[March 2017] Summary of food places I dined at:
- Takeru serving gyukatsu (deep fried beef cutlet)
- Rigyu (specialize in beef tongue)
- Pablo Cafe (famous cheese tart)
- Luke’s Lobster
- Genrokuzushi Dotonbori (125Y Sushi)
- Kobe Beef Burger
- Kuromon Market
- Endo Sushi (the best otoro)
- Rikuro Cheesecake
1. Takeru
Address: Japan, 〒556-0005 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Naniwa-ku, Nipponbashi, 3 Chome−8−26, 稲原ビル
Operating Hours: 11AM – 11PM, Daily
Price: from 1,100Y
The restaurant is a corner shop. Do not get confused with another shop with the same name around the area as that shop specializes in steak and hamburgers.
In order to beat the crowd, I visited the place between 4 to 5PM and there was indeed no queue! The restaurant is pretty small, catering to a maximum of 10 to 12 people only.
Here’s a photo of the menu. Unless you’re lucky to be the first 5 customers – to try the 1kg beef cutlet rice bowl, you will have to decide whether you want 1, 2 or 3 servings of beef. Then, you will decide if you want the grated radish or yam and egg (which I didn’t exactly enjoy to be honest) which will cost 100Y more.
I was tempted to order just 1 serving of beef as I was expecting myself to have a lot for dinner but after looking at the photos, I think one is not enough so greed me got the 2 servings one and it was indeed a very good decision.
The beef might look really rare but not to worry! You will get to grill the beef to your own preference with your own mini hot plate in front of you.
Note: Rice and Salad if free flow.
There are 6 types of seasoning that you can try the beef with – this is why I suggest having more beef in order to confirm your favourite seasoning.
I can’t really decide which is my favourite but I really like these 3 salt. I think good beef goes very well with salt.
Look at the photos.. (I’m sorry if you’re hungry right now) The beef is irresistibly delicious and I was wishing that I could eat it for the second time in my trip but sadly it didn’t happen.
Verdict: 5/5 – For the price, it is super value for money! Even the salad seasoning is so nice that I asked for more vegetables. I am likely to return tot his restaurant when I visit Osaka again.
2. Rikyu
Address: Japan, 〒545-8545 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Abeno-ku, Abenosuji, 1 Chome−1, 阿倍野区阿倍野筋1-1-43 あべのハルカスダイニングタワー館 12F Abeno Harukas
Nearest MRT: Tennoji
Opening Hours: 11AM – 11PM
Price: From 1,200Y (Lunch Set)
This place was recommended by a friend who has stayed in Osaka for 8 years after I told her I fell in love with Beef Tongue after eating it for the first time in a Japanese restaurant.
This restaurant specializes in beef tongue. To be honest, the thought of eating beef tongue was a little uncomfortable for me at the beginning. However, there was once in a Jap restaurant, my friend ordered a beef tongue skewer and made me eat it before telling me what it was.
Gawd, it was so juicy and tender and the memory and love for beef tongue stayed within me..
3. Pablo Cafe
Address: Japan, 〒542-0085 大阪府大阪市中央区Chūō-ku, Shinsaibashisuji, 2 Chome−3, 宗右衛門町通り
Opening Hours: 11AM – 11PM, Daily
Price: from 800Y
Pablo is famous for their wobbly cheese cake/tart and there will usually be a queue outside their shop. There are 2 outlets in Dotonburi area, 1 contains the cafe while the other is just a standalone shop. Unlike my previous trip in 2015, the queue is significantly shorter. It should take you only a 5 to 10minutes wait if you plan to do a takeaway.
For this outlet that I visited, you can choose to dine at their cafe. The wait took me about 10 minutes.
Upon entering the cafe, it is only half full so I was wondering what was the cause of my 10 minutes wait downstairs.. oh wells.
Menu – there are 2 limited edition choices and being a sucker for all things limited edition, I chose the freshly baked mini cheese tart strawberry and roasted marshmallow because it looked pretty cool. Would love to order more options but.. being alone and only having 1 stomach, there wasn’t much option.
The premium cheese tart series and the soft serve ice cream looks super tempting. I guess I will give it a try my next visit. This review claims that the taste is heavenly.
Here’s a photo of the takeout menu. Do note that the tarts have a limited shelf life of about 4 days so do take note if you plan to bring it back to your country.
Took out my bears to accompany me while I ate.. They’ve been to many countries and I guess Paddington can celebrate his 6 anniversary with me soon..
Verdict of this? I’ll stick to the original cheese tart in future. It is delicious but nothing exceptional enough for me to recommend eating it.
4. Luke’s Lobster
Address: 1 Chome-3-21 Shinsaibashisuji, Chūō-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 542-0085, Japan
Opening Hours: 11AM – 9PM, Daily
Price: from 1058Y (small)
5. Genrokuzushi Dotonbori
Address: Japan, 〒542-0071 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, Dōtonbori, 1 Chome−1−6−9
Opening Hours: 11AM – 10:30PM
Price: from 125Y per plate
I didn’t hear about this place prior to coming down but I was attracted to this shop by the long queue. At about 7-8PM, the queue was really long but when I returned after 10PM, I only had to wait five to ten minutes before getting a table. (FYI: I was alone).
Conclusion? This place tastes pretty average but it is definitely super value for money if you choose the expensive options. FYI, the grilled salmon (in my context should be Aburi-style) is nothing of what I hoped it would be (left photo below). On the other hand, if you order things like Uni (Sea Urchin) and Ikura (Salmon Roe) and Red Shrimp, it is value for money. Just remember, salmon is not that popular in Japan (Japanese prefer Tuna) and the pufferfish doesn’t taste nice either.
I guess you should only eat in this place if you’re running out of budget or just trying to fill your stomach or that if you are not a fussy eater.
Rating: 2/5
6. Kobe Beef Burger @ Lotteria (Dotonbori)
Address: Japan, 〒542-0071 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, Dōtonbori, 1 Chome−10−1, 道頓堀観光ビル
Opening Hours: 9AM – 10:30PM, Daily
Price: from 1000Y (FOR Kob Beef Burger)
While this burger tastes decent, I cannot justify myself paying x3 the price for the supposed ‘Kobe’ beef.
I feel that Kobe beef should be best enjoyed on the grill in the city of Kobe itself where you can appreciate the real ‘melt in your mouth effect’. This burger is simply minced beef meat and you can’t really taste the wonders of the true Kobe Beef.
If you want to try Kobe Beef, try the real thing.
Rating: 2/5
7. Kuromon Ichiba Market
Address: 2 Chome-4-1 Nipponbashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture 542-0073, Japan
Opening Hours: 9AM – 6PM, Daily
Visited this local market as it was not too far off from namba/dotonburi where I was staying at. Just some random information for people who tend to overspend. In this market, there is a tourist information center and in that center, you are able to exchange your foreign currency to Japanese yen using a machine! The exchange rate can be pretty bad (mine was 1 sgd = 75yen) but I thought it was quite amazing that the machine can identify money from at least 10 different countries!
Anyway, I had to change money on that day because I barely had 3000Y left for the evening + train back to Osaka. Before changing the extra money, I was just going through the market surviving on the free smells and eye-feast.
If you’re visiting during Spring, PLEASE TRY THE STRAWBERRIES! FRUITS IN JAPAN IS LIKE THE BEST THING EVER! (apart from the price..)
If you are in luck (white ichigo is not always available), have a go on the White Ichigo aka Pineberry which is a hybrid form of strawberry.
Dislaimer: there was an eatyourkimchi video where they bought the wrong kind (though they look pretty much the same) and it tasted nothing like it was supposed to taste like. I suspect they got ripped off as the real thing which I tasted back in March 2015 was really awesome. We ate it side by side with the red strawberries to taste the difference and after you eat the pineberry, the red ones wouldn’t be sweet anymore so.. I’m not an expert on identifying the real ones from the fake ones so.. Good Luck!
In my recent trip, I did not buy any to try as the smallest box was like 880Y (possibly a fake one) and I couldn’t possibly finish it all by myself. I really don”t know if this 880Y is legit but I paid 2980Y+tax for mine 2 years ago..
Anyway, the same box of strawberry (not sure about the farm and premiumity) costs $129.90 at Isetan Singapore in 2015 so I guess my 3000Y ain’t such a big deal after all.
This random 1000Y dish caught my attention but sad to say it was nothing comparable to my seafood scallop bowl in Tsujiki Market last year.
Okay this thing below is the greatest disappointment but it could be my fault because I can’t read Japanese.
This crab shell thing looks fanciful but there’s actuall no crab meat. It is just gratin and cheese which.. err I paid 400Y for it?
I bought it because it looked kind of fanciful (most places were selling at 500Y and when I saw a shop selling at 400Y, I had to get t right?) but it was ordinary tasting and I’ll probably not try again.
Anyway, if you want to read more about the food in Kuromon Market, you can see this link: http://candidcuisine.net/kuromon-ichiba-market-osaka/
8. Endo Sushi
Address: 1 Chome-1-86 Noda, Fukushima-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 553-0005, Japan
Opening Hours:5AM – 2PM, Mon-Sat; Closed on Sundays
Website: http://www.endo-sushi.com/english.html
This was one of the key reason why I requested to extend my trip – to be able to eat the Otoro at Endo Sushi again.
I last ate this back in 2015 (directions provided in the link) and it was so delicious and since then, I have not found anything which tasted better .
However, I do have to admit as this was my second visit, there was no ‘wow’ factor anymore as I came with expectations (which were met) and nothing more.
I am not sure if the popularity has decreased over the years or perhaps I went at a very good timing, but the queue was very manageable. I waited for about 10 to 15 min before ending up with a seat at the sushi counter (convenient seat for lone travellers).
I started by ordering only one plate (1st Plate) as I wanted to control my appetite (to not overeat). I chose the first plate because I felt that uni (sea urchin) is the most value for money out of the other options.
It was impossible to stop at one. I had to order another plate. The good thing about sitting at the counter is that you are able to order directly from the sashimi chef who is right in front of you. If I don’t recall wrongly, there were 3 chefs inside the counter that day.
The choice for my second plate.. was the 2nd plate (in the menu). Why? Because there was a seasonal item in that menu.. Also, I do enjoy Hotate (scallop)as well. Goodbye to Salmon and Ikura (my next best favourite).
After downing the second plate of sushi, I was just thinking to myself how nice it would be to have more OTORO (well, since I don’t think I will visit Osaka soon) and to make myself a little guilt-free, I ordered that ala carte otoro sushi because I needed to find out how much an Otoro Sushi cost. The previous time, we shared and the sums were messed up so this time I had to find out how much it cost so.. I ordered 2 Otoro Sushi (well 1 sushi on a plate looks rather lonely).
Apart from satisfying my OTORO cravings till the next time I visit Endo Sushi again, I found out that one single piece of OTORO sushi costs a hefty 600Y. But hey, we aren’t talking about any Otoro but the fattiest tuna belly which is only served at Endo Sushi.. Dug out the photo of the Otoro in my Omakase meal that I had last year (It was nice but not wow).. There’s only one conclusion. Not all Otoros are created equal. Some just taste more awesome than others.
Anyway, Endo Sushi has opened a branch in Osaka and it is located near Kyobashi Station which is open everyday. This can be an alternative if you are intending to visit on Sunday but please note that the reviews for the outlet is slightly lower. I haven’t tried yet so I can comment but do let me know how well they are able to control their quality in their second outlet.
Also, they opened their first overseas outlet in Bangkok, Thailand at this district called Thonglor. Can’t seem to find any english review about their bangkok outlet but hopefully I will get a chance to visit Bangkok again and do a review of my favourite Sushi place!
For the address and location of both outlets, you can refer to this link: http://www.endo-sushi.com/english.html
9. Rikuro’s Cheesecake
(Not my Photo)
Rikuro has the fluffiest cheesecake that I have ever eaten! The first time I was introduced to this brand was in 2015 where I visited the shop in Umeda. This time round, I visited the Namba shop (which even had a small seating area) and they were not just selling cheese cakes anymore. They had a Fresh Milk & Egg Toro Pudding plus a cheese crisp pastry.
This pudding is really very nice! I’ve tried the ones at Paris Baguette, Hong Kong but this one wins them all.
Disclaimer: It was my last day in Japan and I was very tired from all that walking before I ate this pudding. My thoughts and feelings and taste buds could be highly exaggerated due to the exhaustion..
Others
Royce Name Chocolate – Sakura Formage (Limited Edition Flavour)
Sorry for the bad lighting of this photo but the box is very pretty in pink!
I can’t really describe the taste of this since Sakura doesn’t really have much flavour but the chocolate is pink in colour!
Hokkaido Fresh Milk
One interesting realisation I had in my current Japan trip is that “Hokkaido Milk” can no longer be found in 7-11 and Family Mart anymore. For my current trip, I only saw this hokkaido milk at a “Mini-Stop” Convenience Store while the Meiji one, I bought it at a vending machine at the airport. No idea what went wrong with the distribution rights but.. this milk is super delicious!
FYI: 1L of Hokkaido milk will cost $6-7 in Singapore and this price is like x3 of the price in Japan. Oh wells.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and the writer paid for all expenses relating to this post.
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wow that’s so delicious especially Luke’s Lobster
Love your reviews! Thank you very much! Wonderful writing and photos
Thanks for your kind comments! Glad that you enjoyed my writing =)