Masayo will welcome you into her beautiful cafe with a warm smile and a cup of Japanese tea. Hear about your menu for the day as you enter a traditional tatami room where you will dine on your meal. Your homemade Japanese feast may include traditional Japanese meat dishes such as chicken meatballs with teriyaki sauce or chicken karaage or ginger pork, Japanese egg rolls, an organic vegetable salad, miso soup, rice and dessert. Feel free to let Masayo know if there are any specific Japanese dishes that you would like to try. Please note that vegetarian options are not available.
Join Masayo in her cafe kitchen for a hands-on cooking experience in Kyoto. Masayo will teach you to make a traditional Japanese meal from scratch, using fresh, seasonal produce locally sourced in Kyoto. You will make Obentou (lunch box) that consists of a meat main dish, rice, and two side dishes. Meant to be tasty, healthy and eye-catching, Obentou is an important part of Japanese food culture. Learn Japanese cooking techniques of chopping, marination and stir-frying from an expert before enjoying the Obentou meal you helped prepare on beautiful Japanese dishes.
Masayo specializes in meat dishes so does not offer a vegetarian only menu.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Side: Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet) with dashiSoup: Miso soupChoice of main: Chicken teriyaki, chicken karaage or ginger pork with riceVegetable side: Fresh organic salad or grilled Japanese vegetablesA Kansai native, which includes the Kyoto and Osaka regions, Masayo was born and raised in Osaka and moved to Kyoto with her family eight years ago. She and her husband decided to buy and renovate an old, historical house into their family home in Kyoto. Adjacent to her home is a cafe that Masayo runs and hosts cooking classes at. Masayo is a professional chef who attended one of the most famous culinary schools in Japan and has been teaching cooking for over two decades. Her mother inspired her passion for cooking but what really drove her to hone her cooking skills was her desire to delight her husband with beautiful and delicious dishes. Masayo harvests almost all her vegetables from a close friend's organic farm in Kyoto. She takes prides in using the freshest, highest quality ingredients from seaweed to bonito sourced from local producers. Experience traditional Japanese food, culture and Japanese life with a professional cook in her cafe. Please note that Masayo sometimes may have a friend join your experience as a translator.
"We really enjoyed our lunch. Our host was very friendly and although her English was limited we were able to communicate easily. The house and garden are beautiful as is the area where her home is located. We had two older travellers with us who found it difficult to sit on the floor, chairs were provided."
