Tom and I safely arrived in Kyoto earlier this evening after a day of travel from Hong Kong. We flew on the budget airline Peach Airlines, so amenities on board were extremely limited - that said, it was a great experience and we'd recommend Peach if you don't mind forgoing free drinks and snacks in favor of bargain prices. Nevertheless, after arriving in Osaka, taking an hour and a half bus ride to Kyoto, and then a 15-20 minute cab ride, we were getting hangry.
Our Airbnb host had left us a helpful map of local places to eat, and we headed out to try one of them. Funny thing about Japan though, is that few, if any, of the signs are in English. We ended up at a great little Soba Noodles place, and after some initial confusion about how to order our food - what looked like a vending machine at the front door listed the limited menu and took our money - we settled in to a really phenomenal noodle dinner.
We had no idea what we ordered, but it was great. Mine was a very straightforward bowl of noodles, pork butt, Japanese tea egg, and various fungi. Though the ingredient's were the same, Tom's dish came in two bowls, and after he confusedly pushed them around in the bowl, the cook looked at him and asked, in English, "You know how to do it?" When Tom indicated he had no clue, the cook responded with a gesture and, "Dip it." I expect we'll have many more of these encounters of simply pointing at something on a menu and hoping for the best. Here's hoping we encounter more helpful staff members.
Our Airbnb host had left us a helpful map of local places to eat, and we headed out to try one of them. Funny thing about Japan though, is that few, if any, of the signs are in English. We ended up at a great little Soba Noodles place, and after some initial confusion about how to order our food - what looked like a vending machine at the front door listed the limited menu and took our money - we settled in to a really phenomenal noodle dinner.
We had no idea what we ordered, but it was great. Mine was a very straightforward bowl of noodles, pork butt, Japanese tea egg, and various fungi. Though the ingredient's were the same, Tom's dish came in two bowls, and after he confusedly pushed them around in the bowl, the cook looked at him and asked, in English, "You know how to do it?" When Tom indicated he had no clue, the cook responded with a gesture and, "Dip it." I expect we'll have many more of these encounters of simply pointing at something on a menu and hoping for the best. Here's hoping we encounter more helpful staff members.