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May 03, 2024
 

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OSAKA RESTAURANTS

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
Sep 25, 2015
Kagaman makes lunch a personal experience
Although I frequently dine alone while reviewing, I'm rarely alone, in the true sense. Especially at kappō, or counter-style restaurants, where there's a miscellany of worthwhile distractions and on occasion small talk.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Sep 25, 2015
Expect an open-air courtyard and some wine when you pull up to the garage
Even though it's called Garage, this eatery is probably better described as a shack. On weekdays, during lunch and after work, the clientele is mostly drawn from the surrounding offices, but on weekends the crowd is not as uniform.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Aug 21, 2015
Takama: Affordably luxurious soba lunches
It would be easy to breeze past the understated exterior of soba restaurant Takama without ever realizing what's inside, but that would be unfortunate — especially if you like soba. Michelin-starred Takama is located on the same street that leads into Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai, one of Japan's — if not Asia's — longest covered arcades, and home to all sorts of miscellany (and a fair share of junk). Takama, on the other hand, keeps its focus narrow, serving only two types of soba: The first is mori, regular-style soba made from marunuki flour, and the second is inaka, a more robust noodle made with hikigurumi (whole buckwheat flour). Both options are made with high-quality flour from Fukui Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Aug 21, 2015
Olivier le Francois: Kitsch French interiors saved by unpretentious home cooking
There's no mistaking where Olivier le Francois takes its inspiration from. One step inside will transport you to what feels like a bistro beside the Seine, replete with tables covered by checkered tablecloths, posters of European movie stars on the walls, wine glasses hanging in rows over the bar and, lest we forget where we are (or are meant to be), piped-in accordion music.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jul 24, 2015
Difference: Small but intense challenges served on big plates
Certain foods are like certain songs: they transport you to another time and place. Foie gras always reminds me of Belgium — specifically a wedding I once attended outside Brussels. It was the bride's wish (and command) that all 200-plus guests would eat foie gras, and from that time I've always associated this (sometimes controversial) food with Belgium. But perhaps no more.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jul 24, 2015
Patisserie Ravi,e Relier: Let them eat cake
A short walk from Osaka Station, on the edge of Ogimachi Park, is a petite cake shop called Patisserie Ravi,e Relier, which opened in 2009 and follows the royal maxim "let them eat cake" with an update: "Let them eat cake and drink water." This patisserie serves only cakes and water, but what a sweet line-up it is: these could be the supermodels of the cake world, except loaded with calories. After much deliberation — after all, half the fun (and frustration) is in the choosing — we went with a Pierre Temptacions, an avocado-like concoction, both in shape and color, and a Tolee Chocolat, an intense and dense slice of chocolate cake.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jun 26, 2015
Rakushin: Austere multicourse dining in a traditional Osaka town house
What does austerity look and feel like? Well, it depends on whom you ask. I imagine for Greeks it’s a sort of endless despair engendering cynicism, but here in Japan, austerity — or, rather, restraint — can engender a sense of luxury, subtlety and even sensuality. Austerity has a long and rich history here, and many Japanese have an innate feeling for expressing it. Shintaro Katayama, the chef at Rakushin, who runs the restaurant with his sommelier wife, are masters of restraint and surprise.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jun 26, 2015
A traditional Izakaya as rough and raucous as life on an old fishing trawler
This restaurant is loud, raucous and busy, much like life on a fishing boat, which may or may not be incidental since Isaribi takes its name from the light used to lure fish at night — often seen on trawlers used to catch squid. Isaribi is the original (opened in 1973) of a small chain of robatayakis (country-style grill) that focus on seafood.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
May 22, 2015
Matsumoto Eiraku's lunch course is a seasonal delight
The establishments around Matsumoto Eiraku in Osaka's Kitashinchi neighborhood have names like La Madonna, Salon de Miyu, Lady Hawk and Blanc de Blanc. This may suggest the restaurant keeps ostentatious company, but you should never judge a building by its marble colonnades; the aesthetic inside is austere and minimalist, and the atmosphere hushed. There are several private dining rooms that are hidden from sight, but the best seats are at the counter — a gorgeous piece of unvarnished timber.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
May 22, 2015
Owl Family Cafe is fun, unless you're peckish
Let's address the coffee first. It's as good as anything you'll get from a convenience store, which is to say it's not good. At all. The only beer on offer is Budweiser — also known as "The King of Beers." It's not. Budweiser wouldn't even make it past the moat for a royal gathering of beers. There's no food at Owl Cafe. Probably for good reason, because if there was, I imagine the flock of birds would be owl over it.
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