SNAPSHOTS | TOKYO + KOREA 2017 | KYOTO | DAY 6

Day 6 and we were off to Kyoto! We would travel from Shinjuku to Tokyo Station and catch the shinkansen from there. Things were not off to a great start as we lugged our suitcases through the busy train station. Through the mad rush and confusion, I managed to not only crack my phone screen but drop my camera and break the lens. (╥_╥)

I'll probably remember that moment forever as the time my life flashed before my eyes.

iPhone pictures from here on out, save for one or two which I took with KN's camera. Thanks KN!

How does one mend a broken heart? With food of course.

When we arrived at Tokyo Station, we secured seat reservations for the shinkansen before wandering off to buy bentos from the convenience store. No shinkansen trip is complete without a bento.

We had a bit of time before our departure so we shared one of the pre-made meals in the waiting terminal. The katsu sandwich featured a thick pork cutlet in between pieces of white bread and grainy mustard. Simple but satisfying.

When we finally settled into our seats on the train, we opened up the other bentos that we bought. This one had croquette, ebi fry, chicken karaage, sui mai, tamago, and pickled vegetables.

More tonkatsu! Even though the bento is served cold, this was surprisingly good. Sauce was provided in a packet to prevent the cutlet from getting soggy.

Around 2 and a half hours later, we made it to Kyoto!  Kyoto was noticeably quieter and less busier than Tokyo. The infrastructure was older and streets were less flashy. I loved Tokyo but Kyoto had an old world charm that I much preferred.

Our Airbnb was conveniently located a few blocks away from Kyoto Station but walking there was quite the ordeal. The wheels on my mom's luggage broke so we had to lug the darn thing the whole way. It was the hardest workout of my life. 

After settling into our new home for the next few days, we set out again, with hopes to make it to Kiyomizu-dera, one of UNESCO's world heritage sites. We never ended up making it that far as the walk from the station was long enough and we were approaching the temple's closing time.

We made it as far as Ōtani Mausoleum before calling it quits and turning back for dinner.

Our dinner destination was PORTA, a shopping/dining area located in Kyoto Station's underground. There was a vast array of casual restaurants to choose from, serving all sorts of cuisines and dishes, including okonomiyaki, Japanese spaghetti, and kushikatsu. We must have walked around the dining area twice trying to decide which restaurant to eat at. Our moms were craving something familiar so they went off on their own to a Chinese restaurant.  

The three of us settled on a restaurant called Marumo Kitchen. They served different types of donburi, which are rice bowls with various toppings. Each donburi is served as a set, with soup and salad on a tray. I got the tuna poke bowl, with seared tuna, negitoro, and a onsen tamago. I am in awe of how the Japanese cook their eggs.

LT and KN both went for the hamburg steak, a ground beef patty served in a thick tomato gravy. You can add on toppings like egg or cheese for an extra fee which is what they did.


After dinner was done, we headed over to Yodobashi Camera, an electronics store, to replace my broken camera lens. I left with a light wallet but my heart had never been so happy.

- CT

REVIEW | B-BIM-BAAB | EDMONTON

** This restaurant is now closed. **

Nestled in an industrial park by the Whitemud, B-Bim-Baab is a hidden but popular Korean eatery. We weren't expecting too many people when visiting at 3PM on a Sunday but there was a surprising amount of tables occupied. Since brunch is a thing, I guess linner (or dunch) can be one too.

I've been to B-Bim-Baab once before (pre-blogging days) but LT has been countless times, citing it as one of her favourite Korean restaurants in the city.

 
A couple years back, B-Bim-Baab had a restaurant within their restaurant -- Kenko, it was called, serving Japanese food -- but that has since closed, with no word on whether it'll be back. All their signs and posters are still up so maybe there's some hope.
 
Walking in, it took a little bit of time before we were acknowledged but we were seated quickly after at one of their tables in a wooden alcove. The alcoves give you a nice amount of privacy but it can also be a bit tricky to get your server's attention.   

As is customary with any Korean restaurant, a selection of complimentary banchan is served alongside your meal. From left to right, we were given small samplings of kimchi, seaweed salad, and beansprouts. LT gravitated towards the seaweed salad while I enjoyed the garlicky beansprouts the most. The kimchi was rather fresh as the cabbage retained quite a bit of its crunch.

One of LT's favourite dishes at B-Bim-Baab is their dak kang jung ($13.75), deep fried chicken tossed in a homemade sweet and spicy sauce. The chicken is boneless and cut into perfect bite-sized pieces. It's lightly battered so that the outside is slightly crispy but still tender to bite. The sauce is zesty with just a bit of heat, making the sticky chicken quite addictive to eat.

Another favourite dish of hers that we ordered is the beef galbee ($24.00). Served on a sizzling hot plate, you get three barbecued short bone beef ribs along with a bowl of steamed rice. The meat is super tender, with a sweet marinade that gets nice and caramelized when the meat is grilled.

For our last dish, we decided to go for the restaurant's namesake. We chose the dolsot b-bim-baab ($13.99) with beef (+$2.00). Other available toppings include chicken (+$2.00), tofu (+$1.50), tuna salad (+$4.00), and salmon (+$4.00). The sizzling hot bowl is packed with rice, beef, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, beansprouts, bracken fern stems, and a fried egg. They also provide you with a squeeze bottle of gochujang so you can add as little or as much as you want before mixing everything together. Toppings are plentiful and the crispy rice grains just adds so much to this hearty dish.


To be able to survive for so many years in such an obscure location is a testament to the restaurant itself. Good, solid Korean food that keeps people coming back.

B-Bim-Baab Restaurant & Lounge

9543 42 Ave NW

Edmonton, AB 

(780) 433-1239

- CT

REVIEW | NAGOYA | EDMONTON

In my neck of the woods, there's not many options in the immediate area for dining out. It's mostly chains or fast food. So imagine my surprise when I noticed a Japanese restaurant (that's not an Edo or a Tokyo Express) being built in the area!

Nagoya Japanese Cuisine is located in north Hollick Kenyon, in the same plaza as the Save-on-Foods. They've been soft open for a month, and held their grand opening just last week (Aug 28). Prior to their grand opening, they had an ongoing promotion for 10% off your order, whether dine-in or take-out. A good incentive for people to come in and try them out while they establish their presence in the neighborhood.

We went for a family dinner at the beginning of August, shortly after 5:00 and was surprised to see the restaurant pretty busy for such an early dinner time. I guess being surrounded by a residential area makes it pretty easy for people to pop in, as it took us only five minutes to drive to the restaurant as well.

The restaurant is a good size, with a mix of booths and tables making up the seating. Chairs are red and plush, tables are black marble, and plenty of white pendant lamps hang from the ceiling. A painted mural adorns the right wall, highlighting many Japanese landmarks.

Nagoya's menu is pretty expansive, covering a wide breadth of what's usually offered at Japanese restaurants. Appetizers, tempura, rolls, maki, temaki, nigiri, sashimi, grilled fish, teppan, bento, noodles, donburi, and sushi boats/platters. It wasn't available yet during our visit, but Nagoya also has tablet menus where you can view pictures and prices while punching in your order. My brother and parents went a second time when the tablets were in effect and noted the ordering process was a bit confusing. They wanted to order multiple quantities of one item but weren't quite sure how to input it into the system. Thankfully a server comes by at the end to verify your order.

Another shortcoming that had been fixed since our first visit was the menu lacking descriptions of what was in rolls or other dishes. Even when asking our waitress about what was in a roll, she was unsure. As of now, they've updated their menu to include descriptions, painting a more accurate picture of what you're getting. Comparing my past notes to their menu, I also noticed that some prices have already been changed.

During our visit, we ordered the ika karaage (originally $10.95, now $9.95), deep fried squid tentacles with a side of mayonnaise. The batter was thick and stiff, the type to get super crunchy and hard in the fryer. Good enough, but probably not my favourite rendition of fried squid as it was a bit greasy. I also would've preferred a different type of dipping sauce or something more than straight up mayo.   

The ebi tempura (originally $11.95, now $13.95) was a standard offering and came out in a basket with six pieces. We were all a bit confused by the presentation though, as they laid the shrimp over a wooden fan that they also battered and deep-fried. It felt like an unnecessary prop, perhaps to give the illusion that you're getting more, but I hope for humanity's sake that no one has tried to eat it when ordering this dish. 

Next up, the tonkatsu donburi ($13.95), which we ordered as a filler dish in case the rest of the items weren't enough to fill our stomachs. A deep fried pork cutlet is covered in egg, mushroom, and onion and then served over a bed of rice. The cutlet was thin and we didn't find the bowl to have much flavour as there was a lot more rice to topping ratio. However if you're looking for a big portion, and a hearty dish for cheap, this will do the job of filling you up.

The rainbow roll ($16.95) is a typical family favourite and Nagoya's rendition had a base roll of crab stick, avocado, and cucumber, topped with salmon, tuna, shrimp, snapper, and more avocado. We all thought the roll was well-constructed and the fish was fresh.

Lured by the picture in the menu, we also ordered the dynamite roll ($14.95) with tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, mango, mayonnaise, chopped scallops, cayenne pepper, tobiko, and masago. Also well-constructed with a nice creaminess from the scallops.

The Nagoya roll (originally $20.95, now $24.95) was recommended to us as the signature roll of the restaurant. Panko shrimp, tonkatsu sauce, and avocado make up the interior of the roll while unagi, tobiko, bonito flakes, eel sauce, and 24K gold flakes adorn the top. Gold flakes are always a little gimmicky but the actual roll itself was quite good. Although a bit pricey, it's probably the best roll out of the three we tried. Also a good choice for people who don't enjoy raw fish.

Lastly, we got the sushi and sashimi boat (originally $45.95, now $48.95), which had 12 pieces of nigiri and 12 pieces of sashimi. The fish included were salmon, tuna, snapper, cooked shrimp, surf clam, and tako (octopus). I would've liked to see a little more variety in terms of the fish selection but I can't really complain since the boat disappeared in no time.


Although there is room for improvement, Nagoya was for the most part decent. Prices are a bit on the higher end, even more so now that they've updated their pricing, but it's usually the case at any Japanese restaurant. Service was friendly with some hiccups, but that's something that gets better over time with more training and experience. I'm not sure if it's worth going out your way for, but because it's in the area, I see myself heading over for a quick dinner from time to time.

Nagoya Japanese Cuisine

16639 50 St NW

Edmonton, AB

(780) 758-8899

- CT