Kyoto Trip Winter 2018 Day 1: Nishiki Market (Daytime)

After a few years, since I've updated this blog, I went back to Japan for another trip to Kyoto and Tokyo. I traveled with a different bunch this time but we pretty much did the same itinerary like back in 2016.

We landed in Tokyo on Dec 20th, booked into the Shinagawa Prince Hotel which was just 5 mins away from the Shinagawa station. The following day, we headed to Kyoto via the bullet train. It was a smooth and breezy experience, though it was already crowded on the train and the station itself.

It was already afternoon when we arrived in Kyoto and after checking into our hotel in Kyoto - the Sanjyo Takakura Hibiki - we headed straight to Nishiki Market, which was just a 5-10 mins walk. 

Coming back to Nishiki Market was a surreal experience. I was almost ready to just expect the same as what I had seen back in 2016 but there were slight differences plus new shops that I didn't see before.

As you can see, we headed straight to the soy milk donuts and koroke (soy milk croquettes) shop.

Both the soy milk donuts and creamy koroke were excellent as always and freshly fried. We came back for more on our last day in Kyoto just to be sure they still tasted the same ;). At this point though, we were ravenous, so we decided to just sit down somewhere and have a proper meal. We dined at a tempura and tamagoyaki joint in the market (Tempura Sakaba Taneshichi). 

Tempura set with tamagoyaki

The star of the show for me was the tamagoyaki - very creamy and not too sweet but still with strong dashi flavor. The tempura don itself was not too shabby either, with the sweet sauce drizzled on top, it was just right texture and not soggy. What I also loved and missed in a lot of Japanese restaurants in Melbourne was that plate of pickles that you eat with your rice (assuming you still have some leftover).

After our meal, we walked up and down the market, mostly shopping and taste testing. It was still delightful to see so much food on display and there was a wonderful feeling of curiosity brimming just from the sights, sounds and smells of the market. We did try a few more things including flavored/coated nuts, warabi mochi, pickles and some spices. 

Although we didnt' spend a long time there, I was still amazed with the variety of fresh, fermented, dried, marinated, pickled and cooked treats in this single market, appropriately called as Kyoto's Kitchen.