町屋 · Machiya
Named for the townhouse, built for the neighbourhood
A machiya is the old wooden townhouse of Kyoto — narrow to the street, long and warm inside, with the kitchen at its heart. That is the room we wanted on Rue Clark: a doorway you duck into off a busy Chinatown block, and a counter where the pot has been going since morning. Our tonkotsu is simmered in-house until it turns opaque, then built to order with cha-shu, a soft-centre egg and whatever else you add on. Alongside it: donburi rice bowls, Japanese curry, gyoza pan-fried on the flat top, and cold beer.
