As many other people who commute to another location for work on a regular basis, I often refer to the other town or city as my Second Hometown, despite the fact that no overnight trips are made. In my case, it's Jena - a smaller city compared to Erfurt and about 40 minutes away by car (a lot less if you're a speedster and know the Autobahn like the back of your hand). I take the train, so reaching the Jena West train station takes me 25 minutes max.
As it's mainly my "work" city, I normally do an in-out commute - in to Jena, zoom straight to the clients' offices, then out back to Erfurt. Yes, I've traversed the the whole shopping strip there, had a couple of meals and even managed to visit their award-winning Planetarium (which, by the way, is really worth the visit!). But in the almost four years that I've been commuting regularly, I never really thought of visiting Jena for, well, Jena's sake.
So it was that one fine day, I decided to go to Jena and see it through the eyes of a tourist. And to explore its offerings to the day visitor. Which led me to 969 Kyoto for lunch.
You may wonder why I landed in a German town and eat at an Asian restaurant. Back story - Jena is a University Town/City, which in Germany refers to a town that is predominantly made up of research and learning institutions at varying levels. Jena is such a town, comprising (at least) 40 different research and higher learning institutions, run by both the public and private sectors, not including other branches and smaller institutions. Translated, the town centre is full of restaurants and eateries offering cuisine from all over the world. So diverse, in fact, that there could actually be more choices for Asian food in one concentrated square foot here, than in most other German cities.
So it was that I Google-mapped my way to 969 Kyoto, tucked away in a corner of the town centre. My patronage was made purely based on the star rating and reviews it received online, which were mainly in the excellent category. Curiosity piqued, I made my way there based on the turn-left-turn-right instructions on my mobile screen.
As it was a Saturday, it was unfortunate that I couldn't order my rice bowls (only available on weekdays). So I consoled myself with a Yaki Soba Tempura Prawns as a main, and a miso soup on the side.
A Yaki Soba Tempura Prawns is a dry noodle dish with tempura prawns (flour deep fried prawns) and garnished with vegetables and shredded dried seaweed. The noodles are thicker than the usual noodles, kind of a cross between noodle and spaghetti. Accompanying it were the shredded vegetables comprising Shitake mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, carrots, porree or leek, and bean sprouts (or taugeh, as it's called in South East Asia). Topping off the dish was medium-lengthed shards of ginger, red cabbage and spring onions.
The noodles are smeared with Yaki Soba sauce which is a creamy-ish sauce concentrated at the bottom of the bowl that enriches the whole noodle dish wonderfully. The result is a rich and fulfilling taste that lingers on the palate as you get through the meal. Even without the tempura, the noodles themselves taste rich in diversity - a combined effort of pliable and crunchy textures from the vegetables and dried seaweed, plus the mix of bland and rich flavours from the cabbage and carrots, and the Yaki Soba sauce.
The first landing of these on my tongue was akin to the first slide down on a roller-coaster - something like a "wheeeeee" giggly moment. And just like being on a roller-coaster, there is the expectation that the rest of the ride, or meal in this case, will be something to look forward to.
This Yaki Soba Tempura did not disappoint. The noodles weren't soggy - just nicely pliable and, drenched in that addictive original Yaki Soba sauce, could easily stand on their own even without the dressings of the vegetables and tempura, although those definitely made perfect accomplices. The crisp freshness of the vegetables added a freshness to the dish, not necessary but an excellent culinary touch.
The co-star of the dish, the tempura prawns, is freshly fried so they were crisp and light to the bite. This is, to me, frightfully important as soggy tempuras aren't exactly enjoyable; as with all things fried, they may retain the tastes and flavours, but are decidedly chewy and gummy which definitely drops their enjoyability by ... a lot. So fresh tempura for me is an absolute must, and 969 Kyoto definitely fulfilled this requirement. In addition, the flour was light (as opposed to thick and heavy), and the tempura pieces were equally lightly fried, so there wasn't any unwanted tang of oil in any of them. Again, a definite plus.
Now to my side order of miso soup. First impression was that it was generous, very much so. Usually, miso soups have a couple of small cubes of tofu, some seaweed floating around and garnishes of some sort. Here, my miso soup was, in itself, a presentation. Indeed a generous portion (as a side dish) and full of tofu cubes, which I absolutely appreciate because I love steamed tofu in my soups. The seaweed in it was equally generous which made my miso soup practically a mini meal on its own.
Taste-wise, it was a little too salty for me. However, as mentioned in some of my past blogs, my palate has a tendency towards the spicy rather than salty/sweet, so my salt/sugar sensitivity gets triggered when the levels exceed my "normal" planes (which is pretty low compared to the average European palate).
So I prefer my miso soup a little less salty, especially since they are my accompaniment to whatever I happen to order at the time, as I don't like them interfering with the other flavours. Judging by the reactions of other patrons who also ordered the soup, however, I'm pretty sure I am the only one who feels this way. So don't let my opinion affect your decision to order their miso soups. Based on the the generosity of the soup alone, it is definitely worth a try. Altogether, I have to agree with the online reviews. 969 Kyoto has won me over with their flavourful dish, generous portions and yes, friendly service.
In short, I'm thrilled I now have a non work-related excuse to go to Jena. Made even more tempting by the launch of the €49-Deutchlandsticket (valid from May 2023).
To have a look at the other offerings on 969 Kyoto's sumptuous menu, click here. See you in Jena!
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