A traveling foodie's gastronomic diary from around the world...

Monday, July 27, 2026

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

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

The Lobby Lounge at The Ritz Carlton Osaka (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

I thought I wasn’t going to make my usual visit to The Lobby Lounge at The Ritz-Carlton Osaka this time, given our super tight schedule. But I managed to negotiate some me time with my boss, and everything was good.

As usual, the lobby was buzzing, and I could only find a seat a bit farther away from the pianist. Still, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the live music.

When I was presented with today’s pastries, I wasn’t particularly impressed — but it happens here sometimes. Occasionally, you just can’t find anything that appeals to you visually. That’s when you go back to their roots.

As a dessert-bakery institution, The Gourmet Shop at The Ritz-Carlton Osaka is generally excellent with its old-school favorites — mille-feuille, Paris-Brest, and more. So I decided to turn back the clock and try some classic French desserts.

Paris-Brest — The choux pastry had the perfect texture.

And there was a delicate, rich hazelnut praline cream in the middle, tying everything together and making the trip worthwhile.

I also got to enjoy a cup of tea. It's been a week since I had my tea fix, so that felt truly priceless.

I’ve always wanted to check out Café Del’immo at Herbis Ent next door, but they’re always full—this time was no exception. I couldn’t help wondering why…

Food Rating: 6.8/10

Price: ￥￥￥￥

Address: G/F The Ritz Carlton Osaka, 2-5-25 Umeda, Kita Ward, Osaka 530-0001, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Nishi-Umeda

Tel: +81 (0)6 6343-7020

Website: lounge.ritzcarltonosaka.com

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 9:00pm (Mon - Fri), 11:00am - 9:00pm (Sat - Sun)

Nakajima Taishodo Daimaru Shinsaibashi Store 中島大祥堂大丸心齋橋店 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Nakajima Taishodo (中島大祥堂) is a historic and highly regarded Japanese confectionery brand that dates back to 1912. Known for its premium Japanese–Western fusion pastries, cookies, and seasonal gift boxes, it’s a familiar presence in the food halls of major department stores across Osaka.

We first stumbled upon their boutique while heading to Le Pont Du Ciel for dinner. As a fan of the prized Tamba chestnuts (丹波栗), of course mom didn’t hesitate to peek at the shop’s signature offerings made with Tamba chestnuts.

But surprise surprise, we ended up not grabbing any dessert that day.

This time around, mom was determined to finally cross it off her bucket list. So when she spotted a Nakajima Taishodo counter at the Daimaru Shinsaibashi Store (大丸心齋橋店) this morning, she couldn’t hide her excitement.

Chestnut kayabuki (850 yen) — Nakajima Taishodo’s signature Mont Blanc cake, crafted to resemble the traditional thatched roof of their historic main store in the Tamba region of Hyogo Prefecture. It’s especially touted for the extensive use of rare, premium Tamba chestnuts — highly prized across Japan for their large size and rich, deep flavor.

I didn’t get to try it myself, but according to mom, it was totally worth the stomach space, and we’ve got plenty of it especially after skipping breakfast this morning!

Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: B1F Food Hall, Daimaru Shinsaibashi, 1-7-1 Shinsaibashisuji, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-8501 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Shinsaibashi

Tel: +81 (0)70 2273-1057

Website: https://www.ntdshop.jp/

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

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

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

We❤️Donut × Takagi Coffee Umeda Station (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

We were circling around Umeda Station (梅田車站) pondering about our next move when I suddenly spotted We❤️Donut (WeLoveDonut) x Takagi Coffee. While I initially just wanted to take a few photos of their nama donut tower, a few of us decided to sit down to rest our feet.

Conveniently located underground just three minutes from the gate of Umeda station, WeLoveDonut is a nama donut specialty shop that doubles as a coffee shop, but make no mistake about it, their soft, airy nama donuts are the real star.

Little nugget wasted no time grabbing an Oreo chocolate donut.

They have all kinds of flavors here and they kept replenishing the trays. I wish they had a branch in Hong Kong.

While most of the group went with a sweet donut as an afternoon tea snack, I decided to go a different route. In fact, they offer quite a few savory options including ham and potato salad, egg salad, salmon and broccoli, bacon and Camembert, and spicy curry.

Homemade egg salad donut (350 yen) — The dough was a little thicker than normal, presumably to help hold the egg salad together.

I have to admit, this tasted a little weird with the slightly sweet dough on the outside and savory egg salad inside.

Salmon and broccoli (520 yen) — If I was not having the egg salad donut, this was the one that I would be getting.

Creme brulee (380 yen) — This was looking good too.

Maybe I’m just a guy with an old man’s palate, but to me, doughnuts are supposed to be sweet.

Food Rating: 6.2/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Whity Umeda Underground Shopping Mall, 8-5-6 Kakudacho, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0017, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Umeda

Tel: +81 (0)6 4792-7198

Website: https://welovedonut.com/

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 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

Mugi to Tori 麥×鷄 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

We finally got our rental car back to the car rental company. Since it was already getting a little late for lunch (around 2:00pm), we decided to go to a familiar favorite for today’s meal.

Mugi to Tori (麦×鶏) is a wildly popular ramen shop in Osaka, especially known for its “foam-style” Tori Paitan — a creamy chicken-broth ramen that has become a fan favorite for both locals and tourists.

The shop features a modern, clean, and bright interior. With primarily bar seating, it’s a comfortable spot for both solo travelers and families.

The menu focuses on classic ramen and tsukemen (dipping noodles), with a range of broth variations. There was also a seasonal chilled sweet corn ramen available.

As much as their standard tori paitan was an obvious hit, there was no question what we’d be ordering for lunch this afternoon: their signature sea urchin chicken ramen (Mugi x Uni / 麦x雲丹).

Right before serving, the rich, collagen-packed chicken broth is whipped with a hand mixer until it becomes a smooth, airy, velvety white foam — almost like a cappuccino. The result is a broth that tastes incredibly flavorful and luxurious without feeling heavy.

This is the ultimate crowd-pleaser for seafood lovers.

Fresh sea urchin paste is blended directly into the foamy chicken broth, creating a rich, sweet, umami-forward flavor profile — decadent yet surprisingly light compared to some other broths on the market.