The winter special at Kyoto Garden Sushi

I love winter because of two reasons:  1) The amount of red wine you can drink without judgement; and 2) winter specials!

I recently popped into Kyoto Garden Sushi to check out their winter special which gives you 3 courses & a glass of wine for R170 pp (running until the end of winter).

Some of you may remember that I actually did a full review of Kyoto back in Sep 2014 (if you missed it – do also check that review out over here).  Since then I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t been back (this is the curse that goes along with trying new places all the time), so it was really nice to pay them a visit again.

It’s still as pretty as always…

And it was also nice to see that it’s actually a very cosy spot for winter.  Now like I mentioned above, their winter special gives you 3 courses and a glass of wine, and this is what your options look like:

But to kick things off, we decided to order some cocktails first.  Their cocktail creations are quite unique, so I do recommend you give them a try.  On the left below you have the Ginger Mizuwari – infused with root ginger, fresh limes and a smooth whiskey, and then on the right you have the Green Tea Destiny – A zesty drink incorporating aromatic Japanese green tea, a squeeze of fresh lime, Sake, Premium London Dry Gin and a splash of lemonade.

Now let’s talk food.  For starters my dining-partner-in-crime, Leigh, opted for the tuna tartare while I went for the scallops:

Then for mains, she went for the rice with special fish and I went for the sauteed noodles with prawns:

Then this is what the black sesame seed ice cream looks like:

Although I think this menu is a pocket-friendly way of getting into the Kyoto vibe, I do think you’ll be doing yourself an injustice by just sticking to what’s on that menu.  You simply have to supplement it with a few extra things, particularly if you have a big appetite.  (I’m not going lie to you – as you’ll see from the photos above, they’re really more about quality over quantity – focusing on unusual dishes, the freshest ingredients & a Japanese fine dining experience – so don’t expect a big T-bone steak or anything similar)

Again, you can check out my last review for some ideas (worked my way through quite a lot of things during that visit – so it gives you a good idea of the range of items available on the full menu), or I can also highly recommend anything scallop related:  tempura scallops, scallops sashimi, basically just make it a scallop fiesta! 😉 #youwontregretit

On the night the chef let us try a few of their tempura options.  Below from left to right you have:  tempura oysters, tempura scallops & tempura mussels (their mussels are huge btw):

But if you want my choices from the winter menu options, I’d say:  Course 1 – scallops, Course 2 – sauteed noodles with prawns & well course 3 you don’t have an option, but that black sesame seed ice cream is delicious & light.

So there you have it folks – if you’ve been wanting to give them a try, do give them a call on: 021 422 2001  They are open Monday to Saturday 5.30pm-11pm.

xxx