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May 03, 2024
 

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OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jun 24, 2016
Kakomi: the hushed, abstract art of 'kaiseki'
I have worked in my fair share of kitchens over the years. At some stage while toiling at each, someone — usually a chef — would lose their temper with me and regain it only after loudly roasting me with words not fit for a newspaper. I thought of these episodes while sitting at the counter of Kakomi and observing chef and owner Kazuki Kakoiyama and his small team of chefs and waiting staff.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jun 24, 2016
El Zocalo Burrito: A Mexican Valhalla in downtown Osaka
El Zocalo Burrito is, as its name implies, all about burritos. Located on a quiet street west of Shinsaibashi Station, it offers a reprieve from the never-ending throng of tourists wandering the nearby Dotonbori shopping district.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
May 27, 2016
Chi-Fu: Chinese-Japanese fusion dressed in French clothing
Chi-Fu is a French restaurant in every sense except the cooking. The maitre d' and wait staff are besuited and seemingly straight-laced, the linens are crisp white, the wine list is long and, yes, there are the inevitable oversize plates on which chefs sparsely arrange morsels connected by a sprinkling of garnishes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
May 27, 2016
Naniwa: The taste of summer in Japan
The small and flimsy Naniwa cafe is located on Tengonakazakidori, one of my favorite shōtengai shopping streets in Osaka. Compared to the neighboring Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai, which stretches for 2.6 kilometers, Tengonakazakidori Shotengai is a short stroll. What it lacks in length it makes up for with its eclectic mix of shops and restaurants, including a cat cafe, a freshwater fish bar and a cramped sushi joint where the jokes are served in abundance. Naniwa is in good company.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Apr 22, 2016
Ukon: Traditional kaiseki cuisine served in a bento box
The answer: bento box. The question: What Japanese food — or type of meal — would I miss most if I left Japan? And now for some qualifications, before an explanation in the form of a restaurant review.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Apr 22, 2016
541+: Mastering the art of dumplings and elaborate puns
There are all manner of euphemisms to describe the size of 541+: cozy, intimate, snug. But in reality it's a closet containing three small tables separated from the kitchen by a fridge.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Mar 25, 2016
Fujimoto: Superlative sushi at an informal counter restaurant
Fujimoto is that rare kind of sushi restaurant that has covered many bases without tripping over any of them along the way. Take the price, for example. While the omakase (set menu) options for lunch and dinner are priced between ¥3,500 and ¥6,000, the a la carte menu starts from around ¥900 for a selection of bite-sized nigiri sushi. Also, with its breezy and informal atmosphere — background jazz as opposed to muzak — it's more suggestive of a cafe.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Mar 25, 2016
Ramen Yashichi: Enjoy some of the city's best noodles without lining up
Yashichi is a notable ramen shop on two counts: it ranked 39 on review website Tabelog's top 50 ramen restaurants for 2016 and has devised a way of dealing with its popularity by eliminating long lines to get it. Rather, when you pull up to its ramshackle exterior, one of the servers will issue you with a ticket indicating a time when you should return. Waiting time is usually about an hour.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Feb 26, 2016
Oimatsu Kitagawa: A moment of calm in a swirling galaxy of Michelin stars
Toru Kitagawa, the chef and owner of Oimatsu Kitagawa, has a casual air about him that borders on insouciance — an air that belies the imagination, creativity and earnestness of his cooking. Perhaps this equanimity is an Osaka trait, but it could just have easily been cultivated at Gion Sasaki, the award-winning Japanese restaurant in Kyoto where Kitagawa worked for several years. That restaurant's team of mostly young chefs have the kind of self-assurance that only the young can pull off. Inside, Gion Sasaki is casual and refreshing — a reprieve from the studious silence and contemplation typical of haute cuisine restaurants here.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Feb 26, 2016
Gokan: Tea and cake for modernist samurai
In Kitahama, just north of Umeda, there are two rather stately teahouses within cake-throwing distance of each other. Kitahama Retro is where you'll want to go if you like crustless cucumber sandwiches, afternoon tea and Edwardian cosplay. But don't let the pretense fool you, it's a great teahouse.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jan 29, 2016
Rikyu: Playing games with traditional 'kaiseki' cuisine
Tsukasa Yamaguchi likes to play. But not much of what he does behind the counter of Rikyo, which he opened nearly two years ago, suggests this. Like many of his contemporaries working in haute cuisine restaurants, Yamaguchi has the manner and intensity of a surgeon. If you look closely, you'll see his lighter side shine through in only a few dishes during his elaborate nine-course lunch.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jan 29, 2016
Kashmir: An austere setting for a flamboyant curry
Let's start on the street. That's where I waited in line for an hour before moving to a dark, narrow hallway for another hour of waiting. At infrequent intervals the door to Kashmir would open, allowing in customers and expelling the spicy aromas from within.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Dec 25, 2015
Kurosugi: A fish doesn't need to be sexy when it's sublime
Without a doubt the worst-named restaurant of the year is London's "Sexy Fish." But, the name — the audacity and stupidity of it — did set me thinking about fish seafood and sexiness (as opposed to fish and sex). Can a fish be sexy? Certainly not. When thinking about fish, "sexy" is one of those words that should be jettisoned into space. A better question: Can a fish be sublime? Most definitely. Especially when it comes in its purest, least adulterated form: sushi.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Dec 25, 2015
Wai Tan Hong Lu Deng: Rowdy waiters and sizzling dumplings
Tenma is one of the best spots in Osaka for food and drink, especially street eats. Japan's longest shōtengai (indoor arcade) bisects this eating area, along which there are dozens of restaurants and stalls, serving local savory treats. But get off the main drag and there's even more to offer. A word of warning, each unit of alcohol consumed multiplies the chance of getting lost in the myriad alleyways. Before getting too lost, try to find Wai Tan Hong Lu Deng, a small and tatty shop — which gets especially cold on winter nights — that serves Chinese dumplings.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Nov 27, 2015
Aozora Blue: Where perfectly simple udon noodles get the spotlight
Ramen, soba and udon are the trinity of Japan's noodles, though it can sometimes feel as if the last one on that list is underappreciated. Ramen has followed sushi down the path of global domination — no doubt helped by instant ramen's popularity — and buckwheat soba noodles can swing from low to high, cooked by both no-frills neighborhood joints and haute cusine establishments. So where does this leave udon, a simple white noodle made with flour, salt and water?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Nov 27, 2015
Tashinami: Seasonal Japanese dining at a tiny horseshoe-shaped counter
Located in the bowels of Osaka Station City, Tashinami only has room for about eight diners at its horseshoe-shaped counter. All that separates you from the surrounding shops in the basement food hall is a see-through beaded curtain, meaning you, as well as what you eat, are on show. Furthermore, owing to the lack of walls, you are also subjected to a flood of trite generic and grating pop music. However, don't be disheartened, Tashinami is a great spot for a quick bite, a quick drink and perchance conversation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Oct 23, 2015
Kaishoku Shimizu: Slow kaiseki dining, watched over by Van Gogh
Across from Osaka's Van Gogh museum is Kaishoku Shimizu, a Japanese multicourse restaurant with a facade that looks small enough to squeeze onto a canvas. Between the counter and the two tables it can accommodate 15 diners, which may be a decent amount for restaurants of this kind but good luck trying to squeeze Japan's rugby heroes into this intimate space. The chefs — there are no waiters — are constantly having to shift one way or another as they attend to various tasks. Presiding over the cooks is the eponymous Toshihiro Shimizu, an affable and masterful head chef.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Oct 23, 2015
A La Campagne: A patisserie lacking a little 'je ne sais quoi'
A La Campagne, or "in the countryside" is a loosely French-themed chain of patisseries and cafes. The first shop opened in the sweet-toothed city of Kobe in 1984 and since then they have been sprouting up all over Japan. On a recent sojourn to Osaka, I popped into the branch in the city's Shinsaibashi district, which is notionally as far from the countryside as Mars is. I was pulled in, so to speak, by the variety of cakes on display at the entrance: tarts, meringues, galettes and pastries. I can resist everything except temptation and a tart, to misquote Oscar Wilde.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Mar 24, 2015
Beating the cliches on Italian food
Judging by the staggering number of Italian and French restaurants in Japan it would be hard to call which European cuisine is more popular: perhaps both, equally.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Mar 24, 2015
Cool and casual at Osaka's Garb Monaque
Garb Monaque, a cafe, bar and restaurant, occupies a funky building — think of a birdcage that's been twisted at both ends — between Osaka Station and Grand Front Osaka, two playgrounds devoted to conspicuous consumption.
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