That Time Of The Year!

In my previous review of Holiday Inn Osaka Namba, I had put up some pictures of foods of Osaka.  Here are some additional recommendations:

Fugu

Fugu is a well known delicacy in Japan, and it is essentially puffer fish meat.  Puffer fish is infamous for their extremely deadly poison that they carry (Tetrodotoxin) which causes death almost instantly and there are no known anti-toxins available.  Fugu can only be served by well trained chef and despite that, roughly a dozen people can still potentially die from eating Fugu.

Zuboraya is one of the restaurant in Osaka that serves Fugu and it is in the middle of Dotombori, within walking distance from Holiday Inn.  It is very recognizable from the giant Puffer Fish lantern hanging at the entrance.

The giant puffer fish lantern hanging at the entrance with the word ZUBORAYA at the door

Fugu sashimi – the thin slices are the fins

Fugu hot pot – with the yuzu sauce (and appetizer)

Fugu tempura

Grilled Fugu, Fugu Chawanmushi, Fugu Sushi and Dessert

We did not make any booking but thankfully we managed to get seats.  The restaurant was pretty full – I would strongly recommend reservation.

This is the website for Zuboraya

 

Specialty Beef

Japan is well known worldwide for their top quality beef and the mention of Japanese beef will bring our thoughts to Wagyu Beef.  Among the beef, Kobe beef is most well known.  The first time I tried Kobe Beef in Sapporo was eye-opening indeed!  There are other types of premium beef besides Kobe.  These are:

• Matsusaka
• Iga (tried it in Mikasa Ryokan)
• Hida
• Ohmi
• Saga

(those that I know)

There are many shops in Dotombori that sells Kobe Beef (I have not tried them).  I decided to give Matsusaka beef a try and I chose this place – Yakiniku M which specializes in Matsusaka beef.

There are many stores within Namba/Dotombori.  There was actually one only a few steps from Holiday Inn but I chose the Namba store (which was quite difficult to locate) which happened to be the newest in Osaka.

Reservation is highly recommended and this can be done online from their website

Very unassuming entrance – making it difficult to find!

This was what we ordered:

SPECIAL COURSE

￥5,800 per person / ※Minimum order 2 people

• ASSORTED APPETIZERS
• MATSUSAKA MARBLED BEEF SUSHI
• MATSUSAKA SHORT RIB WITH GARLIC SAUCE
• HOUSE SALAD
• 4 DIFFERENT PARTS OF MATSUSAKA BEEF
  ( MAINLY MARBLED BEEF )
• GARLIC RICE
• TODAY’S DESSERT

 

The appetizer and salad

Beef sushi and garlic rice

Grilling of different parts

The dessert (on the right) and a special anniversary cake on the left

For small eaters like my wife and I, this is just right as a full slab of beef would have been too much for us.  Such a platter allows us to sample the different parts of beef and how it compares.  As you go up the marbling scale, you will find that the beef melts more easily in your mouth until you reach the kyukyoku (which is only 1 piece per person instead of 2).  My wife actually prefers the lean shoulder and the kyukyoku.

The beef sushi was excellent too and so was the garlic rice.

 

Kani Doraku

While not a specialty of Kansai, it is a must try in Japan.  I first tried it in Tokyo 2 years ago and it did not disappoint.  There are many branches in Osaka, with 3 in Dotomobori itself!

Once again, reservation is strongly recommended and it can be done online!

Once again, we shared a meal as the portion was fairly large for us.

 

Other food

Ramen – we randomly chose this stall just outside the Fushimi-Inari Keihan station – and it was excellent!

Unagi – another must try in Osaka/Kyoto

 

With so many things to eat but so little time, tummy space and most importantly money, we had to be more selective with our choices.