Month: June 2016

It’s not what it seems. It’s a lot simpler than that. Gekko Sabo is a quiet pour over and tea shop, tucked underneath Lattest Omotessando Espresso. I was meant to go to the latter but the high end audiophile equipment and phonograph records that could be seen from Gekko Sabo’s windows beckoned.

It was a far better choice to visit GS. I smelled the sweet scent of a cigar which turned out to be a a Short Churchill. One man in the shop finishing up and the rest was for us.

I ordered a mocha pour over. The menu was only in Japanese so I had to make do w rudimentary conversation w the owner.

Never had I seen a pour over where the barista drops temperature measured water into the ground beans and filter one Sep at a time. The whole process probably took 12 mins.

This was the most important pour over I’ve ever had. Perfect temperature and balance. It was smooth (in a very impressive way) and delicious. I couldn’t imagine how such a cup could reveal a different side of coffee. It’s light, refreshing and clean. There is no after taste that usually annoys me after certain types of coffee. 

Menya Shono, courtesy of Brian’s Ramen Adventure blog was a perfect bowl of ramen. Whilst the ramen shop operates different concept shops, this one came highly recommended due to its mixture of pork bone stick with dried fish stock.

Always wanted to hit one of these places, an old school tea shop that also sells coffee. This is Japan’s precursor to the modern coffee shop. You can drink and smoke in peace, there’s no wifi and normally you find old guys hanging here. But today, in Kyoto, the patrons are young. It’s good to see that, it tells me that this shop will continue on. 

I really don’t know what it means, but it’s a great time to get together with friends and family. More reason to  feast.

Kyoto’s 3rd highest ranked coffee based on Beanhunter .

While I can’t vouch for its ranking, I must say the Guatemalan espresso was spot on, oily and acidic. 

The surprise was the specialty blend for the cappuccino . Beautiful, soft (Japanese style), with a nice nuttiness to the finish.

One word of advice, both Google and Apple map apps don’t work. It’s all trial and error.