Chill Vietnam Cuisine and Bar (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

The Queen of News is back in town! A few months ago, we already settled on a day to catch up and the only thing left was deciding where to meet.

And last week while I was still in Osaka, we finally nailed down the venue. It was my neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant, Chill Vietnam Cuisine and Bar at D2 Place.

Vietnamese platter (越式拼盤) — This came with chicken wings marinated in lemongrass, Vietnamese-style spring rolls, and rice rolls. We each had a piece of the trio, and it was just a great way to kick things off.

Fried soft shell crab with salt and pepper (椒鹽炒軟殼蟹) — At first, we thought there weren’t many fried soft shell crabs hidden under all that salt and pepper. But after digging in a bit more, we found quite a few of these babies. They were cooked like soft shell crab tempura, with an extra kick from the pepper.

Fried rice noodles with pork neck and bay leaf chili paste (香葉辣椒膏豬頸肉炒河) — We asked our server to tone down the spiciness, but even with that note, it still came with a pretty strong kick. It was still pretty tasty and of course, we love the wok hei from the rice noodles.

A cold drink to cope with the spicy dishes.

It was always nice to see my friend back for the summer. We always seem to have endless topics to talk about, and the best news was hearing that she might actually come back here to work. Hong Kong has lost so many talented people over the years, so it'll be amazing to get some of them back.

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 301, 3/F, D2 Place ONE, 9 Cheung Yee Street, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok

Tel: +852 2858-8606

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:00pm daily

Bills Osaka Station (Osaka JAPAN) ★★★★☆

It was supposed to be our afternoon tea session, but we lost a couple of guys to shopping, and another couple simply decided to grab a seat at LUCUA instead of sitting down for food. I guess we all had too much to eat on this trip.



So rather than finding a table for the whole village, it’ll just be me and little nugget.

Our destination was Bills Osaka, a popular all-day dining restaurant that originated in Sydney, Australia, and now has branches across Japan and Seoul. This location is on the 7th floor of LUCUA 1100, which is directly connected to JR Osaka Station.

I always enjoy dining at Bills, especially their breakfast plates. But their modern, chic decor and friendly service also play a huge part in why I keep coming back.

Black sesame and vanilla shake — Velvety and packed with rich vanilla flavor, but a tad too sweet for me.

This guy didn't think so...

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 7/F LUCUA 1100, 3-1-3 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0001, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Umeda 

Tel: +81 (0)50-3155-1472

Website: https://www.billsjapan.com/jp/locations/osaka-station

Opening Hours: 8:30am - 10:00pm daily

Ben's Cookies Shinsaibashi (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

One of the reasons we kept coming back to Shinsaibashi for during our stay in Osaka was the familiarity of the names — everything from Mugi to Tori (麥×鷄) to Krispy Kreme and the next place, Ben’s Cookies.

The cookie display and that sweet, buttery aroma always made it impossible for me to walk past the shop without going in.

In the end, I treated myself to two cookies for my afternoon snacks.

One important fact about enjoying Ben’s Cookies is that you really have to eat them fresh (pretty much true for any freshly baked cookie).

What set these apart from the competitors was the thick, soft, gooey center, packed with large, melting chunks of chocolate. The Double Chocolate cookie was the best way to experience those massive chocolate pieces — because they basically pool inside the cookie.

My other favorite is the White Chocolate cookie, preferably with macadamia nuts. Unfortunately, only the one without the nuts was available this afternoon.

Again, it came with an incredibly light texture and almost too wobbly to hold up.

I thought I made the right choice to enjoy these before meeting up with the team so this way, I didn't have to hide them from little nugget who's a fan of Ben's Cookies too. 😆😆

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2-2-21 Shinsaibashisuji, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0085 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Shinsaibashi 

Tel: +81 (0)6 6755-8875

Website: https://www.benscookies-jp.com/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 9:00pm daily

Krispy Kreme North Shinsaibashi (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

I’m pretty excited to finally stay at a different hotel than Hotel Leben in Osaka this time around. The Gate Hotel Osaka by Hulic has just recently opened in the heart of Shinsaibashi, and I’m curious what it has in store for us during our stay.

One thing I can say right off the bat is that the hotel is in a great location. It's just a short walk from Shinsaibashi’s shopping streets and our favorite Krispy Kreme location is probably less than a minute away.

While little nugget was off with his grandparents for his late lunch, I decided to check out the new creations Krispy Kreme has prepared for the summer, including this Penguin doughnut. 🐧🐧

I ended up getting one doughnut for each team members.

For myself, I got this melon-flavored doughnut. I don't think anyone would mistake it for anything other than a cantaloupe.

Inside, there was this fruity melon cream. It was front and center. So good!

Food Rating: 5.6/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 3-11-8 Minamisenba, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0081 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Shinsaibashi 

Tel: +81 (0)6 6484-6936

Website: www.krispykreme.jp

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 9:00pm daily

Kushiage Kitchen Dan EKIZO Sannomiya 串揚げキッチン だん EKIZO神戸三宮店 (Kobe, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

The last couple of years, I’ve fallen in love with kushikatsu (串揚), a popular Japanese comfort food made of deep-fried, skewered bite-sized meats, seafood, and vegetables.

Unfortunately, there aren’t nearly enough kushikatsu restaurants in Hong Kong, so I can only get my fix during my trips to Japan. And what better place to have them than Osaka, where kushikatsu originated in Shinsekai in the early 1900s?

But wait — we were in Kobe. Yes, but tonight’s dinner venue, Kushiage Kitchen Dan (串揚げキッチン だん), is an off-shoot of the flagship Ishibashi Store (石橋店) in Ikeda City, Osaka. It’s also the casual sister of Kitashinchi Kushikatsu Bon, which earned a Michelin star from 2010 to 2023.

Kushiage Kitchen Dan is located in EKIZO, a dining complex right next to Sannomiya Station (三宮駅). 

Like most kushiage specialists, Kitchen Dan works around a spacious counter with the chefs working diligently behind (this place was full when we entered!).

With six of us including this guy, it was better that we were given a private room in a quiet corner of the restaurant.

I missed the introduction of condiments when I slipped out for a doughnut at nearby .donut, but the dipping options looked pretty standard (left to right): a light soy sauce, a mustard sauce (infused with ponzu/yuzu?), a traditional sweet-and-savory Worcestershire-based tonkatsu sauce, and of course, some specialty salt.

We were really hungry since we didn't have much to eat all afternoon. Needless to say, when this platter showed up, everyone's eyes immediately lit up.

Premium black wagyu beef chateaubriand — I was given the premium center-cut to kick off the meal. Not surprisingly, it's one of the restaurant's signature items.

The absolute thickest, most tender center cut of the beef tenderloin (極上黑毛和牛), elevated by the intense, buttery marbling. Beautifully cooked too!

Lotus root — Crunchy, but I always thought it wasn't the best choice with a thin, crisp batter but that's just me.

Black tiger prawn — Very bouncy and as always very very tasty.

Foie gras over zucchini — The foie gras came with incredible smokiness. Very nicely done. It was my first time enjoying grilled foie gras paired with juicy zucchini, and it was such a hit that I ended up having two of these.

Onion from Awaji island — Pretty juicy and worked well with the soy sauce.

Creamy corn and bacon croquette — Pretty decent.

It was absolutely packed with runny corn cream and corn kernels. No sign of the bacon though.

Wheat gluten rice cracker — Japanese rice cake covered with rice krispies. I thought this was kind of cute but everybody from my team thought it looked weird.

The texture was sticky and chewy almost like a mochi.

Sillago with tartare sauce — Surprisingly meaty. The tartare sauce on top was a nice complement.

Green asparagus — The light and crisp batter gave the green asparagus a nice, delicate texture, while the cottonseed oil added a subtle nutty, buttery notes. Love this~

Scallop — Pretty decent but I wasn't a fan of the pickled red onion on top. 

Crab claw — Pretty delicious but I still thought our Chinese version was better.

We ordered four skewer sets, so we got four choices of chicken rice, egg over rice, and/or wonton noodle soup. It looked like everyone wanted some eggy noodles, but it turned out to be glass noodles.

Dessert was a choice between fried bread (our server described it as "French toast") served with ice-cream, fried mochi, and fried sweetened red bean paste.

The fried mochi tasted a little funny.

The disk of red bean paste was served with a scoop of ice-cream. Not bad as a palate cleanser. 

 

What I love most about a kushikatsu meal is the texture—the way the meat, seafood, and vegetables come out light, crisp, and non-greasy, with a delicate bite that never feels heavy. This was a really, really good meal, and I’m glad I chose it over Kobe beef which often turns into a tourist trap.

Food Rating: 7.3/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Zone B Kobe Sannomiya Hankyu Building EKIZO, 4-2-1 Kanocho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0001, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Sannomiya

Tel: +81 (0)78-381-7116

Website: http://www.kitchen-dan.jp/

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 11:00pm (Mon - Fri), 11:00am - 11:00pm (Sat - Sun)

.donut Sannomiya Main Store (Kobe, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

It’s my third trip to Kobe (神戶), but only the first time staying near Sannomiya Station (三宮駅), so I was pretty hyped for it. In the end, this area turned out to be one of the buzziest neighborhoods in Kobe making our 16 hours in the city especially memorable.

I managed to sneak out for a short while while everyone was enjoying their delicious skewers. My destination? Another doughnut shop just outside Sannomiya Station.

.donut is an incredibly popular fresh nama doughnut specialty brand based in Kobe, Japan. They’re especially known for their signature “Kobe dot donut”, which features a fluffy, soft, and slightly chewy texture. The brand focuses heavily on local ingredients sourced from Hyogo Prefecture, and it often rolls out seasonal flavors made with fresh produce.

While the brand currently operates four outlets across Kobe, its main shop located right outside the west exit of Hankyu Kobe-Sannomiya Station (hidden inside Kobe New World) remains arguably the busiest. The best part? It’s just a stone’s throw from our dinner venue.

After forcing my way into the end of the lineup, I waited patiently to be served and it was finally my turn. As it turned out, it wasn’t going to be a tough decision. There were only two flavors left: chocolate and cherry 🍒.

Chocolate donut (390 yen) — The brioche-like dough was flavored with chocolate, which matched the chocolate custard filling perfectly.

Needless to say, chocolate flavors were front and center. Just look at the amount of rich chocolate custard in the filling!

While .donut prides itself on being a nama donut specialist, I thought the texture of its dot donut sits somewhere between a traditional yeast donut and a nama donut. It’s definitely bouncier, and the “structural airiness” feels a little different from that of I’m Donut?.

Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Kobe New World (Outside West Exit of station), 1-1-1 Nagasadori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0012, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Sannomiya

Tel: +81 (0)78-325-5524

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm daily