Arashiyama is famous for its Bamboo Groves, but that is not all, there are so much more to do and spending a day here was the best decision made ever.
As some of you may know, Kyoto is known for its tofu, and at Arashiyama, you can experience many unique tofu dishes (not just in ice cream). For some authentic tofu dishes in Kyoto, I would highly recommend Shoraian (http://www.shoraian.jp/menu.html). Recommended by my sister,this was the best tofu meal I ever had. Reservation is a must, as this place was completely full when I went. Please note: I also had to ask a friend from Japan to make the reservation, because the online reservation did not work.
Here's my first tasting menu with a tofu twist. For those who are interested, I had the Shofu menu.
First dish is an appetizer called Sakizuke. I also had a plum wine on the side. The tofu was cold, and it was as smooth as silk. For additional flavour, there was salt in the leaf shaped bowl to add a bit of seasoning to the silky tofu.
The second dish is an assorted specialties plate, Hassun Mori. In the middle of this dish, is the third dish, Kyo Ryori, the special seasonal dish.
The forth dish dish is rather unique, which is an impressionism of the post card in the picture below. It's made from dried soymilk skin "oke yuba" and seasonal fried cusine. To the right, is an original dish, which is made out of layers and layers of thin tofu skin with a bit of wasabi on top. A truly creative and time-consuming dish to make if you ask me! Shows off the chef's culinary craftsmanship.
The next dish is not the typical tempura you thought it was. It's toyuba tempura, made out of tofu, and you can sprinkle some wasabi powder for taste! How delicious!
The following dish looks rather heavy, but it's doesn't taste as heavy as it looks. A Japanese style gratin made of raw wheat gluten. The waiter told us that this was called nama fu. Please don't ask me what it means, I only ate what I was served, and it was good.
And because I was in Japan, Kobe beef is a must! A prelude to my palette for Kobe.
And Shoraian's signature dish is their yudofu. It's the tofu sitting in the pot right at the beginning of the meal in the upper right hand corner of the picture. This tofu was even silkier than the one I had as appetizer.
Last but not least, there was the age tofu, also known as the agedashi tofu, which is served with jasmine rice and Japanese pickles.
And did I mention there was tofu dessert too? Silken tofu dessert with plum wine jelly. Nice touch to wrap up a delicious meal. Plus there was roasted green tea. My tummy is on cloud nine.
Spending 1-2 hours on such amazing food and such great atmosphere is indescribable. I wish I could go back. Try it out yourself, you won't be disappointed.
