Chinese food in a Spanish Baroque building by Vories |Toka-sai-kan

Date: Sunday, May 26, 2019

Deep-fried Harumaki

A Spanish Baroque building that catches the eye of people taking Shijo Bridge.

I went to the building,Tokasai-kan of William Merrell Vories architecture, one of the founders of Mentholatum.

A Chinese restaurant even though it’s a Western-style building?

It’s a strange combination.

If you look at the official site of Tokasai-kan.

At first,a Western restaurant was run and the owner asked Vories to design it.

The current building was completed in 1926.

After that, it has become an atmosphere that war was likely to occur, and It has become difficult to keep running Western restaurants.

The owner gave a chinese friend of his the building, and the Tokasai-kan was born in 1945.

The building also had a history.

Now, what about the taste?

Basic information of Tokasai-kan

Official site 

Tokasai-kan is recommended for such a person.

People who want to eat Chinese food with a light taste

Beijing cuisine: One of the four major chinese cuisines, Beijing cuisine (in addition, Sichuan, Shanghai, and Guangdong) has its roots in Shandong cuisine.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, dried such as shark fins, dried abalone, and dried  in the cold regions such as Shandong, as well as other local delicacy ingredients and seasonings, were now presented to the Emperor of Beijing.
At the same time, chefs from the Shandong region were invited to Beijing to develop Beijing cuisine as a court dish to be presented to the emperor.
In that sense, Shandong cuisine is truly the origin of Beijing cuisine.
It is said that the seasoning is a relatively light and lofty taste based on salty taste.

In addition, dried ingredients contain many nutrients, and here is the reason why it is said to be “the same source of medical food” in Beijing cuisine.　　　　Source: Toka-sai-kan

People who want to eat in historical buildings

The Appearance of The East Chinese House

Appearance of Toka-sai-kan

Because the building is large and facing the street, it is not possible to take a picture well.

seats along the Kamo River

Seats for eating are often seen along the Kamo River in spring and summer.

The seats are called Yuka.

Yuka has a unique Kyoto style for cooling.

The customers were sparse at Toka-sai-kan.

I wonder if few people eat Chinese food at Yuka.

Outside the elevator

The building is also eye-catching, but the elevator is also famous as the oldest elevator in Japan.

Elevator of Toka-sai-kan

The door is double and manual.

It’s required an operator.

Ping Pong Pingpo -N♪

On the arrival floor, you will hear the sound as if you answered the quiz correctly, and you will be informed of the arrival of the elevator.

Dishes of Toka-sai-kan

Menu part of Toka-sai-kan

I made it a la carte, not a course.

Since two small-meal women do not drink alcohol, the accounting was 5,720 yen for two people.

(Deep-fried Harumaki)

Even though I ordered soup at first, suddenly Harumaki (1,500 yen tax excluded) was served.

The burst spring roll is not a skin, but an egg.

It was delicious, but there was more quantity than I thought.

Toka-sai-kan soup

In the course of Toka-sai-kan, we offer dry ingredients.

I ordered soup of shrimp, abalone,sea cucumber (1,600 yen tax excluded).

Like the clarity of the appearance, the taste is also light.

It was delicious.

It was overturned the image of Chinese strong taste.

(fried vegetables)

It was fried firmly with oil, but there was no unpleasant feeling.

Water dumplings (Suigyoza)

Gyoza is available in three varieties: water dumplings, steamed dumplings, and sen gyoza (grilled gyoza).

I checked reviews in advance.

For those who drink beer, sen gyoza seems to be the perfect fit.

It was said that the water dumpling was ordered every time by a review of the regular customer.

We don’t drink alcohol, so we also ordered water dumplings.

The inside of the water dumpling is juicy, and you can enjoy it without soy sauce.

However, I thought I should go to eat chinese food with a large number of people.

I wanted to eat more dishes, but I was full.

I couldn’t get to dessert, so I stopped ordering here.

The reveiw of Toka-sai-kan

I’m regard that the food was not in the order I ordered.

Because it was delicious, I ordered one dish at a time in the order that I want to eat next time, and let’s go with a large number of people.

As written on the official website, Beijing cuisine served by Toka-sai-kan uses dried ingredients such as abalone.

The soup was light, and I enjoyed the taste of the ingredients, so I thought that it was delicious because it was soft water in Kyoto.

If you are planning to visit the store, I would like you to drink soup by all means.

Click here for a list of the establishments of the long-established stores that we have visited so far⇒ List arranged by year of establishment of the store

Sainara（See you）.