Friday, December 30, 2022

Dotonbori Kamukura Kansai Kokusai Kuko Ten 神座拉麵 關西機場 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

Dubbed as one of the best tasting ramen in all of Kansai, Dotonburi Kamukura (神座拉麵) made its debut in 1986 at bustling Dotonburi to much fanfare. The founder of Kamukura who used to work as an owner-chef of a French restaurant, spent a year and a half perfecting his ramen soup recipe before finally creating a light yet rich broth with clean and deep flavors.


We stumbled upon at least two branches of Dotonburi Kamukura in Shinsaibashi but never had the chance to indulge ourselves in their signature roasted pork ramen.


It wasn't until we arrived at Kansai International Airport (關西機場) that we finally got that chance, at the food hall of the departure hall!


Roasted pork and seasoned egg ramen – I thought Kamukura's key to success lies in their clear broth, simmered with cabbage to elevate the natural sweetness of the soup, which in turn imparts a rich and flavorful essence to the noodles.


As they described it, the broth was rich and complex yet light and clean, setting it apart from its competition.


After enjoying the delicious ramen, time to go home and back to school!





Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: ¥¥¥
Address: 2/F North Terminal, Kansai International Airport, 3-555 Hotarugaike Nishimachi, Osaka, 549-0001 Japan
Closest Metro Station: Itami
Tel: +81 (0)6 6854-3790
Opening Hours: 6:30am - 10:20pm daily


  

Sakunosaku Ramen 作ノ作 千日前本店 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★☆☆☆

After more than a week in Osaka, everyone was almost happy to see the end of this trip. Instead of traveling away from Shinsaibashi, we decided to spend the remaining hours close to our hotel. And that means we will be wearing out the area between Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori.



There was a huge crowd going in Namba this afternoon and somehow we got separated into two groups. Since it was well into our lunch time already, mom and I decided to sit down for a quick ramen meal.

Sakunosaku Ramen (作ノ作 千日前本店) is a 11-seater right in between Dotonburi and Namba. It seems to be the only ramen shop with seats available at this hour (bad sign? 😣).



Touted as one of the first ramen shops to offer tonkotsu ramen in Osaka, Sakunosaku also provides  other options such as soy sauce based, salt and miso.


I went all out and got myself their deluxe tonkotsu ramen (1,400 yen) presented in a nice, flowery shape. 


The pork charsiu was pretty dry and rubbery. Not a very good start!


The noodles working well with the rich and tangy broth.


They nailed the soft-boiled egg.


Not many ramens I came across in Japan had this kind of Japanese fish cakes served up with the noodles.


Two things stood out from this lunch experience of ours. First and foremost, the seats here were so small (and tight) that it was making my butt hurt. Secondly and most importantly, I thought the bowl of ramen I had was average at best. The slices of charsiu in particular were really underwhelming to say the least. 

This brings us to the question, why choose Sakunosaku when you have so many options near Dotonburi. This includes Hanamaruken Hozenji (花丸軒 法善寺店), which I never had the pleasure of visiting myself.



Others that I have paid a visit before, Ramen Shitenno Dotonbori (四天王 道頓堀店).


And Kinryu Ramen Dotonbori (金龍ラーメン 道頓堀店).



Like Kinryu, Sakunosaku emerges as a great option in case you needed a midnight snack. The tonkotsu ramen specialists opens until 8 o'clock the next morning.




Food Rating: 3.9/10
Price: ¥¥¥
Address: 1-1-1 Namba, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0076 Japan
Closest Metro Station: Shinsaibashi / Namba
Tel: +81 (0)6 6212-3739
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00am daily 



Thursday, December 29, 2022

Denny's Nagai Park (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★☆☆☆

Growing up in Vancouver, Denny's was a family restaurant that I frequented with my friends. Heck, I even had a Denny's just a stone's throw from our first home in the city. That formed a very special tie between me and this franchise forever.

Ever since I left Vancouver more than a decade ago, I've been trying my best to make a return trip to a Denny's whenever I can. Tonight, I had that chance in Osaka again. 



This branch of Denny's near Nagai Park (長居公園), however, didn't remind me of the American diner that I grew up with at all. It's more of a fast-food joint with a localized food menu. 



Little nugget didn't really care cuz he has just made a new friend.



Raw ham salad 
– Some veggies to stay healthy after all the meat we had this afternoon. The paper-thin pancetta more for decorative purpose, I assume?



Spaghetti carbonara – Mom had pretty good comments about her carbonara despite its small size. 



Chinese noodles 
– Little nugget had a bowl of Chinese-style soy sauce ramen.



Not bad, he said.



Cheese curry with fried shrimp & potato croquette 
– Jelloman had the most sophisticated dish of the evening featuring a deep-fried shrimp, potato croquette and cheese all "stapled" together on top of a pool of steamed rice and Japanese-style curry sauce.



American clubhouse sandwich 
– For me, I decided to go down memory lane and had a clubhouse sandwich, the same dish I had when I visited Denny's for the first time. This tasted exactly like it did decades ago. OK, I forgot how it tasted already but it was good to have it again after so long.



Chestnut tiramisu 
– Time to have some in-season chestnut for dessert. Mom and I split a chestnut tiramisu between us two. And I have to admit, it tasted a little weird.



Tonight's experience definitely wasn't the best from what I remembered from Denny's. Especially without pancakes, hash browns and frosty milkshakes on the menu, it's never going to the same.





Food Rating: 3.5/10
Price: ¥¥
Address: 2-2-23 Nagaihigashi, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, 558-0004 Japan
Closest Metro Station: Nagai
Tel: +81 80 3258-1943
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm daily 



Restaurant ZK 絕景 at Osaka Marriott Miyako (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

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.


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.


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: 6.9/10
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