Our meals at the Tawaraya

The food at a ryokan is an essential part of the experience, as both breakfast and dinner are included.  At the Tawaraya, we had some of the best meals of our recent trip.

Our first dinner was kaiseki, served with perfect timing and grace by our room attendant, Suzu, and her assistant, Yo.  Each course was announced by a quiet knock, and Suzu was conscientious about explaining the various elements (especially what we should not eat, like the bamboo leaf wrapping a small seasonal sushi or the tiny wafer of wood holding uni).

We had beautifully-presented appetizers including unagi sushi, rolled tofu, soup with a mochi ball filled with tilefish, and slippery green buds called junsai (watershield).

After the appetizers comes sashimi, then grilled items: whole baby ayu (sweetfish) with baby corn, trout wrapped around scallion, and Kyoto eggplant with a dark miso glaze.

The main dish was a hot pot of sea bream with tofu and yuba.  Suzu dished out a portion for each of us, presenting the best piece – the head, complete with lots of teeth and the eye – to D.  Wanting to be a good guest, he ate it all… but alas, he is not the biggest fan of fish eye as a delicacy.

One of the pleasures of staying two nights at a ryokan is the chance to have a totally different meal on the second evening – Suzu walked though our options, one of which was a meal at the Tawaraya’s sister restaurant around the corner.  We chose the “mini barbecue”, which turned out to be fantastically fun… if perhaps unwise to cook over hot coals inside a room made entirely of wood, paper, and grass tatami.

We started with appetizers and sashimi again, including lotus root filled with fish mousse, a cup of yuba, and paper-thin flounder sashimi.  The yuba and tofu are worth particular mention; they’re artisanal products in Kyoto and I’m sure that the Tawaraya serves an incredible quality.  I’m sure I can’t appreciate their nuance, but they were delicious, especially the yuba – thin, delicate sheets of tofu skin, which sound unappealing but which I loved.

As for the barbecue itself – Yo slid open the doors of our room and set up a fan, while Suzu showed us how to use the grill.  Then they left us alone to cook our own beef and vegetables!

Our rice that night was cooked with pea-like Japanese beans, and the pickles were a different selection – cucumber and eggplant.  Kyoto is known for its pickles, which are more delicate than most and quite varied.  Dessert was a slice of orange filled with tart citrus jelly.

Then there’s breakfast.  If you’re hungry, the Japanese breakfast is an absolute feast: two kinds of fish, eggs, miso soup, rice, various salads and small dishes, and a huge portion of fresh tofu in a box of hot water, complete with assorted garnishes.  And freshly squeezed orange juice, which Yo made specially for us!  We ate and ate, trying our best to do justice to the spread.

The next morning, we opted for the Western breakfast and asked for a lighter selection: no meats or vegetables, just toast and fruit and a little scrambled egg.  The toast was traditional thick shokupan bread – which we made ourselves in the toaster that Suzu set up next to me – spread thickly with butter and marmalade.  D had excellent coffee, I had English tea, and we both had more of Yo’s delicious juice.

All in all, I found that our meals at the Tawaraya matched the overall experience: impeccable quality, delicious flavors, elegant presentation, all served with charm and elegance.

Gochiso sama deshita