徒も楽
(2023.5 Visit) During the latter half of May, I came to Kyoto - Part 2. I met up with a friend at Kyoto Station, and we decided to grab food from "Kyoto Tower Sand Food" on the 1st basement floor of Kyoto Tower. Now, it's time for the drinks section (seems like we're making things a bit complicated). We visited "Kyoto Tower Sand Bar" (^^♪.
Address: 721-1 Higashi Shiokoji-cho, Karasuma-dori Shichijo-sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City
Opening Hours: 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Closed: According to Kyoto Tower Sand
Seating: 13 seats (Food court has 300 seats)
For food, we decided to go with Link-san's recommendation. When it came to ordering, we were inclined towards highballs, but there was another place with intriguing menu options. After discussing with my friend, we thought, "This is Kyoto! It has to be Uji tea!" with that tourist mindset (laughs).
Luxury Uji Matcha Beer - 900 yen
It's a cocktail of tea and beer, with three varieties available: Hojicha, Uji Matcha (each 700 yen).
There were various other types of alcohol and snacks available, but we decided to go with this one.
The wait time wasn't as long as for the fried chicken, but we still waited for about 7-8 minutes (^^;). They prepare the matcha with a whisk and then mix it with the beer. The matcha powder even forms a frothy layer on top. The foam is so thick that when you tilt the glass to take a sip, you get a green foam mustache (I don't have a photo, so sorry about that).
Just as I took a sip, our fried chicken was ready. However, I must say, tea and beer separately is better. It seems like they created this to attract tourists back, as tourism had declined significantly due to the pandemic, and it's available in other places too. But it felt a bit over-the-top (laughs). Well, from a tourist perspective, it might be a win-win, but the presentation was impressive (ΦωΦ)♪. This is what makes food courts interesting - you get to enjoy the best of both worlds. Thanks for the meal!