Kyoto

Call me old fashioned if you will; I’ve been called worse, but I feel comfortable when my waiters serve me in the kneeling position.

This is the treat in store at Kyoto. But not always.

When we rang to book it was Christmas holiday season, and the only thing left was Tatami. Well, I’d tried sushi, sashimi and maki so it seemed reasonable to extend the experiences of my palate.

As one who has long since delegated the task of toe nail cutting to secondary personnel it was a bit of a shock to discover that I was expected to shoehorn myself into a tight area that can only be described as a shed, and a flimsy one at that, where neither the benches nor the table seemed to have been constructed with adults in mind.

Still, different culture different values, and I for one have never baulked in hazardous situations.

There were a lot of people who hadn’t paid the extra 3€ a head for the privilege, so I decided to keep my mouth shut, and of course, there wasn’t much kneeling going on where the hoi polloi were concerned.

There are various menus; a daily one at 8.30€ and then depending on day of the week or inclination, at 11.50€, 14.70 and 16.70; less for children, who are officially categorised as under 9s.

You can order as much as you like for the more expensive menus and, in our case, get in as much kneeling as you can.

Getting into the mood we tried clapping our hands to see if that would bring the waiter, and charming they all were, but were quietly and politely informed that we were making the peasants restless, and that opening the sliding door was a more suitable approach.

The food was pretty much the same as other Japanese restaurants in Valencia, and was served quickly and efficiently.

Leaving was quite complicated as you had to slide out and put your shoes back on in front of a lot of cheap people unwilling to splash out a bit.

Kyoto is in Avenida Valladolid 5, although I believe there is more than one.