japan vi: ajanta, kyoto

Located on the same street as Mikoan, we found Ajanta when we were hungry and couldn't find anywhere else to go. Ajanta is a tiny Indian restaurant with both English and Japanese menus, and lots of Bollywood movies being played on their tiny television screen.



We went in to Ajanta on a whim, and I was glad that we did. Ajanta had an entire giant vegetarian section, and the waiter was excellent about telling me what had cream or yoghurt or ghee, and what I could and couldn't eat. They also were very accommodating of Josie's nut allergy, and the fact that I kept asking one million questions.



We started with a carrot and tomato soup, poured out for us from a teapot and served in dainty tea cups. This soup was on the house, and it was delicious! It was a great way to start the meal.

We ordered an assortment of dishes to share, as well as the world's most giant pieces of naan. The smallest of these naans was the cheese naan (not vegan), which was the size of a small pizza. The largest of these was the plain naan (for me), which was about the size of my MacBook. With all these naans, the table became very crowded.



We ordered a vegetable biryani which was coloured a brilliant red, and which made an excellent breakfast the next morning; a cauliflower and potato curry; an aloo palak, which we ordered because we desperately wanted some spinach; and a mixed vegetable curry with a bit of bite.

The service at Ajanta was delightful, and though it proved to be one of the more expensive meals of our trip, it was no less fabulous for it.

Ajanta
515-4 Teramachi-Takatsuji
Shimogyo-ku
Kyoto

(京都府京都市下京区寺町通高辻下ル京極町515-4)