Third World Gourmet: November 2008

Yata is easily the best restaurant I have been to - to date. Yata is in the Gion area of Kyoto, and was recommended to us by a good friend of Toshi. We first went there around three years ago and now try and go back every time that we are in Japan. What makes Yata so special is of course the incredible ingredients, the quality of the food, the beautiful interior, the service and the fantastic location, but there is something else too, something romantic and traditional, which makes me feel like I am transported back in time to a Kyoto of hundreds of years ago. I feel so lucky that through Toshi I have access to so many places in Japan, to which I would not have access to if I were on my own.

Kyoto

This time we went to Yata in autumn, the season for saba (mackerel) and ginnan (gingko nuts), which Toshi and I love. Toshi's favorite is saba zushi (pickled mackerel sushi) and he reckons Yata do it best.

saba zushi

ginko nuts

Other fantastic dishes that we had at Yata this time were a sea eel soup, which was very delicate yet packed full of flavor, tsukune (minced chicken with runny egg) and fantastic seasonal vegetable tempura.

sea eel soup

tsukune

tempura

To finish, I had steamed rice (I'm just dying to do a post on rice - I have learned so much about rice in the last few years) and furikake (a condiment for rice) of dried little fish and mountain pepper and Toshi had ochazuke (steamed rice, salmon, with hot green tea poured over).

steamed rice with furikake

ochazuke

As usual, it was perfect. Can't wait to go back again.

And I'm back. Sorry about the silence. It's been a totally crazy busy few months. A lot of travel, a lot of deadlines and it was hard just to keep up with it all. But I'm back, and I'm in staying put in one place - Bangkok - for the next two and a bit months (well, more or less) so I hope things will be somewhat more quiet.

My last post was from Japan, and so it makes sense that my next post is also from Japan, from where I got back last night. Not quite third world gourmet, I know, but, well, it's my blog right?

I have so many things to write about and it's hard to know where to start. There are the numerous izakaya that we went to, the soba, the ramen, the whisky, the sake, the beer - but for now I think I will start with tempura.

Tempura refers to vegetables or seafood, which are deep fried in a light batter. Tempura was introduced to Japan by Portuguese missionaries during the 16th century.

Now, you may think that you know tempura, and perhaps you do, but I certainly did not know real tempura before I went to Japan. What I had previously was a poor step cousin, three times removed.

And of course not all tempura in Japan is great, or even good. It ranges from very ordinary to average tempura which you buy in fast food shops to extravagant outings at a few hundred dollars a head. We have tried the cheap ones and three mid-range restaurants. By mid-range, I mean around a hundred dollars a head with drinks.

And we have found a real gem in Tokyo. One place that is absolutely outstanding, to which we have now been twice. It's a very small family outfit with eight seats at the counter and one table for four.

So what makes this place so amazing? I guess it's a whole range of things - the freshness and quality of the ingredients, the crispy, light batter, the way in which they serve you one piece of tempura at a time to ensure it's as fresh as can be, the regularity with which they change the oil to ensure that each piece of tempura tastes perfect. And the taste. It's exquisite.

Then there is the whole dipping sauce thing. With tempura this crisp, this fresh and this tasty, we don't bother with the dipping sauce, just a little bit of salt and that's it.