One of my finer meals in Kyoto is a fine-dining Italian meal at The Sodoh in Gion area (Not too far from Kiyomizudera). One of the highlights of this restaurant is the open kitchen where customer can see where the magic happens. Secondly, I remembered that the wine pour was very generous. That is always a good thing for me as I received almost 2 servings of wine in one. I was set for the night! Probably the wine didn’t help me much in understanding the Japanese meal descriptions. I was dining with a Japanese native speaker; hence all the food description was done in Japanese. My descriptions for you are all based on my limited Japanese understanding and secondhand English translation (ie. Very long Japanese sentences ended up being two English words for each course).
The meal starts out with seafood appetizer consisting of shrimp and buri fish. The shrimp tastes very fresh and the fish is very delicate. It was a light cold appetizer that holds a lot of promise for the courses to come.
Red Chicken Salad came next. The Red Chicken does not taste like chicken. It has a more delicate taste compared to ordinary chicken. I am not a big chicken fan in general, but I enjoyed this succulent chicken salad.
My favorite course of the night is the jumbo mushrooms with shitake mushrooms, truffles and cheese. The jumbo mushroom acts like a vessel to contain minced mushroom and cheese. The dish was topped off with shaved truffles. The fragrance of the truffles adds an extra dimension to the dish. It was match made in heaven.
Mushroom with cheese and shaved truffles
Next comes the Veal Pasta. It was the right portion size for me, however the men were wising that there were more pasta and veal in the dish. It was a decent pasta dish, however it was out shined by mushroom dish.
The main dish was Snapper and scallops with tomato paste. This dish kicks a punch of flavors. The tomato flavors complements the freshness of the fish. The acidity of the tomatoes helps us to enjoy the dish without overpowering the snapper. One let down was the overcooked the scallops. The scallop was slightly rubbery in texture. It would be a perfect dish if the scallop were cooked properly.
Fish and Scallops with tomato paste
Our party was not satisfied yet with the meal, so they added an additional meat course. I was getting full at this stage and was relieved that the roast pork loin was small portioned. It taste rich and full of flavor. It was a great end to the meal.
Of course there is dessert to conclude the dinner. The chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce was good, but not exceptional. It is a decent way to end the meal. Overall it was an enjoyable meal with hit and misses. This restaurant does embodies the Italian Japanese concept very well.
Glutton Girls 