Dining Experiences(59)

Unbelievable service I really recommend the food the atmosphere was beyond everyone was so attentive and a little surprise at the end fave us a treat to take home really impressed

The hosts were great! There are several buildings to stay in. We were the only group for our one night stay, but in theory I believe separate parties would each use a different building. We made takoyaki, and the hosts made tempura and katsu along with the star Matsusaka beef (bbq’ed and in sukiyaki), plus small side dishes. Way more food than we could possibly consume. Breakfast included homemade rice flour bread, and they sent us off with bentos as well. In fact, because our next stop was a 45 minute drive away (Ise), they drove us to our hotel to drop off our luggage and then dropped us off at Ise Jingu to save us the train ride. I wouldn’t get too excited over the vegetable garden; I don’t think we even ate the vegetables we picked, and if you’ve ever kept a small garden yourself it’s essentially the same experience.

We had a magical evening with Nadja. We learned a lot about Fugu, japanese Cuisine in general and the Gion district. The tour was really informing and we even saw two Geishas (who are called Geikos in Kyoto, what we learned now). Nadja has a sparkling personality and shared her fascination for Japan with us with exciting explanations. Beeing a chef herself she could not only share her knowledge about the way of japanese cooking and all the special ingredients/techniques but also about the local working life, which was super interesting too. The Fugu was unbelievably tasty. It was so fresh that the muscle were still shivering. We have never seen something like that before. Some parts were boiled directly in front of us, that was spectacular just as incinerating hot sake, that was served with Fugu fins in it. What a show! The three hours passed like a blink of an eye, and we went home with our bellys full with delicious Fugu and our minds full of fascination for Kyoto.

This tour was absolutely wonderful because of our particular guide, Sae. She developed a great spirit amongst the participants and educated us all in a gentle manner. We had a terrific time.

It was a wonderful tour of a serene and scenic spot after an authentic Japanese meal. Our guide, Bruce, was extremely warm, adaptable, and engaging in conversation. We had a thoroughly enjoyable time with him.