Kyoto: Kitchen Raku Raku

Our first night in Kyoto, we stayed at a Zen Buddhist temple in the Myōshin-ji complex near Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion). It was a great experience: we slept in the recently-built guest house rather than in the small main temple building itself, but we got to attend a Zen meditation class and have a private tour of the temple, which was established in 1590. Vice Abbot Taka Kawakami speaks good English, having spent something like 8 years in the U.S., and also had plenty of restaurant recommendations for us.

Next Stop, Kyoto

Photo by Peter Morgan

My boyfriend and I are hoping to take a trip to Kyoto next week, which means a whole new city in which to go looking for vegetarian-friendly restaurants. On the one hand, Kyoto is full of temples, so I would think we could find places where people following a Buddhist diet could eat. On the other hand, it’s a traditional city in Japan — and Japan loves its fish.