I mentioned in my last post that our dinner in Kyoto after our tour of the Kyoto Imperial Palace deserved it’s own post.

So here goes.

I don’t know that I could really do Cafe Proverbs 15:17 any justice.  Finding vegetarian food in Japan was not difficult, really… it was at every Freshness Burger. Almost every convenience store had onigiri made with soy sauce and dried veggies. The buffet at our hotel had plenty of things to give Napkin and I all the complete proteins we could have wanted. But it was all stuff we could have eaten in the US.

Finding a restaurant where we didn’t have to embarrass ourselves with our marginal Japanese skills and request special dishes was something that Napkin and I were really desperate for. We wanted authenticity! Japanese cuisine! I had read a few blogs about being vegetarian in Tokyo (VegOutTokyo being my favorite) and discovered this pretty magical sounding restaurant in Tokyo called Kick Back Cafe. For some reason, Napkin and I could never make it to this little hidden spot.  I learned, from VegOut, that they had a sister restaurant in Kyoto called Cafe Proverbs 15:17 that was equally as vegetarian friendly– and not too far from where we had been meandering around the Kyoto Palace (a fifteen minute bus ride, tops.)

So we headed that way!

We walked, because the day was warm and the scenery was totally beautiful.

(This was a little bridge over Imadegawa street, near Kyoto University.)

In fact! Here’s Kyoto University! We walked right by!

We walked a couple blocks or so down Imadegawa Street after passing the university entrance and we found Cafe Proverbs. It’s located in the middle of everything; near Kyoto University and on the corner of Imadegawa Street and Higashi Oji Street.

It’s small and hidden up a couple flights of stairs… but once you arrive, it’s tidy and clean and sunny. Lots of windows and very welcoming.

The staff was bilingual and helped explain the menu to us… everything was vegetarian and there were plenty of vegan options.  Their menus are also seasonal– depending on the type of produce they can get.

Here’s the Autumn 2012 menu!

Napkin and I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what to get– everything looked totally incredible.

I decided on a curry “chicken” dish.

And Napkin decided on the soy milk ramen. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of it… but there’s a good reason for that.  When our meals came, we were sampling each other’s and all of a sudden I had an out of body experience with Napkin’s ramen. I have NEVER IN MY LIFE had anything more delicious.

(I’m sorry…)

Yall, I’m a foodie. Not the stuck up persnickety kind– but I love a good, well prepared meal. This was absolutely the best thing I’ve ever had. In fact, if I was on death row this is what I would want as my last meal. I am NOT JOKING.

I wish I could give you an idea of what was in it. (I’ve tried to replicate it multiple times.) It was a soy milk and vegetable broth base with perfect soba noodles and (I think) braised root vegetables that just made a perfect, perfect meal. It came served with an equally impressive salad (with a lot of the same veggies!)

It was everything I could have hoped for. It was SO GOOD, in fact, that I made Napkin take me all the way there a second time the next day so that I could have one more bowl of ramen before we left Kyoto.

Basically, it was heaven. And worth its own blog post.

Visit Cafe Proverb’s website if you’re in Kyoto. You’ll experience rainbow face too.