Granvia Hotel, Kyoto, Japan

Ordered at Granvia Hotel in the Kyoto Train Station in Japan.

It was a long day. But I knew it would be that way. In a good way.

The day started in Osaka, after taking the 90 minute train transfer to the city in the “mildly air-conditioned car,” which was the perfect temperature for the ride.

In Osaka, I met Yuko, Anthony Bourdain‘s (former) personal food guide. She took me on a food tour extravaganza where I had a blast eating extremely unique small Japanese dishes, both traditional and some with western influence. I was overloaded with Japanese food on this tour.

As advanced as Japan is, nowhere we went excepted credit cards. And these restaurants were quite nice. Amazingly enough, my ATM card was broken, so I was literally broke in Japan. It was pretty embarrassing to be totally honest. And while it was nice to get my expenses covered tonight by Yuko (who I would reimburse), I kind of wondered what I should do tomorrow, knowing I literally had no cash. Oh well, that’s tomorrow problem.

Yuko set me up on the train from Osaka to Kyoto, full of businesspeople heading home for the night, and I made my way to the next city with nothing but smiles on my face.

For now, I was tired in Kyoto, and all I wanted to do was relax in my hotel room. Tomorrow’s agenda had a private cooking lesson with a Michelin start chef, so relaxing was probably the perfect thing for tonight‘s activity.

My friend recommended the Granvia, a five-star hotel located within Kyoto’s train station, mainly for convenience. And convenient it was. Fortunately, I was upgraded from a tiny twin room to a massive king size room with an expansive view of the city and mountains beyond – it was fantastic.

And luck was on my side, because while I didn’t have any cash, I didn’t need any – their room service menu boasted a club sandwich that I simply could not resist, and didn’t need to (my credit card worked at the hotel).

A Sapporo beer and club sandwich to cap the night off, with a view of the illuminated Kyoto Tower in the background, what more could I ask for?

Arriving just after 10 minutes after ordering, I was pleased with this speed. An absolutely excellent club sandwich, Granvia took care in selecting the ingredients and creating this meal. I was thrilled with each bite’s deliciousness, the ingredients coming together in a symphony of flavors. Every mouthful was more satisfying than the next. The egg perfectly cooked, the chicken and bacon nicely seasoned, the ratio of ingredients giving each bit the perfect amount of umami. Granvia’s club sandwich was fantastic.

The only let down was the slightly soggy bread holding it all together. A solid meal that sadly was mired by the carbohydrate ingredient… the only reason why Granvia’s sandwich didn’t make it into the top 3.

This was a superb club sandwich, meticulously crafted, something I knew Granvia was proud of.

And I went to bed satisfied, excited for the next day, eagerly awaiting even more stops on my food tour.

Location