OUR TRIP OF A LIFETIME

MARCH 23RD - APRIL 14TH, 2010
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Tuesday, April 6, 2010

DAY 15: ERIK ATE KOBE BEEF AND NOW HE'S BROKEN

it's true. we ate at the wonderful grill miyata tonight and it was magnificent. erik said his body will now reject all other foods because nothing will ever be as good as the kobe beef was. ever. again. haha...more on that later ;)

we went to kyoto again today to walk around gion (the geisha district) and then eat at grill miyata for dinner. as i've said before, i looooove kyoto. we walked along these wonderful paths along the river to get to the gion area:



there was also a bunch of wildlife in the river


everyone enjoying this fantastic weather!


we get to our destination: pontocho alley, which is best known as one of the licensed geisha areas in kyoto. it is a very thin alley filled with tea houses


tiny alleys off of pontocho alley


after walking through it, we walked next to this canal nearby. it was very pretty with all the sakura!




you can see the LOADS of petals already starting to fall off and collect in the street


we sat for a minute to rest, and then this neko (cat) came by for a drink! it was so cute i had to take a picture :)

then suddenly, a super nice japanese woman tapped me on the shoulder and pointed down the street a little bit trying to show me something. i looked for a minute, then i heard her say, "maiko! maiko!" which is an apprentice geisha!!! we were really hoping to see one! we had heard about fake ones, but this was a REAL one waiting for her ride to go to her appointment! 










there she goes! you can see her two "helpers" (don't know their correct name) going with her. it was so cool to see her! it was so nice of that japanese woman to point her out to us too! we would have never known had she not shown us!!! everyone here is just so nice hehe


afterwards, we still had some time before dinner, so we headed back to the river area, and walked along the edge

i could sit here for hours...



we saw a bunch of crows. they are everywhere here, and they a big and beautiful, unlike the ones back home


and a bunch of cats by a restaurant window waiting/hoping for some food haha

finally it was time for dinner at grill miyata!!! this place is hard to find if you don't know where you are going! which is cool because it's not all that well known. it's in the basement of a 6-story building



first we had this yummy salmon and a salad


and a potato/shrimp-filled croquette 


then some fries and an awesome corn soup that tasted like cornbread! oh, and they kept loading us up with alcohol this whole time haha...and it was STRONG!!! you get a drink with your meal, so i chose white wine, but then they also give you this barley shochu which is like a scotch, and it's 25% alcohol! haha! they mix it with a plum liquor, and after 2 of those i think i was ready to hit the floor hahaha...but, they were included with the meal! so, we drank them. good thing for train rides home, huh? ;)

anyway, next was the fabulous (and i DO mean FABULOUS) kobe beef
the awesome mr. miyata himself showing us the kobe beef


ohhhhhh YUUUUUMMMMMM.....and mr. miyata cooks the steaks himself! and this is all after talking to us for about 30 minutes. he was so nice :)


here it is. ready for eating. and oh my goodness it was hard to eat that last bite. it literally MELTS in your mouth. we wanted to take it home and save it forever!!! erik is STILL talking about it right now, and counting up our money to see if we could possibly go back again hahaha!!!! it's really THAT. GOOD.


afterwards, we wrote mr. miyata a small note on a dollar bill thanking him because he had a bunch of these from past customers. 


and here we are with mr. miyata! we also met this nice other couple from america (anna & dale) who we chatted with throughout dinner. grill miyata was yet another amazing experience in this fantastic country we will never forget!!!

14 comments:

  1. That geisha is absolutely stunning! XO

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  2. i love the differences in culture. i looked up geishas back in the day and they leave strips of bare neck because it is almost like the equivalent of cleavage. even without you telling me it was a maiko, i would have known from the red collar on the back hehehehe

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  3. That first picture of the geisha is so gorgeous! You need to blow that one up and frame it :-) ~Sam

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  4. that's cool you would have known she was a maiko, jenn! she was so pretty! and great idea, sam! that pic is my favorite, too :)

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  5. Hey J & E - we are going to Kyoto in the fall - I already posted under 'paddlers' in your TA forum, but we will certainly be paying a visit to Mr. Miyata! I think I am going to need detailed directions!
    G & T (Canada)

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  6. awesome! i'm so excited for you!!! next time we go to japan, we're definitely going in the fall. i bet it will be GORGEOUS for you! and i just sent you a private message on TA with some more directions on how to get to grill miyata :)

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  7. sweet! Thanks for the tip! The hubby & I will definitely be going to this restaurant on our trip to Kyoto in July :)

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  8. that's great! it was AMAZING!!! erik still talks about how he wishes we could get kobe beef here in the u.s.! haha, guess we'll just have to go back someday! :)

    have an amazing time!

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  9. haha i just mentioned this to erik and he said to go for the 200g steak and not the 150g. we got the 150 gram to save some money, but we WISHED we would have spent a little more and gotten the 200g after we tasted it!!! :)

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  10. sweet! Thanks for the tip! will do :)

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  11. wow I repeat myself a lot. Anyways, your blog is absolutely hilarious. We read the whole thing, and are now super excited!! More excited for the randomness in Japan. And the food. MMMMMM KOBE.

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  12. i'm so happy you loved our blog and that it could help a bit with your own trip! i'm excited for you to go too! you will have the BEST time! :D

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  13. dear erik
    enjoying your blog as i am traveling to japan in 2 days and doing some research
    i am staying in tokyo
    i would like to visit mr miyaki rest? can you send me detailed directions ;)
    thanks
    howard

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  14. yes we can! e-mail me at jacquikes@gmail.com and i can send you better directions! :) mr. miyata's is the BEST!

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