I believe the one on the left was black sesame was a savory, red miso paste; the middle one was topped with white miso, and the right one was a green tea mochi with the same red miso.
We also enjoyed tiny, tiny potatoes on a toothpick as well as a maple leaf shaped rice cake.
Of course, the star of the show is the udon. You can choose warm or cold noodles, depending on the weather outside and what you feel like. All the components of an udon dish are served separately.
Separating the noodles from the soup is an especially good idea because the noodles don’t get soggy too quickly.
Roasted sesame seeds are provided along with a mortar & pestle, allowing you to grind them and add them to your soup as you like.
Their signature dish, the Omen Udon, is actually a vegetarian dish that consists of udon (warm or cold), a soy-based dipping broth, and an assortment of local, seasonal Kyoto vegetables that are either boiled or pickled. On my plate, I had boiled eggplant, scallions, Japanese ginger, ginger, cabbage, daikon, and burdock (gobo).
Bryan ordered a Roasted Duck Udon, which came with three slices of perfectly cooked duck as well as a hot soy based broth filled with scallions (see above picture). The flavors were fine, though this one did not particularly stand out.
My personal favorite broth of the night came with an autumn special, Matsutake, a gorgeously fragrant mushroom that is only available in the fall. Because matsutake mushrooms are so expensive, this bowl was significantly more expensive than all the other dishes (closer to $30 versus the others, which were in the $12 – $15 range).
Oh but it was so worth it.
Looking back at all the ways in which I enjoyed matsutake mushrooms during our trip, I think this particular preparation was one of my favorites. It really brought out the umami and richness of the matsutake mushroom flavors into the broth. I felt like I was making the most of the mushrooms by enjoying their delicious flavors continually with each spoonful of soup.
My friend ordered the Tempura Udon which came with a side of vegetable and shrimp tempura. It was good, but again nothing particularly over the top compared to top tempura places. Of course, the noodles themselves were still fantastic.
All in all, we had a fantastic meal at Omen and the total bill was quite reasonable. I think we spent around $85 for a party of four, which isn’t too bad considering the quality of the food, the fun ambiance, and the proximity to one of the biggest tourist sites in Kyoto.
It’s not a surprise at all that this place is so popular.
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B, I like your polka dot shirt 🙂
Also, so udon isn’t a thick round noodle?
It doesn’t have to be! 🙂
I have never been to Japan (hopefully soon), but Omen Udon has a restaurant under the same name in NYC, which I had been to a couple of years ago and enjoyed very much. You should check it out and compare the two – I’m curious 🙂
Oh this sounds like such a fun reason to go to Vegas! We loved the food a few years back when we visited! My idea for the future? I’d love to see a gadget on your nightstand that refills your water glass. I HATE tucking into bed and realizing I don’t have any water next to me. Having to get up and go to the kitchen is the worse ever, ha! Maybe like a nightstand with a water addition thingy? That’s my dream.
What an awesome show! I’d love a refrigerator that can take inventory of what I have in there and how much of it. Then it could email/text me a list of things I need to buy (milk, eggs, juice, etc).
Love all the new features that connect with social media, they sound like a great convenience for people on the go
The most positive thing I can do for the future of my home is weather proof the windows and make it more energy efficient.
I want each appliance to be able to remind me of something when I’m in the room – if I’m in the kitchen, the dishwasher would alert me that the load was never run and I should start it now. When I’m near the laundry room, I want the washing machine to remind me that there’s a load ready to go in the dryer. Just some examples, but the possibilities are endless!
I want to see a washing machine that can sense the chemical and physical nature of every cloth we put in and alert us of especially color runs, shrinking clothes, etc. How many washing disasters can we avert if our washing machine was smart!
Tweeted!
https://twitter.com/Bless_Eliz/status/418859134952288256
My idea for the future of my home is to have one command center where I can program all of the machines in my house to run at a certain time (clothes/dishes washers & dryers, vacuum), and put everything away when they are done!
kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom
tweet
https://twitter.com/Kellydinpa/status/418878030065303552
kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom
I would love to see a range with a built in tablet so I can access recipes
Just one idea is for the dishwasher to say load or done. I forget to check and wind up having an over load.
http://twitter.com/mendyd/status/418920392603226112
I would love to have a kitchen with innovative appliances that use very little energy. I would also love to have a self cleaning kitchen sink
elena150980 at yahoo dot com
This sounds like a lot of fun. I’d love a refrigerator that is not only self cleaning but lets me know when I’m about to run out of items and when a food is about to expire.
s2s2 at comcast dot net
https://twitter.com/susan1215/status/419305597389910016
s2s2 at comcast dot net
Something like a smart oven to sense when something is boiling over would be great
My idea for the future of my home: I would actually like to own a home of my own, firstly, and if I did have a home, I would want solar panels on the roof, and all energy-saving appliances in the kitchen, laundry room, sensor faucets throughout, excellent venting system over the gas range, and a nice open layout that makes moving around in the house, a breeze 🙂
jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com
my 2nd entry tweet https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/419438476447084544
jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com
My idea for a WONDERFUL kitchen would be for appliances to have energy efficient and efficient usage of space! thanks for a chance to win! kmassman gmail
https://twitter.com/kmassman/status/419576641652670464 thanks for the 2nd entry kmassman gmail
I think for the future, it would be great to have my on line recipe
right at my finger tips in an easily accessed area. Maybe a screen
right on my refrigerator since for me, that is right in the middle of my
cooking area. Right now I use my iPhone and have to constantly keep
pushing the home button when it goes black while I stir, or boil, etc.
nuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net
tweeted: https://twitter.com/KerryBishop/status/419623249647910912
nuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net
I would love to have an in-home dry-cleaning machine that is energy-efficient, user-friendly, and comparable in size to a washer or dryer. Plus it’ll save on dry-cleaning bills and trips to the cleaners!
Tweeted for a second entry
https://twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/419659054848299009
mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
We recently
moved into our new home and I have so many ideas for it including knocked down
a wall between the kitchen and dining room, removing the current center island
and replacing it with something more function, replacing the microwave and
obtaining a larger freezer!
mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
I love the interactive cooktop! It would be my dream come true to have this in my kitchen in the future, some day. Hope that won’t be long. And the wonderful design for the washer and dryer are just awesome! Thanks for the review. Wish I could be in the CES show myself!
amy [at] utry [dot] it
tweeted:
https://twitter.com/uTry_it/status/419719470702006273
amy [at] utry [dot] it
My dream is to have my kitchen done up in red with retro-esque decor and appliances. 🙂
I would love for there to be new carpeting. I would love for the bathrooms that have been in a state of renovation to be completed. I would love for a new dishwasher.
My idea for the future of my home is to purchase new appliances and home systems as often as possible and afforded in order to take advantage of new technology and efficiency.
Here is my tweet entry: https://twitter.com/gigstarr/status/419888385453334529
My idea is a meal planner device built in to the exterior of the refrigerator which would suggest various meals based on the inventory of the food contents stored inside.
A device built in to the exterior of the refrigerator that would suggest various meal ideas based on the food inventory stored inside.
I love the interactive stove top. I would love to own one.
https://twitter.com/SxyBrt/status/419900465157906432
I’d love to have machines to do all the work.
Since my future home probably will not clean itself I would want appliance that help me get things done.
https://twitter.com/tweetyscute/status/419913309769699328
My future kitchen would be 3 times bigger with a ton of counter space and nice appliances!
I’d love a computer screen in my kitchen, right above the counters. This would be great for reviewing recipes for when I’m cooking.