Hale

Hale is had to find. Entering the Nishiki Market at night, may of the bustling vendors were closed. A slice of gold in the blue night revealed the narrow passage to a mostly organic and I’m pretty sure all vegan converted home. The small restaurant hold two table dinning tables in the backside of the market.

Surrender to whims of the kitchen, seasons, and staff—because you really have no choice. Nor why would you want choice when the set menu extracts such delights from the simple statement:

• Pickles
• Fresh Chilled Tofu
• 2 Seasonal Dishes
• Steamed Organic Vegetables
• Yuba and Mushrooms Rice Bowl
• Kyoto Tea

I can’t tell you what pickles were presented—but they were light, crisp, slightly salty and did not taste like watermelon despite the obvious watermelon color.

Ordering a beverage at dinner is mandatory. The bar counter looming at eye-level brimming with sake, so we order that. Which one, I don’t know.

Surprises land on the table at a set meal. And in a country that does not share my language, I may never truly know what I get. Without explanation, without expectations, I found myself forced to lay into the present moment. Examining mounts of what I assumed was yuzu zest-topped knots of sauteed curly spinach and a shoyu seasoned mash of okara (soy milk pulp) with root vegetables scraps. Behind it, a bowl of fresh tofu, likely the end product of the okara process.

This, to me, is Japan. A bamboo steamer of fresh vegetables. From skin on kabocha squash, to the natural geometry of lotus root, to the unexpected spring of fresh nama-fu (similar to mochi but made of wheat gluten).

The basket comes with a trio of dipper: A ground sesame seed paste, a chili soy slurry, and a pinch of local salt.

The deep fried course offers new textures. A chip of crispy yuba skin clamshells over balls of deep fried tofu flecked with vegetables and hijiki (a wormy brown seaweed that all good kids ate with glee).

You cannot not have a bowl of glistening yuba in over rice at Hale. The light gravy, given bite with a swath of wasabi perched on the side of the bowl, is not nearly as slimy as it looks.

Passing through this small garden, I found the bathroom and experience my very first squat toilet. No pictures, sorry, but I assure you its all going to be OK.

Hale
604-8055 Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward,
Higashiuoyacho, 198

Website: http://www.kyoto-nishiki.or.jp/stores/hale/index.html

Tags: hale, Kyoto