Take a dozen hungry European photographers on a trip to Japan and one great Korean cook … and you will get a perfect match.

Our trip to Japan was a very intensive two weeks. On the fifth day, or it was the sixth, no matter, we spent the morning from eight am or so in one of the most fabulous Japanese gardens in Kanazawa (>>>). Around noon we took a Shinkansen to Kyoto to see the end of the Aoi Matsuri festival (>>>). On the evening we went to Oinari San, a Shinto temple where you climb a mountain alongside paths of torii (>>>). Around nine pm, we finally went to take a grab. A restaurant we chose on the Trip Advisor was full. We were tired and hungry. But we noticed a small but tiny restaurant just round a corner. So we sat down … in a small Korean restaurant in the very city center of Kyoto. And it was it. 

Below a sequence of shots, I made as our host was prepping one of the dishes she served us. Now, as I look at the shots and the time schedule, it was very simple food (this one dish of course) requiring around 10-15 minutes altogether to prepare. Still, although during our stay in Japan each evening we went to enjoy local food, that one evening in a Korean restaurant we all consider as one of the best experiences we had on our trip to Japan.