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There’s a fresh review of Chikyuya up on Deep Kyoto. Check it out here: Chikyuya

And erm… that’s about it. Tired. Going to drink beer and watch Life On Mars instead.

Well, I’ve decided to name and shame yesterday’s rat-infested restaurant. Apparently, all restaurants are required by law to get thoroughly cleaned out once a year, so they are obviously cutting corners there. They have a problem, they are aware of it and clearly are not taking any steps to do anything about it. So, the restaurant in question is (drum-roll please): Didi’s curry house on Higashioji Dori. It’s a shame because I did like their veggie curry – but no more! Rats in restaurants is very, very wrong.

Here’s a couple of links. First off, there’s fresh review of Tsurugi with some arty pictures, up on Deep Kyoto that I’ve just finished.

Also, watch this and tell me you don’t want to see it too:
1408

And I’ve been reading about a Japanese Government decision to tone down reports that the army ordered Okinawan civilians to commit mass suicide at the war’s end: LINK

Now earlier this week, a group of MPs from the right-wing ruling party claimed China had exaggerated the number of people killed by Japanese troops in Nanjing in 1937. LINK

And Prime Minister Shinzo Abe drew condemnation abroad earlier this year after he questioned whether there was any proof that Japan’s military coerced women to work as sex slaves during the war. LINK

Which all follows a controversial new law that enforces the teaching of patriotism in schools. LINK

Not to mention ongoing plans to revise the country’s pacifist constitution: LINK

Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?

So I was sitting in a local restaraunt mere minutes ago, having just finished my dinner, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, looked down and noticed a medium-sized brown RAT at my feet. Right by my left foot in fact. The rat looked about a bit and then scurried off back the way it had came.

“Jesus Christ!” I uttered quietly, and then went over to one of the staff and said in a low voice so as not to alarm the other customers,”Excuse me, but I just saw a rat.”
She didn’t seem particularly surprised. “Oh,” she said, “Sorry about that.”
“Do you think it came in from outside?” I asked.
“Oh, no. This is an old building so we get them occasionally. They come from upstairs. Really, sorry about that. Really.”
“Ah.” said I, and cancelled my plans to review the restaraunt on Deep Kyoto this evening. I mean it wasn’t the biggest rat I’ve seen (seen some monsters in Tokyo) but it was a rat none the less, and rats in restaurants is WRONG.

I went back to my seat to get my things, all the while looking about the floor in case the wee fella came back and fancied a run up my trouser leg or something, and another customer, who must have seen something out of the corner of her eye asked me if I had just seen something “down there.”

“Yep.” I said.
“It was a cockroach, eh?” said the lady with a smile (cockroaches are everywhere in this country and hard to avoid).
“Ah, no.” I said, “It was a bit bigger than a cockroach.” and left before she asked for further details. So nothing new on Deep Kyoto tonight, I’m afraid, although I am working on 3 separate pieces right now, all of which require a bit more “field work” to get them right. Right now I think I’ll head over to STT and regale people with rat tales. Sniffy-twitch-twitch!

One day I won’t be a vegetarian. I’ll be a multi-millionaire globe-trotting vegetarian and when I am, I’m going to Sublime.
The days of healthy but tasteless veggie food in a skanky hippy surround are OVER! Away with your beads and braids! Enough with the world music! We carrot-munchers deserve our cascading waterfalls and veggie caviar! We are vegemiliionaires! We want cake and fine wine! And we want it now!

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Until such time as you are a multi-millionaire, you can watch the whole movie FOR FREE over here: Withnail and I

Last December, Sunny Place, a vegan restaurant previously situated in Kitayama, moved serendipitously not a five minute cycle ride from my house. It’s name is apt, as it’s a friendly shop so I went to eat there last night figuring it would help fix my bluesy mood. They have a nice range of Coedo organic beers, so last night I tried the “Beniaka”.
It gets that red colour from the sweet potatoes used in the recipe, – an interesting roasted malty flavor. With whatever main dish you choose you get rice (whole grain mixed with healthy cereals) and soup (kasu jiru – a healthy broth made from sake lees), and three side dishes of your choosing.
They do a range of fake-meats there, pork, chicken etc. I chose the “chicken” done kara-age style.
I personally don’t have any cravings for meat flavored food, but I know a lot of people find it difficult to become vegetarian simply because they cannot give up their tasty fried chicken. Is this a solution? Well, check out that texture, though made from soya beans it sure looks like chicken:
It doesn’t quite taste like chicken though. Almost. But not quite. Still, ten out of ten for effort. The food is reasonably priced and plentiful and the atmosphere relaxed. I’d certainly recommend it over the nearby Café Peace, these days. Sadly, rumors of impending bankruptcy at Peace are only confirmed by the ever decreasing portions, and severely reduced variety in the menu… At Sunny Place you won’t be dissatisfied. To find Sunny Place, head west on Imadegawa from Hyakumanben, then go north on Marikoji Dori.

Here’s one thing the world must know:

Maybe you should tell the owner of the restaurant that ‘didi‘ actually means ‘elder sister’ in Hindi and Hindi-related languages such as Nepali and Punjabi. Daughter is ‘beti’. But it’s still a lovely word …looks like good food too, verrrry verrry healthy!

Thanks Adrienne, I’ll pass that on. (She knows what she’s talking about, does Adrienne).

And here’s another; in my continuing pursuit of new natto taste delights, I think I may have created a new culinary dish! When I was looking for new natto recipes last week, I kept coming across recipes for natto with advocado. They go together, it seems… “Advocado…”, thinks I. “Guacamole…”, thinks I. And before you know it I’m making Natto Tacos! Now normally making tacos I’d use a variety of beans (I’m a sort-of-vegetarian – no chicken or beef for me), so I figured I’d use a variety of natto today.

What you see on the left is the normal natto we all love and respect, and on the right black natto of which I am deeply in awe. Just look at how awesome it is:

Mix it up and awe some more:

Still, doesn’t look right for tacos though, eh? Let’s add some tomato puree…

A bit of taco seasoning (from a pack, I confess) and to bulk it up I added some rice:

Then cook it up with some of these: chopped onions, diced tomatoes, chopped apple (YES! APPLE!), and diced red pepper.

And when it’s done it looks like this:

You can serve it up with your usual toppings: guacamole, salad, taco sauce, sour cream, and grated cheese…

Slap all that in your taco shell and this is what you get:

The verdict? Well, amazingly, it’s not awful! In fact it’s good! But what with all those different flavors jostling for position within one taco shell, it’s hard to say that the natto really stands out as much as it normally would. The distinctive natto flavor is definitely there, and it does make a difference. But if you didn’t know it was there, you probably wouldn’t guess it. Which gives me an idea for when I next have guests… hehehe…

I had lunch at Didi’s on Higashioji Dori today. I’d always assumed “Didi” was the name of the owner. Not so. It means “beloved daughter”, as the mission statement below relates:
Now, I’m the sort of chap, who once he’s discovered one dish he likes at a restaraunt, will mindlessly order the same thing again and again – and never get sick of it. At Didi’s I’m mindlessly in love with their vegetable curry. Can’t get enough of it. But lately I’ve been pushing myself to be a bit more adventurous. And seeing as they do a special vegetarian lunch I figured I ought to give it a try. Here it is: dhal salad, tofu steak, whole grain rice and leak & burdock chinese miso soup…
Looks awfully healthy doesn’t it? It’s healthy alright. Yep. VERY healthy.

But I recommend the vegetable curry.

(They do nice samosas and scones and herb teas too, see previous post for more pictures.)

Anyway, if you’re interested, this is where it lies, just past Mototanaka station on Higashioji Street. Quite popular with the foreign chaps (and chapesses).
One last (entirely unrelated) thing. I spotted this lovely article on the Craggy Island Father Ted Fest currently being held over on the Aran Islands: HAVE A CLICK! GO ON! GO ON! YOU WILL!

(Update! Some time after writing this post I was eating in Didi’s when I saw a RAT – a BIG ONE! They know they ahve them too! Don’t eat there!)

Here’s a pic of my Valentine’s present from the lady that knows me best:Now, a few days ago “anonymous” wrote:

The healthy, veg-friendly restaurants are good and all, don’t get me wrong, but aren’t there any Indian restaurants with a nice little 3-curry buffet you could introduce us to?

I’m not sure, but I’m assuming “anonymous” is my old curry-chomping chum Greg Ionson back in Tokyo (man that guy could eat curry!). Well, I’m hoping these pictures from tonight’s repast at Didi’s make him happy. For your delectation: vegetable curry:

Chapatti and hummus…
And samosas!
(Update: I have since learned that DIDI’S has rats! I saw one myself! Don’t go there!)

I was in town meeting someone intelligent today (which was quite refreshing) so on my way home I stopped by Houzouji (寶蔵寺) for this month’s meditation:I’m not sure how to translate this one. It’s the last part that’s throwing me, along with the grammar…

人の世の
幸不幸は
不思議のご縁
よき出合いを

After chatting with the staff at Didi’s (aforementioned curry emporium) about it, I’m thinking something like this:

In the world of men
happiness or sorrow
is but strange chance
live for good encounters

However some of the words there have a deeper significance than my simple interpretation conveys. 縁 (“en”) for example, can be chance, fate, coincidence… It is often used to suggest some kind of karmic bond. So you can say “___と縁がある”　to say that you have some deep fated connection to a place or person. I asked the waitress in Didi’s why “deai” or encounter was written with the kanji 合 (to suit or fit) rather than the more usual 会 (meeting) and she thought it might be because although “shiawase” or “happiness” is usually written like this: 幸せ, it can also be written like this 仕合わせ. At that point my mind really began to boggle… so if any of you have any better explanation for it do let me know. And that final “を” I’m not sure how best to put in English, but I thought “live for” as in “do your best for…” was good enough…?Enough of that! Here’s this week’s “Whale-Love-Wagon” featuring the classic question: “So when you were rescuing the whale, weren’t any of you really thinking: Um looks tasty… Let’s eat that! ?”

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Now that’s all very lovey-dovey and nice, but it doesn’t really tell me what I want to know. According to the info up here the Japanese Government plans to hunt 945 whales this year, despite already having a thousand whales’ worth of meat in stockpiles that they can’t get rid of. So… why? If whale-meat is not such a popular dish in Japan… why does Japan persist in hunting whales? There must be a reason. What’s the reason? I really would like to know. It can’t be just sheer bloody-mindedness, can it now?
Can it?

Anyway, there’s a campaign up here that you can join in, if you feel so inclined: CLICK ME!!!

Time for another eatery recommendation! Little Bamboo on Shirakawa Dori serves nice healthy organic foodage with whole grain brown rice cooked in yoghurt. The yoghurt gives the rice extra nutritional value; lots of those all important B vitamins, good for your skin, stomach… and lots of other bits I can’t remember. This is quite close to where I live (a 3 minute walk) so we’ve been going there quite a bit.

I’m afraid I forgot to take a pic of today’s lunch (sorry Rik). I was so hungry I just gobbled it all up… But here’s an artist’s impression:
All that for ￥900, eh? Take my word for it, it’s tasty, healthy and cheap and the master of the establishment is quite a friendly chap too. Here he is in his element:
He used to have a mobile healthy-fast-food van serving lunches in Osaka, but now he’s married and settled down in Kyoto. Little Bamboo as we know it opened for business just last year.
Little Bamboo is situated on Shirakawa Dori just past Mikage Dori. If you get as far as the bookshop you’ve gone too far. Anyway: RECOMMENDED.
The 梅 plum blossoms have started to bloom. These are near my house…

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Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to go to 御所 this weekend and see the blossoms there.

And here as promised is the next video in the Whale/Love series:

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HJ and I had lunch with Yui Katou at Didi’s today. Didi’s is a nice quite little curry house on Higashioji Dori just north of the Mototanaka Train tracks. And Yui Katou (pictured below) is an up-and-coming artist by gosh!
Let’s take a closer look at that postcard she’s holding shall we? Could it be that Yui has an exhibition coming up?
Yes indeedy. Yui will be exhibiting her art together with some felt work by her mother Masumi Katou and some dinky little wood-craft objet d’arts by one Setsuo Onishi. Here are the details:
The location is the Gojo Cafe at Gojo Guest House from February 18th to the 25th, and the times: 13.00 p.m. to 21.00 p.m. So now you know!