Dining Kyoto-style

We spent our four-day summer vacation (the longest break we get while working in Korea) in Kyoto, Japan. We decided on Kyoto, as opposed to Tokyo, as we wanted to see some of old Japan and escape the intensity of big Asian mega-cities.

This is the first of a series of posts on this wonderful city- a must see if anyone is heading to the land of Astro Boy... who actually greets you at the railway station!

Of course, we must first mention the fantastic food- very different to Korean and a lot of emphasis on presentation and quality ingredients. Probably not the kind of food you can fill up on, especially if you are on a tight budget, but incredible flavours and tonnes of atmosphere in the quaint little restaurants.

Restaurants on one of Kyoto's tree-lined canals... known as the 'floating world'

Eating melt-in-your-mouth beef in miso as we watch the chefs preparing our dishes

Less street food in Japan than Korea- though we found these delicious rice sweets that are charred on coals right before you eat

Another quaint bar, where we consumed Yakitori-style food (grilled in front of you), Asahi and sake

An array of food stuffs at Nishiki Market

Many a bottle of sake consumed in this restaurant!