Pontocho. Part two for this evening. Better than part one. Contrary to all my protestations, this place faces the main alley and is bright and a little commercial-looking. Not too much though. And as soon as you get inside, it’s dauntingly old-fashioned, with a proper entrance leading up to a tatami area behind closed doors, […]
Pontocho
- izakaya
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Kyona, Kyoto (酒と味 京菜)
The Kamogawa, at night, looking north. Learned an interesting thing about orienting yourself within the (already very sensible) street grid of Kyoto: you always have mountains on three sides, and the ’empty’ side is south. The bright lights on the west bank are the outward-facing manifestation of the much-beloved and little-penetrated Pontocho district. Maybe it’s […]
- Kyoto
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Fujita, Kyoto (藤田)
Sure, this was the third day in a row that we visited Pontocho, but what the hey? Fujita is a pleasantly reserved-looking traditional place up near the top of the alley, with a youngish master but a feeling of long history. The food was decent; this would be OK for a lunch, but if I was […]
- izakaya
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Karaku, Kyoto (華楽)
Nice place they’ve got here. I like this whole Kyoto thing more every year. Friday night, got up the courage to poke my head into one of the nearly unmarked kappou on Pontocho. With a number of the places there, it’s hard to tell what they do – just a name over the door. They […]