Eat in Osaka (Japan)

Here are the reviews of some of the foods I ate during my holiday in Osaka last year (Sep 2013), including the famous kobe beef, fugu (the poisonous blowfish), a snapshot of a 3-michelin star restaurant dining experience (Fujiya 1935), ramen restaurant, grill and beer house, some cafes, tea house and random street foods, delis and food souvenirs that I bought back. 

1. Kobe Beef @Steak Land, Kobe

Eating Kobe beef is one of the highlights of my Osaka trip. We traveled to Kobe, about half an hour train ride from Dobutsuen-mai Station (2 stations away from Namba shopping district), to Sannomiya Station. The restaurant is just within walking distance from Sannomiya Station. It was quite easy to find.

The kobe beef, like what people always say, melts in your mouth, indeed. For me, it's like a cross between the fatty pork belly and the soft beef tenderloin meat texture. But for my husband, he said it feels like a piece of fatty salmon fillet, also melt in his mouth.

The bill for 2 beautiful Kobe beef set lunch costs around JPY 8,500 (RM 280 or USD 90) which I think is super satisfying and value for money. Tips: Go during lunch time. The lunch set is 30-40% cheaper than the dinner set, comparing the same set of meat cut. But I don't know what extra stuff they give for dinner set.  

2. Fugu (Blowfish) @Dotonbori area

We had this poisonous fish - blowfish karaage, blowfish sushi, and blowfish sashimi, at one of the fugu restaurants in Dotonbori Street. The blowfish meat is tough, very lean fish. Weird enough, after eating this, I felt a little dizzy and I was so scared and started searching for the symptoms of blowfish poison effect. It was scary and tragic indeed to be the victim of blowfish eater. But luckily nothing happened after few hours. I was so relieved.

3. Fujiya 1935 @2-4 1 4 Yariyamachi

Fujiya 1935 is one of those few 3-Michelin Star restaurants in Osaka. The whole experience was great - the food, course by course, was like a little bundle of surprise. The atmosphere and the service was pleasant and casual. We felt very relaxed there and just enjoyed the food and the moment. For a more detailed review, click here.

 

 

 

4. Ramen & Pork Rice @Mannen, Minasemba 3-6-4 

This is just one of the random rice and ramen shops that we tried out. The set lunch we had was good and affordable. 

5. Fukushima 283 Grill & Beer House @8 Chome 8-23 Fukushima

This was recommended by Sam, our bicycle tour guide from Osaka Cycle. He told us that not many tourists come here because the menu is written all in Japanese and the waiters hardly speak English. But we were brave enough to try it out and ordered our food blindly. We were quite happy with what we got. The grilled cuttlefish was nice. It was not a dinner, more like our supper, it was perfect.

6. Graf @4 Chome 1-9 Nakoshima

Located at a corner of street behind Osaka Science Museum, Graf is a small designer furniture and household shop with a cafe attached to it. They serve very good caneles and scones. Perfect for brunch and teatime.

7. D&Department Osaka @2 Chome 9-14 Minamihorie

This is also another gallery, furniture and household shop with cafe on the top floor. There is nothing special about the food and drink here, we just wanted to check out their stuff.

8. Doutor Coffee @Shinsaibashi

This is something like 'Starbucks' coffee chain in Japan. We had this probably at Shinsaibashi area, one of the busiest shopping districts in Osaka. Their mille crepe is not bad, coffee is okay too.

9. MUJI Meal @Cafe & Meal MUJI

This is something like what we call 'mix rice' in Malaysia and Singapore. It was a decent meal.

10. Kitahama Retro Teahouse @1 Chome 1-26 Kitahama

This teahouse was again recommended by Sam, our bicycle tour guide. It was quite a popular place to visit in daytime, we have to queue for a while to get a seat. Their cakes and scones were not fantastic, the tea was decent but it's a good way to spend our afternoon.

11. Street Foods, Delis, Sweet Stuff, Beer  @everywhere

11.1. Street Foods - Takoyaki & Okonomomiyaki @Noda Station

Okonomiyaki

11.2. Delis - Gyu-don, Onigiri & Oden @Family Mart

Gyu-don

Onigiri

Oden

11.3. Sweet Stuff

Macaron in Eclair Shape

Pastry Shop @Kitahama Area

Sweet Crepe

Random Crepe Stall

Matcha (Green Tea) Ice Cream

11.4. Beer

Sapporo Beer

12. Souvenir Foods

Green Tea KitKat

Green Tea Pocky

Dorayaki

Cube Pastry I guess?

Red Bean Paste Mooncake

Assorted Cakes

Grocery Shopping!!!

Useful links:

Wikitravel Osaka
Cycle Osaka
Michelin Guide Osaka 2013
Osaka Subway Map
Osaka Google Map