To experience Kyoto’s cosmopolitan qualities, go to an upscale department store where customer service is as important as the high quality goods. Attentive, smiling clerks greet guest in each department of the Daimaru Department Store.
When you visit Daimaru, go downstairs to the elegant food court, where prepared foods in jewelry style display cases include cakes, donuts, muffins, candies, cream-filled pastries, elaborate French style confections, chocolate, tempura vegetables, fried fish, grilled unagi (eel) and dozens of colorful vegetable pickles. Since very few people in Kyoto speak English, without a guide it’s a difficult time asking for what we want, but in the food court it’s easy to point and gesture.
It’s tempting to taste everything. To do that, you’ll need to carry cash and a lot of it. Credit cards aren’t accepted everywhere and, unhappily, the dollar/yen exchange rate favors the yen, which means a cup of brewed coffee costs $5.00 U.S.
I try an onigri (rice ball) with cooked salmon. The nori (seaweed) on the outside is toasted crisp and crunches in my mouth like a thin sheet of pork crackling. The rice is moist and sweet. The onigri tastes fresher and more delicious than ones I’ve eaten at home.
