Nishitomiya Croquette

I love croquettes and this place was convenient on our walk home so we popped in. We wanted to eat in but they were only doing takeaway so instead of missing out, we changed our plans and got 4 to takeaway. They’re all cooked fresh while you wait and even though it was about 15 minutes before we ate, they were still hot and crispy.
We got blue cheese, plain, octopus and salmon flavours. To be honest, they were all awesome. You can’t really go wrong. I’d definitely go back here as it was a perfect afternoon snack seeing as we’d missed lunch.

A «Croquette» specialty restaurant in Kyoto that is good for takeout or eat-​in.
Japanese people, including myself, love Korokke.
Sure, it should be spelled croquette, French style, but Japanese Korokke is nothing like the Western style Croquette. It is potato with other meat or vegetable ingredients breaded and deep fried. Japanese style is to pour sauce on it and eat it with rice. It becomes a good «okazu» (main dish) with white rice.
What is interesting about Nishitomiya is that they don’t serve the sauce nor white rice. They try to be more Western. More importantly, Nishitomi-​ya does NOT pre-​fry their korokke. This is a big wow! Most takeout shops has a shelf load of pre-​cooked korokke under the heating lamp. It saves time and it makes the shelf look good. Here at Nishitomiya, the white-​breaded korokke ready to take a dive into a pool of oil are kept cool inside a glass showcase (like the ones found in a cake shop).
EATING IN: The space is small, so don’t come here looking for a long sit down dinner. Think of it like a casual tapas bar — not a table cloth dinner. Décor looks trendy and cool.
COST: 170 Yen for plain. 220 Yen for blue cheese korokke. Not bad. Certainly more expensive than your local meat shop’s korokke, which is usually 100 Yen (some times 40 Yen), but cheap for a trendy place like this.
TASTE: So I berried the lead yet again. The important question: Tomo, how did it taste? Did you like it? I hesitated on answering this immediately, because it is difficult to answer. It was very good quality and the fun nontraditional korokkes like basil, smoked salmon, cumin & masla are all very interesting. However, I love the traditional style korokke with sauce. I love those traditional crab cream korokke. So, I kind of searched for a sauce at Nishitomiya. Of course, no sauce is found here, because they pride themselves in pre-​seasoned delicious korokkes. One thing is for sure — Croquette tastes the best immediately after it is deep fried. Nishitomiya ensures that it is served immediately, so I praise them for that.
LUNCH: If you want to dine in, you need to order their lunch place, which comes with a meal size salad and 2 korokke of your choice. Drink is extra.