Osaka Okonomiyaki and Horumon お好み焼き, ホルモン焼き

It was our last night in Osaka. We wanted to clear our list of to-eat here. We went in search of Osaka Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), a kind of savory pancake with toppings such as meat or squid. We found one beside the Dotonbori canal - Bonkuraya Dotonbori (ぼんくら家).

Below was one of the shop's specialty 巨乳焼き - translated to mean "big breast" grill. The topping was actually mentai mayo.

Another food we wanted to try was the Horumon yaki (ホルモン焼き). It is a kind of grill where most of the items are beef or port offals. We came to Showa Taishu Horumon (昭和大衆ホルモン). Similar to other grills, be prepared to smell after the meal. This restaurant was decorated with a Showa theme, which seems to be a popular restaurant theme in Japan.

昭和大衆ホルモン 宗右衛門町店
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270202/27012628/

お好み焼き・鉄板焼 ぼんくら家 道頓堀店
Website: https://dreamreality-group.co.jp/shop-list/bonkuraya/
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270202/27056606/

Sakebar Takashi 日本酒場 たかし

We found a tiny sake bar just beside the dotonbori canal. It was on the second floor of the Shunpan building (春帆ビル). Place was called Takashi after the owner/master.

It could probably take in about 5-6 person at a time. Though tiny, it offered a view of the streets below. We were here for a short drink. And we managed to try out some junmai ginjo (純米吟醸). There were probably about 20-30 kinds of sakes. Instead of going through the menu, we decided to ask the master to recommend.

There were also some light snacks to go along.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E9%85%92%E5%A0%B4%E3%81%9F%E3%81%8B%E3%81%97/105876470804540
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270202/27113833/

Shinsekai Oyajinokushiya 新世界おやじの串や

Shinsekai (新世界) is, despite its name, considered an old district of Osaka. In the early 20th century, it was vibrant with amusement parks and restaurants. Singapore also had its own New World 新世界 amusement park (1923-1987) at Jalan Besar.

A symbol of Shinsekai is the "Hitachi" Tower. However it is actually called Tsutenkaku (通天閣) and it was also known as the Eiffel Tower of Osaka. It was first built in 1912 after Eiffel Tower and was the tallest structure in this part of the world at that time. The name means a building that connects to the skies.

Kushikatsu (串カツ) is a specialty of Osaka. We walked into Oyajinokushiya (おやじの串や) and chose the outdoor seating as the night air was comfortable and we could see pretty lighting.

We ordered a couple of skewers with beer and highball. This store operated 24 hours.

Here is an indoor picture of Oyajinokushiya.

Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270206/27004862/

Abenos Haruka あべのハルカス

We had our pre CNY dinner at Abenos Harukas (あべのハルカス). Abenos Harukas was the tallest building in Japan. It had a height of 300m and 62 floors.

The observation deck, called Harukas 300, occupied 58 - 60 floor. We had our dinner at 58th floor, and there was no roof above us. We were seated in a Kotatsu (炬燵). This was a setup where a table was covered with a blanket, and beneath it a heating device. We could then keep warm with our lower body under then table.

We ordered the pork shabu course. And it came with 2 hours of free flow drinks. We had our reservation at 4.30pm. Unfortunately it was a gloomy and rainy day. But we were still able to see the day and night views of Osaka from here.

Looking down from 59 floor.

Looking up from below.

Zooming down from above.

Webite: https://www.abenoharukas-300.jp/observatory/kotatsu/
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270203/27080548/

Gram Pancake

We were shopping at Shinsaibashi shopping streets and wanted to find a place for coffee. We found this pancake shop Gram.

Gram offered their special "Premium Pancake" three times a day at 11am, 3pm and 6pm. We were lucky to get an order. Only a limited number of such pancakes were served at each timing. The waiter would bring out one pancake at a time from the kitchen. We were waiting eagerly and followed each pancake until ours arrived.

The pancake was thick and really fluffy.

We also ordered another normal tiramisu pancake. The texture was much different from the premium one.

 

I think only the Premium Pancake was worth the wait here.

Website: https://www.cafe-gram.com/
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270201/27087991/

Tachinomi Akagakiya 立ち飲み 赤垣屋

Tachinomi Akagakiya (立ち飲み赤垣屋 ) was a favourite standing bar I visit whenever I was in Namba, Osaka. Whether was it lack of space or trend, drinking and eating while standing was common place in Japan.

Akagakiya Namba was undergoing renovation the last time I came in Feb 2019. Now it had colorful neon lights. It was located in the middle of the covered shopping streets. It served usual alcohols and simple food to go with them such as oden, deep fried items, etc.

We loved this place because it opened from 10am. Other than tourists, the customers were mostly senior locals. One uncommon drink we had was the hot ginger shochu (焼酎しょうが割り). It would warm the body during cold weather. However old folks would also advise against taking too much ginger.

Another favourite item would be shirako. However it was not available this time. So we tried the dried fugu (ふぐの一夜干し). It was slightly grilled. It had the distinct smell of dried stuff, but was deliciously chewy. And went down well with our sakes.

Website: http://www.akagakiya.com/tenpo/nanba.html
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270202/27003179/

かなえ寿司

We decided to visit a local fish market that was not as touristy as compared to Kuromon market (黒門市場). And we found Kizu market (大阪木津卸売市場) that was located a short distance south of Namba station.

We decided to have an early sushi breakfast at Kanae sushi (かなえ寿司).   Its operating hours was from 4.30am to 11.30am. We were the only customers at around 8am. The restaurant was manned by a father and son, and the restaurant had been opened since 1900.

The father chef was grilling the shirako over fire. Usually these days, the chef would use a torch to do this.

Here was our 3,000 yen plate with shirako and otoro. This kind of Osaka sushi was also known as Tsukami Sushi (つかみ寿司). The rice was only lightly packed and was supposed to loosen in your mouth.

The other favourite tsukami sushi restaurant would Endo sushi. Quality and value would be much higher there.

After breakfast, we had a slow walk through the Kizu market. The market was said to have over 300 years old of history. There was plenty to offer and to buy. One could buy fruits, fish, dried goods etc here. It was not too crowded, and thus enjoyable.

Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270206/27020286/

Bar serenity (バー セレニティ)

We walked around Namba area looking for a whisky bar and ended up at this Bar Serenity (バー セレニティ). There were a few new interesting Japanese whiskies that we tried.

The first was Suntory Ao (碧). This was a blend of whiskies from distilleries in the 5 biggest whiskies regions - Scotland, Japan, Ireland, Canada and USA. The blend was smooth as expected, however it did not give a deep impression. Probably it would take a while.

The next interesting Japanese whiskies was Akkeshi (厚岸蒸溜所). This was the second whiskey distillery in Hokkaido. We were lucky to first had this whiskey at Akkeshi. Unfortunately we were told that these were sold out then, and could only have Foundation 1 and 2. This time, we were lucky to taste Foundation 3 and 4.

Foundation 3 was matured in Mizunara cask from Hokkaido. And Foundation 4 was a blend of grain and malt whiskey. Akkeshi was definitely an interesting label to watch out. Fortunately these were not ridiculously priced like the other Japanese whiskies. Yet.

We ordered a serving of butter raisin to go with our drinks.


Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270202/27081850/
Link: http://bar.shinsaibashi-club.com/serenity/index.html

Dotonbori Kamakura どうとんぼり神座

We had been eating Ichiran ramen the last few times we were at Osaka. We thought that we should try some ramen that originated from Osaka.

We found that Kamakura was one of the popular one. The soup was a deviation from the usual. And was made by a chef that worked at a French cusine establishment. I found the soup lighter than usual ramen. A good start to our trip.

It was just counter seats at the shop. The staffs had to move around the narrow passage ways in between.

We ordered their standard set with gyoza and a beer of course. Common as many ramen establishment, you would need to make payment at the vending machine at the door.

Website: http://kamukura.co.jp/
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270202/27001562/