Shrove Tuesday and Teppanyaki

Out for dinner tonight and Leanne was adamant we had to have pancakes as it is Shrove Tuesday. However, at the start of the evening we were thinking this would be as a desert!

Wondering around the lanes of Ponto-cho we found a cool Teppanyaki restaurant called Ya-Ki-So-Ba. It looked like great fun from the outside, with every table having it's own teppanyaki hot plate, and floor level tables so you had to sit cross legged. We wondered in and we had to take off our shoes before being seen to our table. As we sat down, all of the chefs shouted out something in Japanese, which we can only assume meant "welcome".

It was great little restaurant, with really friendly staff and an awesome buzz to the place!

The special was Okonomiyaka with Japanese beef, which is a Japanese style pancake. Leanne's wish was granted, and we were having pancakes for dinner! We also ordered some special fry noddles with shrimp, squid and prawns - and also some edimame beans and a couple of Kirin beers.

When the food came out, the waitress put it straight on to our hotplate. We had the noddles going, the beef Okonomiyaka pancake, and had a couple of mini spatulars that we could use to flip and cut up the food. It was all so tasty, and the Okonomiyaka was more like egg fried rice than a traditional pancake. We also both agreed that we loved having a meal out where we shared a dish between us, cooked a bit, shared a bit, and talked some more. It's such a social way to have dinner and makes the whole night so much fun.

Another great night in Kyoto. We love this place!