Off to Kyoto: Ichiba Coji and London-Ya

Our final night together in Tokyo walking around Golden Gai was a really cool experience. Now it was time to head to our next destination, Kyoto!

We lined up to buy tickets for non-reserved seats to Kyoto on the Shinkansen (bullet train). A one-way ticket costs around $120. With our tickets in hand we looked for a quick bite to eat. My sister went to a vegan ramen place and I picked up something to eat for the train ride.

All the to-go meals and sushi sets looked really good.

It was time to catch our train to Kyoto! So if you have a non-reserved seat, you must look for available seats in cars that are for non-reserved passengers. We ended up sitting in reserved seats a couple times before realizing which cars to go to. Oops!

On the way, there was a lovely view of Mount Fuji in the distance. Nice!

I had my salmon slices over rice with a piece of tamago (egg omelet). It was super tasty and fresh.

With the bullet trains reaching speeds of up to 200mph, the ride from Tokyo to Kyoto only took about two hours.

Hello, Kyoto! We took a cab to the Hotel Grand Bach. Named after the German composer, it’s a nice elegant hotel located in Kyoto’s most bustling intersection of Shijo and Kawaramachi.

We dropped off our stuff in the room and headed to the Teramachi Street Shopping District nearby.

I decided to try a restaurant located down a flight of stairs near the entrance of the shopping street, Ichiba Coji.

I was seated at the counter overlooking the large kitchen. They had all types of meal sets.

I ordered the Wagyu Thigh Steak Obanzai Plate.

The set included an assortment of small cold plates, tofu, mixed grain rice, miso soup, and fries.

For around $15, it was a great deal. You also get free refills on the tofu and rice.

The steak was cooked medium rare and was fairly tender. Not bad at all.

Afterwards, I walked long the shopping street for a bit before meeting my sister. Something caught my eye and I had to stop to check it out. It was London-Ya where you can watch a machine make London-yaki – small Japanese pound cakes filled with white bean paste.

Of course I had to try one. They’re only 50 cents a piece. It was fresh off the machine and still warm. Yum.

Lunch and my little snack were good. We walked around the shopping street a bit more before going back to the hotel to get ready for the night ahead. We were going to learn about a traditional Tea Ceremony, then have dinner with a Maiko!

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Hotel Grand Bach Kyoto Select
363, Naramono-cho, Shijo Teramachi Nishiiri
Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, Japan 600-8004
+81 75-221-2211
Website

Ichiba Coji
283 Empukujimaecho, Teramachidori Nishikikoji-agaru
B1F With You Building
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan 604-8045
+81 75-858-8008

London-Ya
565 Nakanomachi, Sinkyogoku Shijo-dori Agaru,
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan 604-8042
+81 75-221-3248