The Thousand Kyoto
November 28, 2019
Outside art at The Thousand
The brand spanking new hotel called The Thousand in Kyoto is a high design treat. Open, artful, tasteful, and gorgeous. We arrived via Shinkansen from Tokyo and walked the few hundred feet to the hotel. We had some tea.
Green Tea at The Thousand Tea Room
Yoshi meets the progeny
Kubota Ramen
Our first order of business was meeting Yoshi (@kemono4shikazu) who NPS met last time around in Kyoto. Yoshi is a delightful person. He took us to Kubota Ramen, a great way to start out a visit to Kyoto.
We stopped by Saredo coffee on the way back to check in.
Saredo coffee stop pic.twitter.com/GNvsHF6Olj
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 27, 2019
Check out Yoshi’s super terrific band!
We booked an incredible Japanese style suite at The Thousand and were assigned 803. An amazing room indeed!
Leave your shoes in the anteroom
Pile your suitcases by the closet
Suite 803
The suite features a terrace overlooking the train station.
Of course the shower here is NPS approved.
The shower room includes a tub
And also of course, the toilet is complicated (and plugs in for power). Not sure what
Plug in your toilet
Not sure we even want to know what “pulsate” does.
After stashing our stuff and a short respite, we headed out to Nishiki market for some consumer spending.
Nishiki market kyoto pic.twitter.com/W2c0OOMnXG
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 27, 2019
Bees Knees Kyoto is a great bar
As it was cocktail hour, we stopped in at the incomparable Bees Knees bar. Great cocktails and super people. We had some Japanese renditions of classics (CR#2, Last Word, Aperol Spritz), and then it was
off to dinner.
Bee's Knees for an opening cocktail in kyoto @LoveTequila pic.twitter.com/qfJ2ajpdsS
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 27, 2019
We wandered into Steak and Wine Ginjiro for a very touristy meal of Kobe beef and bad wine. These kinds of restaurants pervade Nishi-kiyacho Ally and can probably be safely skipped. The food was good nonetheless.
Table art at Ginjiro
Never flown
Kobe
Black sesame and green tea ice cream? Only in Japan. pic.twitter.com/57vQWMfG4b
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 28, 2019
Our attempt to visit the French bar was thwarted by crowds of tourists so we had some ice cream and refactored our plan. Next we went to Nokishita711 for some gin. Simply put, Nokishita711 is a very strange place. NPS is not so sure whether that is good or bad. A “root of all evil” cocktail was interesting indeed. But the whole scene is just a little too too.
Nokishita711
Um, a cocktail?
And then for the last few cocktails and shots of the evening, it was back to Bees Knees. We had a few with the owner. Too many shots later, we somehow managed to make it home.
We bow to the owner of Bees Knees
Sazaracs
Sleeping in late was mandatory after the raging party at Bees Knees. It was all those extra shots all around that did it.
The good news is that there is no more perfect food to cure a hangover than ramen. In Japan, evemn commercial ramen is great.
A visit to Fushimi Inari in the late afternoon put us at the top in perfect time for sunset. Magical. See lots of pictures and videos on apothecaryshed.
Get a fried chicken dinner at Sugar Hill. Delicious.
The gym at The Thousand is pretty standard issue for a hotel. Seems bigger because of mirrors. Up early to work out is good.
Breakfast on day two Kyoto was at Kawa Cafe, a French/Japanese fusion place right on the river. Highly recommended (though it is rather strange that a cafe can’t make a macchiato!).
Kawa visitors
Deliciousness at the Kawa Cafe
The walk back down was beautiful.
Walking Kyoto
In fact, being in Kyoto for autumn is a thing. Do it!
Autumn in Kyoto is gorgeous
The obligatory trip to Arashiyama included the temple gardens. Should have done that last time!
Bamboo for you
Arishayama Shadow
Obu cafe is worth a visit.
Lunch in touristland
Excellent espresso in Japan can be found at Karusa Kyoto.
Best coffee in Kyoto?! Could well be.
The Straight bar makes an excellent Japanese Negroni.
A once (or twice) in a lifetime experience involves dinner at Pontocho Misoguigawa. Just wow.
Pontocho Misoguigawa: An Incredible Culinary Experience https://t.co/kysz6Kx99G pic.twitter.com/IDqq9kHSIe
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 29, 2019
Dinner at Pontocho Misoguigawa is not to be missed.
And to top off the evening, some jazz and a Gin Rickey at Hello Dolly.
Hello Dolly jazz
A gin rickey (DC’s signature drink) in Japan
Shinkansen arrives pic.twitter.com/ZuW1zgATtS
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) November 30, 2019
Mount Fuji from the Shinkansen. See more on apothecaryshed.
Fuji
Kyoto, NPS will be back for sure!!
Five very impressive showerheads for The Thousand Kyoto
Glassaholic: Corpse Reviver #2
February 13, 2014
The Corpse Reviver #2 is one of my all time favorite drinks. Like the Liberal, this drink is simple, but the ingredients combine in a way that is hard to describe.
Make sure you call for a Corpse Reviver #2 when you ask for this drink. Corpse Reviver #1 sucks by comparison. Clueless bars will serve you one of those if you’re not careful.
Most any gin will work for this drink, and will have an impact on the final product. I like a gin at the “aromatics forward” side of the gin range. That is, anything from Hendricks on over to Leopolds. A strong gin like Plymouth can overpower the other ingredients.
Though the ingredients come in equal parts, it is important to measure for this drink carefully, especially the absinthe. Too much absinthe or lemon juice can ruin everything. 3 drops will do it.
Corpse Reviver #2
1 oz gin (in this case Bluecoat)
1 oz cointreau
1 oz lillet blanc
1 oz lemon juice (measure)
3 drops absinthe
shake. strain. serve up with a real Marasca cherry (Luxardo) in a classic cocktail glass.
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