Savory Japan is updated for November, and in honor of the upcoming holiday celebrations, includes a short article on Japanese drinking etiquette. You may find it useful for dining at Japanese restaurants abroad, and some of the hints are essential when drinking in Japan.
The other feature is about Ajiro, a stellar shojin ryori (vegetarian temple cooking) restaurant that earned one star in the 2010 Kyoto/Osaka Michelin guide. Since I haven’t yet had the good fortune to dine at any others listed and can’t compare, I’m probably not a good judge in terms of the star rating, but I beg to differ with the description, which says it is a ‘casual place’. My experience in May was far from casual. I enjoyed an excellent eight-course lunch, served in formal, old-fashioned Japanese style by an elegant kimono-clad woman, on fine red lacquer while seated in a private room lined with Zen paintings. The only thing casual (as well as surprising) was the price, which was just over ¥3,000.
There’s a detailed description of the entire meal, as well as a slide show, so you can see what I mean. It really does make one take notice when local food expert Sachiyo Imai calls it one of the best restaurants in Kyoto, a place that ‘personifies the flavor of Kyoto’.
