Wednesday, May 05, 2010

foodie tuesday in kyoto

Yesterday was another beautiful day...dare I say, "summer is here"...

It was HOT! kinda humid too.

I wanted Satoshi to try the Chinese restaurant that Tamakikat and I had gone to in the past, so we headed to Kyoto.

But because it was Golden Week they were fully booked.

Not having "a Plan B", we decided to check out Cafe Bastille, another restaurant that Tamakikat and I visited in the past.

They were full also, so we waited about 15 minutes and a table opened up.

Satoshi chose the daily lunch...900 yen (about US$9). The main dish was a tender pork simmered in tomato sauce. It was served over mashed potatoes with a salad. He said it was delicious. He was quite surprised as mashed potatoes isn't something you see too often in Japan.

I chose the quiche lunch 900 yen (about US$9). The quiche was corn and ham and it came with a pumpkin potage and salad. I liked the crust of the quiche, flaky and crisp and the pumpkin potage was rich, lots of sweet pumpkin flavor.

After lunch, we walked around and saw a shop selling Vespas. It was my first time to see a Vespa and it reminded me of Rowena, who really wants one!

Along the same street, we saw two or three more Vespas, I mentioned to Satoshi that there were a lot and he said, "it is because they are all buying it from that one store over there."

We then popped into Matsunosuke for some American-style pies. Satoshi chose the New York cheesecake and I chose the 14 Lincoln Street Apple Pie.

The owner studied under a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) graduate and bakes traditional American desserts. The shop is named after the owner's grandfather, who was a famous Noh costumer. (Noh is a classic Japanese play.)

Satoshi's cheesecake was dense, there was no crust, just crushed graham crackers on top. It was delicious.

My apple pie was delicious too, the crust was flaky and the apples thinly sliced. I would have to say that this was the best apple pie I've had in Japan.

We had a nice foodie day. The weather was nice, though I feel a bit sunburned.

Today is the last day of Golden Week, what other country has 3 weekdays as National holidays in a row?? Though it is a holiday, Satoshi has to work so it is back to the grindstone for us.

Hope you are having a great week.

Matsunosuke
605 Takakura-dori Goike sagaru
Nakagyoku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.253.1058

7 comments:

Rona Y said...

You're really making me homesick this week!!

Matsunosuke was on my list, but I never made it there. I loved the the owner's story--so inspirational! When my co-workers and I saw how much she charged for whole cakes, though, they all thought I should open my own bakery, too!

I hope you don't post any Henri Charpentier goodies or any kind of macarons or roll cake this week. If you do, I may just have to cry!

K and S said...

Sorry Rona! I'll try not to post about those sweets in the upcoming days. I really enjoyed the pies @ Matsunosuke though.

Take care.
Kat

Parisbreakfasts said...

Love trailing after you on your foodie adventures...
makes me hungry for Japanese versions of New York cheesecake, which I wouldn't normally eat here.
They say Philadelphia Cream cheese is NOT made in Philadelphia!
Who knew?
It's very big in France too...
Odd these namesake dishes...

mr. pineapple man said...

yum!! i need some pie in my life~

K and S said...

I didn't know that about Philly cream cheese PB. By the way, I use Kiri cream cheese which I think is French :)

I hope you get some pie Mr Pineapple Man :)

Take care you two.
Kat

K said...

As much as I LOVE Japanese desserts/pastries, I'm sure you were happy to have a chance to have some "American" pies- looks great!

K and S said...

definitely nice to find the real deal here K :)

Take care.
Kat