#daikan

The 24th day of the 24th lunar month

Today is the 24th day of the 24th solar term, 'Daikan' (dead of winter). This is the coldest season of the year.

It is said that water drawn from wells at this time of the year is free from impurities and will not spoil, and has been used for making sake and rice cakes. This is also the time of the year when traditional events and practices such as

cold bathing are held in many places.

Lively Jūsanmairi shrine visit outfits (seen on and on). I really like how they styled those kanzashi in pair (usually, hairpins of those type are worn alone on left side)

Daikan – “Indigo”

October Child out now. (more…)

  Interior of Daikan

Izakaya Bar

Daikan is a Japanese Izakaya bar style located in the city centre of Cologne, Germany. Izakaya bars are so-called Japanese ‘pubs’ where you can grab a few bites of food and typically serve alcoholic drinks too. If you are going by car you can park right across in the parking garage at the Maastricherstraße. With public transport it’ll only take you a few mins from the train station by tram taking you to Friesenplatz and from there on it’s a 3 min walk.

  Menu On the menu you’ll find a variety of dishes such as ramen, sushi, poke-bowls, gyoza and some fine side dishes. For drinks they serve typical soda’s as well as beer and wine. Prices are not expensive at all. For <€15 per person you can grab a complete lunch with drinks. You will not leave Daikan with an empty stomach: portions are big!

First page of menu

What I ate We ordered the Shio and Veggie-Miso ramen with both Kimchi as a side dishes. They were perfectly fermented and taste very fresh. The broth in the Shio soup has a lot of flavours. I’m a fan of fresh and crisp ingredients so I loved the spring onions and taugé on top. In the Veggie-Miso soup there are lots of sweet corn (love it) and the miso flavour is surprisingly subtle in the midst of all those ingredients. Because we couldn’t finish everything, we took the ramen with us to-go.

  Shio Ramen

Veggie-Miso Ramen

Kimchi

Ice Teas

  For drinks we had matcha and lemon-mint ice teas. These are not as sweet as the regular ice teas but they taste good and are worth trying.

Verdict Food ★★★☆☆ There are a lot more options to choose from than only ramen. I’d regret being there for only such a short time, asI would have loved to try out the other dishes on the menu as well. Especially the sushi and poke-bowls looked delicious being served to our neighbouring customers. However I will say the ramen tastes much like instant ramen, which is not the experience you are going for when visiting an Izakaya bar. Vegetarian-friendly ★★★★☆ A nice mix of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes on the menu. Everyone can enjoy their lunch or dinner here. Drinks ★★★★☆ The fresh ice-teas are my personal recommendation. But definitely do try their imported beers from Japan and let me know how they are! Accessibility ★★★★★ Very well accessible by car, public transport or even on foot. After eating you can explore the city of Cologne in the shops nearby. Price ★★★★★ The prices are quite cheap. Especially with regards to what I mentioned earlier about the portions being big.

  All in all this was a good experience at Daikan and I would love to come back. A small side note if you are planning a visit: payment by card is only available if you spend €50,- or more. Any orders under this amount need to be paid by cash. Staff did not inform us beforehand, so make sure to have some cash with you to avoid some fuss at the cashier.

If you’d like to know more about Daikan, you can visit:

Facebook

Instagram

Official website

Source: Daikan | Izakaya Bar.