Saturday, July 09, 2005

Lunch in Kibune



We heard the thing to do in the village of Kibune, just 20 minutes by train from Kyoto, is to dine at one of the many restaurants perched precariously over the stream that runs through the town. We found this little restaurant, the cheapest of the lot (some set menus started at $60!), but almost didn't get to sit and eat over the stream because the day's only slight drizzle was starting. Luckily for us the drops faded, so we were allowed to sit under the cover of straw and have our late lunch next to a tiny waterfall. We had the gomoku (vegetable) and also the tori (chicken) kamamesi, a pot of rice steamed in the respective broths. The soup contained the strangest little bit of plant specimen, some sort of root or tiny branch that was covered in a gelatinous goo. The meal was just about enough to energize us for the walk down to the station to train it back to Kyoto, but it was quite something to dine with the soothing sound of running water.

No comments: