Osaka: Hokkyokusei 北極星

I think secretly I am a fan of Omu-rice coz I am always drawn to Omu-rice whenever I go to Japan (since we didn't get decent Omu-rice restaurant in Bangkok until recently). Hokkyokusei (北極星) was one of the place I found from reading Kat's Our Adventure in Japan blog. It has branches in Shinsaibashi and at Daimaru Umeda so it's very convenient for me as I was based around Umeda when I stayed in Osaka.

Hokkyokusei at Daimaru Umeda was located in B2F and has about 10 counter seats. Their menu only focus on omu-rice or omlette rice with different meat; chicken, pork, beef, mushroom, crab, prawn, ham and shellfish.

I ordered beef omu-rice. The sauce may look like it's just a ketchup but it isn't. It's tomato sauce with some onions and seasoning. Inside the egg is fried rice with beef and ketchup. It's quite home-taste. It's definitely a comfort foood. I guess if you are a hungry shopper, this is definitely good for quick and tasty meal. Another choice for omu-rice in Umeda area.

Hokkyokusei (北極星) 
B2F Daimaru Umeda
Website: http://www.hokkyokusei.jp/
JR Station: Osaka


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Osaka: Yamaya (博多もつ鍋やまや梅田店)

 

As a mentaiko (marinated roe of pollock) fan, when I found about Yamaya, a restaurant specialized in Mentaiko, around Umeda where I would be staying in Osaka, I was so eager to try that place out. Somehow, all my meals during my stay in Osaka were booked so I made a dedication to try this place out when I stayed in Himeji instead. (To be honest, it wasn't bad as it was like half and hour train ride for rapid train and that was a free day for me so I didn't intend to stay in Himeji all day as I only have thing to do at night).

Anyway, for Yamaya, at night it's an izakaya or drinking restaurant/bar-ish but during lunch, they sell set meal for office people and others around Umeda area. The price is reasonable like 700/800 yen for a main dish of your choice, refillable rice, soup and salad. The real highlight of Yamaya is that they provide free flow of mentaiko for you to eat with your rice and even have Mentaiko dressing for your salad. This is definitely mentaiko lovers' paradise! 

Anyhow, don't think you would just eat mentaiko like crazy since the taste is actually quite strong. It's quite salty so you only need small amount of it to eat with rice. They also provide pickled vegetable and it did compliment the taste of mentaiko. It's pretty nice and feel quite like a home-made meal.

The main dish I ordered was Buta Shogayaki or ginger pork. The taste was rather strong if you take it only. It's quite nice to have with rice actually. 

If you are mentaiko lovers, Yamaya is highly recommended. If you look for something nice and home-y food in Umeda, let's try Yamaya then!

Hakata Motsunabe Yamaya Umeda (博多もつ鍋やまや梅田店)

Umeda, Osaka, Japan

JR station: Osaka

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270101/27054168/

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Osaka: Tsurutontan TOP CHEFS (つるとんたん TOPCHEFS)

I just checked the last time I blogged and realised I have been abandonned my blog again! Please forgive me. August was a really crazy month as I lost my grandpa just two weeks for my birthday. That was quite something isn't it?

Anyway, let's go back to my Japan post. I am following quite a number of bloggers who live in Japan, esp. foodies, and Our adventures in Japan is one the best Osaka/Hawaii-based blogs I came across with. Kat has shared many good local eats in Osaka and I definitely picked up some as part of my adventure in Kansai&Chugoku this year.

Kat has reviewed about this udon place in Daimaru Umeda. She said they served quite decent udon with huge white bowl. Upon the first day of my arrival in Osaka, I decided that I shall try this for dinner.

I walked back from Umeda Sky Building so you can imagine that I was soaking with sweat since that was in July, the middle of summer season. I couldn't tell you how pleased I was to be in air-conditioned environment. It was around 5pm and the place, Tsurutontan TOP CHEFS (つるとんたん TOPCHEFS), was quite empty at that moment. I was seated at counter as usual for solo eater. I ordered my food and my beer. Couldn't tell you how blissful it is to have nice cold beer after being under the sun all day.

I couldn't remember my order exactly. Maybe it was rei-shabu udon with Kobe beef? It's basically cold udon with sesame sauce on top. It was very delicious. I'm a big fan of sesame sauce/dressing so I was really happy to have this. The portion might seem small but trust me, it's more than enough for a meal.

Aside from cold udon, they also have ones and seems to be famous for kare udon. It's quite convenient if you happen to shop at Daimaru umeda or stay nearby in umeda area. Definitely worth check it out.


Tsurutontan TOP CHEFS (つるとんたん TOPCHEFS)
B2F Daimaru Umeda
website: http://www.tsurutontan.co.jp/umeda/



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Osaka: Jiyuken (自由軒)

As a foodie, when I identify places to visit, my priority is to find eating places in such city. Jiyuken is also one of the restaurants in Osaka that I feel like I HAVE to visit. Somehow, when you talk about summer in Japan, people will talk about Kare or curry as summer food. I was browsing through tabelog which is like Japan's version of Yelp and found Jiyuken. This place seems to famous for kare rice in their own style and it happens to locate in Namba which is so convenient so definitely I wouldn't miss it!  

I got there around 11.30am and the queue was already formed. As I observed, this place is quite famous for both local and foreign tourists. I saw a couple, probably from Taiwan, opened guide book which has detail about this place so I guess you would have no problem in terms of ordering the dish even you can't speak Japanese.

Everyone must order this dish 名物カレー. Now now, the problem is I'm not actually how to pronounce this dish! Japanese man in front of me said "Menbutsu Kare" (which I thought it was the name also) but the restaurant lady just said "Nama Kare" back to us so I guess it's nama kare. It's basically rice mixing with curry like how you would make fried rice then top with raw egg. Normal dish it would be just one egg but since I'm such a big eater, I went for 大カレー(Dai Kare) or big one with two eggs! If you hate raw egg, you would hate this (obviously) but if you don't mind it or even love it, then it's simply delicious! Their kare is quite strong in terms of taste so it was very nice to have raw egg simplify the taste (if that's correct verb for it!).

If you are shopping in Namba, this place is definitely worth a visit. Aside from kare dish, they also have many other dishes so please try!


Jiyuken 自由軒 
Namba, Osaka, Japan
Website http://jiyuken.co.jp/index.html



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