Katsukura in the Temple District

The grinding of Goma or sesame seeds can lead you to quiet contemplation. In this busy world, we often don't have the chance to get in touch with the simple pleasures of talking with farmers, harvesting rice, picking herbs from the garden, or even cooking a home style meal with family in a country kitchen. So the simple earthy pleasure of grinding Goma seeds with a Japanese wood mortar and pestle, even during a busy working lunch, can be that moment that we can reconnect.

Like the first sip of freshly brewed coffee between friends, with our hands clasped heart shaped around the cup in the middle of a cold winters night, I am learning to rediscover these simple joys of Kyoto life, like making new friends at a cooking class in a country kitchen.

And even if you can’t join a cooking class, you can experience the same camaraderie even for a moment grinding Goma seeds in this homely yet elegant eatery called Katsukura. Loosely translated as “Japanese Pork Schnitzel Storehouse”, they have a number of restaurants dotted around Kyoto, so whether you are near Kyoto City Hall, Shijo or JR Kyoto station, there is one within walking distance.

And as you grind the Goma to a rough or smooth paste, you can enjoy its healthy and slightly roasted aroma. Just like grinding coffee, once you have grinded it to your desired level, add either the original apple date and red wine sauce, or the 11 spice sauce with prunes and apples which is not hot nor super spicy, but enough to give the Tonkatsu (kind of Japanese pork schnitzel but with super light bread crumbs) a nice kick. As you can imagine this is my preferred sauce, but there is nothing stopping you from trying a bit of both sauces (though I have not tried both simultaneously in the same bite!)

Today we had lunch in the Teramachi Oike restaurant, which is on the northern end of covered shopping street loosely translated as Temple Street district, having seen a litany of temples come and go for four hundred or so years. These days Temple Street is as well known for its electronic shops as for its temples, such is the Kyoto way of blending the traditional with the contemporary. If you truly want movie-set like nostalgia, better head out to Ohara or upriver to Kameoka.

During the week the restaurant can be busy between 12pm and 1pm with office workers, so be prepared to wait 5 to 10 minutes if you are arriving between 1210 and 1pm. Our party of three dropped in at 1215pm, and got a fantastic communal square table with a beautiful Japanese floral center piece (ikebana). However like most Japanese eateries they serve lunch even late in the afternoon, so this is a great place to relax after a day of sightseeing.

The décor is best described as contemporary meets country ryokan, a mixture that would not go amiss in the Westin Kyoto, but on a much more intimate setting. I could almost see a fair bit of the restaurant from the center table, but not all, such is the intimate floor plan where up to 80 people can sit in relative privacy and not feel they are in some university cafeteria.

The crowd is buzzy without being noisy, with a good mixture of office workers, tourists and charming grandparents clutching their day packs on their way to see the cherry blossoms. I only wish that I can be so intimate and wholesome after forty years of marriage.

English and picture menus are available, and the sauce explanation card has English on one side and Korean on the other.

For around 1000 yen you can have a hearty meal of Pork Tonkatsu (like a Japanese Schnitzel) plus unlimited refills of cabbage salad, rice and miso soup, so even with an appetite of a teenager, or even a teenage sumo wrestler, this place is great value.

While the restaurant is named after its pork fillets, my pick would be the prawn tempura and especially the tofu croquettes, hot, creamy and light at the same time, it is a fantastic combination of taste, delicacy and crunchy, airy breadcrumbs. Kyoto is famous for its tofu, and with its fresh spring water and a long agricultural heritage, should be tried at least once during your stay.