Hi, everyone! This time I’m going to talk about my recommendations for souvenirs and restaurants in Kyoto!
Do you remember that I recommended you to go to Kiyomizu temple? The other reason I strongly recommend this temple is because of the souvenirs! Don’t you buy Yatsuhashi every time you travel to Kyoto? I will give you my latest recommendations for sourveniors. I recommend visiting the main path that leads to Kiyomizu Temple because it is surrounded by many souvenir shops. Below I will tell you about some of the different souvenirs you can purchase.
Firstly, Kyo-Baum. Many souveniors shops sell it, and it’s not expensive. The sweetness of the macha and baumkuchen match each other really well without being too sweet overall.
Next is Ajyari-mochi, sold at the Japanese sweet shop, Mangetsu. The shop is located in the basement of Kyoto station, and it always has a long line. Sometimes the line is so long that it goes all the way around the shop. The worst case scenario is that it is sold out. But, at the beginning of the Kiyomizu path, if you turn left onto Sannen-zaka, there is another Mangetsu who also sells Ajyari-mochi. You don’t need to queue up and the mochi is freshly made. The texture is more like manjyu than mochi. They are moist and soft, making it easy for old people to eat.
There is a seasonings shop that is near to Mangetsu, called Ochanoko-sai-sai. They sell Maiko-han-hi-hi”, which is a very spicy chili. If you like spicy flavors you will love it. I also recommend you buy Kyo-no-odashi. Add it to Miso Soup or nimono to make it more flavourful and delicious.
If you continue up hill on the Kiyomizu path, about half way up, there is a narrow path on the right. This path is easy to miss so you have to look for it carefully. When you find the path, there is a famous hidden shop, Fumonan. This shop also sells Japanese sweets and manjyu which are named Ofukuhan. These manjyu are also very delicious. They also sell Yasai-Karinto. These were so amazing because I have never eaten Karinto like this before! I can confidently recommend these.
Continuing up the hill, there is a sweets shop with a western style exterior on the left named MALEBRANCHE. The best-selling sweet is a western style sweet called Langue de chat. It is western style, but it tastes like Macha. The inside is very creamy, and the outside is crispy.
The only sweet that I could not buy on Kiyomizu street is a cake named Saganomichi. This cake is wrapped in bamboo leaf, the cream inside is sweet, and the sponge is soft. It is so delicious. This cake used to be served to the teachers every time they had a meeting. There is a cake shop in Kyoto station where it is sold so please check it out on your way home.
After shopping and sightseeing the next thing to do is lunch. Luckily, there are many restaurants in Kyoto. I will recommend a restaurant that is hidden near the Kiyomizu temple. The name is Shokudo Endou. This is mainly a tuna restaurant and it is located in residential area. Many people wait in the line outside of the restaurant during lunch time. They have a variety of good food, the quality is awesome, and it is not so expensive. When I went there, we were not allowed to take a pictures. If you want to get more information please feel free to ask me!
Thank you for taking your time to read my blog. Next time, I am going to talk about Osaka, Kobe, Nara. Pease check again soon!
