We don't have a lot on the plate today in Osaka. It's our second last day of the trip and since some of us (like mom) are still trying to catch their breathe after a run of hectic days, I thought a lazy day like this will be a nice change of pace.
Situated on the 57th floor of Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel, Restaurant ZK (絕景) was supposed to be a "throw-in" to this very busy itinerary of ours. When I said "throw-in", I meant it was designed to eat up some spare time to get us through the afternoon onto our main event tonight, TeamLab Botanical Garden. What I never anticipated was the fact that this meal ended up becoming THE most memorable part of this Kansai tour for everyone. Even little nugget revealed later how much he enjoyed such an exquisite dining experience.
We arrived right on time, something that we rarely do on any trips or even back in Hong Kong. As soon as we got up to the 57th floor via the elevator, we were immediately greeted by a jaw-dropping view of the city.
After we checked ourselves in at ZK's reception counter, the hostess slowly led us through the main dining room into the teppanyaki area. More of the same stunning view could be seen from the backdrop of the restaurant through the ceiling-to-floor window. From that point on (judging from everyone's facial expression), I knew we were going to have a great time here.
There were 3 set menus available this afternoon. Once we made our choice known, a small nibble was ready to be served up. It was an amuse with a small patch of minced beef and tendon paired with crunchy carrots to start us off.
Next, we had cured salmon matched up brilliantly with delicate taro purée, dashi and chrysanthemum. The (cool) temperature at which the dish was served, was perfect. That was a really refined and refreshing dish to kick things off in style.
While we were enjoying our first starter, our chef was seen going back and forth bringing out top-notch local ingredients like duck, fish, scallops, and finally the prized beef followed by the vegetables.
The Japanese duck breast fillets and cabbages were soon tossed onto the grill.
Looks like they were ready to be served.
For a duck breast lover like me, the slightly pink color was beautiful!
The duck breast was so tender and juicy. The flesh was lean with succulent texture (in a good way) meshing well with the aromatic soy sauce.
The duck breast was followed by grilled sea bream and scallop served with a small salad and tomato. I thought the scallop was really nice but the sea bream a tad dry.
Little one was thrilled to have stolen half a scallop off everyone. He's the big winner here!
One of the highlights of any teppanyaki meal is the crispy garlic chips. Always a fan favorite around here and all of us just couldn't stop eating them even before the main dish arrived.
Now, onto the main event. Our prized kuroge wagyu from Kagoshima.
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From left to right, yuzu infused soy, homemade seaweed sauce and sea salt. Those were all we needed for our grilled meat.
Little nugget's set came with a fillet of local beef sirloin.
Very nice, meaty flavors. Not bad.
Now, time to indulge ourselves with this Kuroge premium wagyu beef from Kagoshima (鹿兒島縣黑毛和牛).
I thought the wagyu worked best with the soy sauce or sea salt. The seaweed sauce was a little too overpowering for the beef. This was just very very delicious. Comparing to little one's sirloin, it was more buttery with an almost sweet aroma, and there were the delicate notes of umami flavors. We were so glad to drop a few more bucks for the kuroge from Kagoshima.
While we were still enjoying our beef, our chef was getting the vegetables ready.
These were perfect to offset the richness of the beef. Pumpkin and zucchini are always my FAV. I am less in love with onions.
At this point we were already stuffed but there's no way in the world we would pass up the chance to check out their fried rice.
That's a lot of chopped garlic and mushroom.
This often provides the second climax of a teppanyaki meal, right beyond the beef.
It smells so good. Can't wait to have my first bite.
The rice came with so much crunch and of course, the "wok hei" was incredible. Yes I was stuffed but there was no way I would not finish my fried rice!
Dessert was a scoop of green tea ice-cream with seasonal fruit.
A cup of tea at last. I am a happy camper.
Time to wrap up our memorable 3-hour journey and prepare ourselves for tonight's event.
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I got a lot more than I bargained for! This meal was supposed to be there to burn off precious time before our TeamLab event but everything was impeccable, from the view, ambience, service to food. In fact, little one was already asking when we could come back for an encore.
Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: ￥￥￥
Address: Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel 57/F, 1-1-43 Abenosuji, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-0052 Japan
Closest Metro Station: Tennoji
Tel: +81 (0)6 6628-6111
Opening Hours: 11:3apm - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm daily
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