First off, after getting off at Hankyu Omiya Station, you walk towards “the Kyoto Sanjokai shopping arcade,” which is one of the representative arcades in Kyoto and bustles with shops and restaurants. This arcade, measuring 800 meters from east to west, has around 180 shops and restaurants. An 11-minute walk will lead you to a seafood restaurant named “Amitatsu” where you can enjoy not only raw seafood called “Sashimi” but also cooked seafood.

One of the dishes from the menu, which caught my fancy, was sweet shrimp seasoned with dashi-flavored soy sauce and sake and served raw. There’s no sugar added to it, but the natural sweetness that these shrimp have can be relished by your palate.

The next dish I ordered was deep-fried oysters, which I ate by dipping them into Worcestershire sauce. They were very crispy outside but very juicy and hot inside, so I recommend you have little bites. Oysters are rich in minerals, iron, and zinc, so they will give you the energy needed to make it through the night if you are tired from sightseeing.

Here comes today’s main dish at this restaurant: assorted raw seafood. Once it’s served at the table, I’m sure you will be exhilarated. It’s not just for eating but for appreciating the beauty of the arrangement before eating.

 I’d say this assorted raw seafood eaten with soy sauce would be the epitome of Japanese raw seafood culture.

 After relishing blessings bestowed by the ocean, drinking sake and having a Japanese snack in a cozy atmosphere would be the way to go. You might wonder which restaurant offering sake is the best since there are many sake bars in the Omiya district.

 An old Japanese-style house called “Kyomachiya” was renovated into a restaurant, so you can experience the traditional Japanese architecture while you are drinking sake. There is space beneath the counter, so you don’t need to worry about your legs getting numb.

 In addition, there are lots of Manga on a bookshelf. So, while you are waiting for your orders, why not glance through them?

This time, I tried sake brewed in Kyoto; rice grown in Kyoto is used to make this sake. This sake is a non-diluted sake called “Genshu,” so the content of alcohol is relatively higher than normal sake.

We Japanese take a sip with a small sake cup called “Ochoko” to relish the taste of sake. However, a cool Japanese guy tends to chug his sake. It’s more of a tradition rooted in Japanese society to chug the first cup of sake; it isn’t meant to demonstrate how strong one is.

In fact, the alcohol content of sake is less than 22 degrees, so it won’t break you down unless you are fragile with alcohol.

This time, I ordered a dish that is just like a home-cooked meal. Japanese children feel lucky if they have these octopus-shaped sausages inside their bento boxes.

 Curious as it may seem, we like octopus. So, instead of adding a real octopus in a bento box, which is impossible due to its size which is way larger than the bento box, we enjoy having octopus-shaped sausages—something we came up with on the basis of the Japanese mentality of miniaturizing everything.

When it comes to having “cheers!” in the heart of the Gion district, no other place is as good as “Hard Rock Café Kyoto” for Westerners. In this place, you will not only enjoy drinking and eating but also be able to purchase rock items on the first floor unique to Kyoto. A bar is on the upper floors where it exhibits Jeans once worn by Roger Taylor, the drummer of the legendary rock band, “Queen.”

 One corner of the restaurant is adorned with an electric guitar-like object; you will be able to appreciate its interior decorations everywhere in this restaurant, which will make you feel as if you are the protagonist of the world of rock music. Once you have a seat, a pretty girl who has a strong command of English will be in charge of your table, so you don’t need to worry about a language barrier, which would force you to turn to your smartphone for translations.

This time, I ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail with “a cherry on top” in which “Red Bull,” orange juice, and mango are mixed: It’s quite the non-alcoholic beverage that will give you energy to “fly” all night.

If you’d like to experience the taste of “victory,” you might want to try chicken burgers that feature the football legend, Messi. The burgers may be larger than you expect, so if you are not hungry, it’s a good idea to share the burgers with your friends.

I was already drunk by the time I got to this standing-style restaurant, but I was trying hard and captured yummy dishes and great drinks with my camera. This restaurant, which is located within walking distance from Hard Rock Café Kyoto, offers a wide range of alcohol and a wide variety of food that would definitely pique your appetite even if you are full.

When looking around the restaurant, I found a special good luck charm that will bring popularity. This good luck charm can be bought at Kyoto Ebisu Shrine only once a year.

 When you are in Kyoto, you will often encounter this type of good luck charm inside restaurants or bars. It not only brings popularity but also adds aesthetic value to them.

The chef is cooking food over the counter, so you can enjoy looking at the process of making delicious dishes. Though the chef seems not to be proficient in English, you can enjoy having a chat using your smartphone—one of the enjoyable moments that allows you to talk with a local person about things that can be enjoyed in the local area. You shouldn’t worry about speaking Japanese if you have already picked up a few Japanese phrases—that’s the name of the game!

  The first dish served was one that I didn’t order—this is something we take for granted: “Tsukidashi,” or a Japanese appetizer without which we feel we are left behind because drinks come first, and we like to enjoy having the appetizer while we are waiting for our orders.

Here come small squids. They taste not as bad as they look. On the contrary, they are delicious. Believe me. Once you take a bite, the bittersweet taste expands beautifully in your mouth. Their beautifully rich flavor makes you drink more and more! Though they are served on a skewer, I recommend you take them apart to eat little by little.

The next dish served was the main one in this restaurant: “Burinokamayaki,” or grilled yellowtail’s collar. This is the portion that used to be very active when it was alive, so this is supposed to be one of the yummier parts of the yellowtail—the rare parts for we can take just two collars from one yellowtail.

This time, I ordered one of the oldest Japanese sakes, “KENBISHI,” which traces its origin back to 1505 and originated in “Itami,” an inland area of Hyogo prefecture.

The next alcoholic beverage was a relatively new gin: “TATSUMI DISTILLERY,” founded in 2017. This gin is distilled in Gujohachiman, Gifu prefecture, which has been selected as one of the top 100 high-quality water areas in Japan.

 Juniper berries are used to make this gin, so when you are asked, “How would you like it prepared?”, you should answer “Gintonikku de,” meaning “I’d like to drink it with tonic.” That way, you will be able to taste the flavor of Juniper berries.

The last dish in this restaurant was roasted big fava beans. Fava beans are a type of bean that gives off a strong smell when boiled, so it’s better to roast them. Fava beans are rich in protein and vitamins and give you a natural flavor.

 Also, they go extremely well with beer! This time, I was drunk enough, so I settled for a glass of gin and tonic with the fava beans as a finger food.

After I enjoyed having meals and drinking and parted from a handsome chef in Shirotokuro, I was attracted by the yummy smell from a Gyoza Chinese dumpling restaurant on the first floor of the same building.

This is steamed chicken. If you’d like to add some citric flavor to it, just squeeze lemon over it. Unlike Gyoza Chinese dumplings, which take some time to be served, this dish is quick to be served, so while you are waiting for Gyoza, you might as well eat this dish. Needless to say, ordering a beer is a must if you’d like to fully enjoy tasting Gyoza. No other alcoholic beverages are right up there with a beer when you have Gyoza.

This time, I ordered boiled Gyoza, instead of pan-fried Gyoza because it tastes good all the more for its soup and coriander on top. We normally eat boiled Gyoza with soy sauce or Ponzu, or soy sauce mixed with citrus juices.

 The last place I visited that night was an experimental bar, “Mixology Bar Smooth,” located in the Keyamachi district near Ponto town. A 10-minute walk from the Gyoza restaurant will take you to this bar, but if you are already drunk, you might want to take a cab to get there.

 If you feel inclined to drink experimental cocktails using lots of fruits, then this bar would be second to none in Kyoto.

Here, I ordered a frozen gin and tonic. Gin is literally frozen at the bottom of the glass, so you need to stir it with a stirrer. The gin will gradually melt and be mixed with tonic water.

 It’s quite a cocktail that no other bars would even think of—something you can enjoy and feel as if you were an apprentice bartender.