FoodPorn.OSAKA

Champagne Shokudou (シャンパン食堂) is a cosy and, more importantly, reasonably priced bistro in the often expensive Kitashinchi neighbourhood. The interior is decked out in French memorabilia, some nice and some just plain tacky. I’m talking about the incredibly disgusting Eiffel Tower-stemmed wine glasses.

Panned seared foie with blue cheese and caramelised balsamic vinegar was one of the better dishes. Unfortunately overall the food was pretty average. It was disappointing because I liked the menu and to be honest I was quite excited by it. Where it all fell short was poor execution – over cooked fish, rubbery scallops, non-crispy duck skin, thin sauces, you get the idea. To add insult to it all, our waiter chose to pour my cab sav into one of their irritatingly crappy Eiffel Tower glasses. Poor guy, he seemed really excited, as if he was doing me a favour. We sat and laughed between ourselves, little did he know that I wanted to throw the stupid glass across the room, preferably smashing it into tiny pieces. 

It wasn’t all bad. Service was friendly and there were little pig figurines on the counter top we could play with. ¥5000 pp including drinks. 

Tabelog entry: http://r.tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270101/27058412/

Syuzan Kaido Beer, Amber Ale. Beautifully rich. Dark, caramel tastes – almost butterscotchy, but not sweet. Bit of a syrupy thick mouth feel. ¥440. Available from Hankyu Department Store (Level 1), Umeda. 

Pane e Vino, Umeda (kind of). Been here twice now. Reasonably good pizza. The fresh tomato, mozzarella and basil pizza was indeed memorable – simple and bloody tasty, like it should be. The sweetness the cherry tomatoes brought really made it. A little soggy, but mop it up bro and it’s all good. The pizza menu shows a lot of restraint – 3 or so ingredients max. There are no weirdo fusion toppings either, just simple traditional flavours. The fact that the chef lived in Italy for 5 years really shows on the plate.

A friendly husband and wife team runs the place. Book a downstairs table, upstairs seemed a little disconnected, as if dinning in somebody’s attic. ¥5000 pp including wine. 

Tabelog entry. 

Kitashinchi Kikyo (北新地.桔梗), Kitashinchi. Beef is what Kikyo does best. We went for the lunch special (~¥2000) because we were too cheap to fork out the ¥20000+ dinner price. The gyu don was full of flavour, and of course very tender. The little dishes which accompanied it were also nice, but not fantastic. The green shio sorbet was a great palette cleanser, not too shio-y!  

Lunch bookings are essential - there were a bunch of other cheap people with reservations waiting for a piece of the action. 

Tabelog entry: http://r.tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270101/27041963/

YC Coffee is old school, pretty much like the rest of Hankyu Shokudougai (Umeda). I love old school places like this (I’m always saying Hankyu Shokudougai is my favourite place in Osaka) but I’m not so down with the smoke anywhere mentality. Coffee and beef katsu sandwich were both decent.

Hario V60 action.

Sammi Pooh!! (サミー・プー), Minami Senba (close to Shinsaibashi station). I have wanted to check this bakery/cafe out since reading about it on Kat and Satoshi’s blog here (great Osaka based blog btw). Although there is a great spread of bread and pastries available, we went straight in for the okazu pan, or sandwiches, and ended up choosing three - pâté, pastrami and brie with salad. I liked the pâté one most. Even though I was expecting a big rich, full of guts version, it was nicely flavoured, rustic and homely. I’m pretty sure the carrots inside were blanched in the same cooking liquid as the pâté? Extra attention like this really made this a nice bite.

We grabbed some bread to take home to eat with cheese and wine. Small bread rolls of caramalised onion and olive went down a treat. Going back soon. 

Tabelog entry: http://r.tabelog.com/osaka/A2702/A270201/27043023/dtlmap/

Before and after. Steak can get ridiculously expensive here, but it’s also bloody good. Picked up a tiny little steak from Hankyu Department store (¥1500/$18AUD) which was tender and tasty - worth the cash. I wonder what the super-mega-expensive steaks are like - I’m talking ¥10000+/$125AUD+ for a similar sized piece.

Hidden away on the third level of Umeda Hanshin Department Store is Triton Cafe. It over looks the recently renovated Osaka Station City, not exactly a beautiful view but there is a definite ‘openness’ the large glass windows bring. The cafe is warm and bright, somewhat like Sydney, minus the greenery and laid-back attitude (and maybe a few other things). There are typically 4 lunch set options - Thai curry, quiche, a special (veal stew at the time) and a sandwich, which I obviously went for. Although last month’s sandwich contained fluoro-pink salami, it was quite good. Check the egg out man - perfectly cooked, oozing mate, oozing - and the salad was very decent. This all came with a small spongecake dessert topped with a bit of cream, a small soup/broth and a coffee (pour over, decent).

Halfway into my meal I looked up and realised I was the only guy in the place. Then I remembered one of my friends telling me that Japanese guys tend not to go to cafes unless they were on a date. The fact that the cafe is located on a womens floor probably doesn’t help. Anyways, although it’s a bit of a chicks hangout I’d happily go back. In fact I already have. 

Tabelog entry: http://r.tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270101/27058399/

弘屋(Koya), Kitashinchi. If the first pic is not food porn for you, then there is something seriously wrong with you (sorry Als!). Koya is a tiny little counter style establishment run by a two man team, one cooks and one serves. It’s all very intimate with room for only 10 ppl. Highlights off the tasting menu (from ¥8000 pp) included cauliflower puree with fresh uni; pan-fried foie gras on top of sweet potato and blue cheese with a sweet honey glaze (this was bloody good); herb crusted tasmanian beef; and, of course, white asparagus with carbonara sauce and that sexy soft egg. There is a great selection of wines and the owner/chef is happy to make a suggestion based on what you are in to. He says many people feel obliged to eat, but he’s more than happy for guests to sit and drink.

Koya is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. This alone is impressive given that its a tiny place, on the 3rd floor of an dodgy apartment block (with equally dodgy businesses), without any signage whatsoever - I wasn’t sure if I was walking into the right place or a girls bar. Unfortunately we were only given a 2 hour time slot so we didn’t have enough time to explore the rest of the menu and wines. Would happily go back. Friendly staff. ¥13000 pp (including wine). Bookings definitely advised.

Tabelog entry: http://r.tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270101/27010835/