Taking the Long Way Up Himeji Castle

Himeji's glorious white castle is justifiably popular -- as a UNESCO World Heritage site, as a permanent feature on tourist brochures, and as an icon of Samurai films from Kurosawa (Ran) to Tom Cruise (The Last Samurai). And being only an hour from Osaka by train, it gets on the itinerary of most international and domestic tourists visiting the Kansai region.

The problem is, the Castle is so famous as a historical monument that it has become the only reason to visit for foreign tourists. From what I observe of fellow Gaijins, the typical itinerary seems to involve spending two hours touring the Castle (some even managed to drag around huge pieces of luggage in the process), then quickly leaving for the next destination. But with an entire day on our hands, we had a little more time to stumble into the Himeji that the locals know.

It's perfectly understandable why everyone just heads straight to the Castle -- it's the most impressive thing we saw emerging out of the train station, a perfectly white, stately architectural jewel standing only a kilometre away at the end of a wide boulevard (Otemae-dori). But we took the road less travelled ...


Actually it turned out to be the road most travelled, a crowded labyrinth of inter-connected covered arcades running the entire length of the Otemae-dori on the boulevard's right side. Only after returning to Canada did we find out that this was the main shopping district to the locals. You're less likely to encounter souvenir shops than some shoe store's liquidation sale (where my wife spent 30 minutes). We also bought some beautiful Furoshiki (Japanese handkerchiefs), a couple of cloth sacks, cosmetics and hair products, and some snacks and drinks along the way. It took us an hour just to get 500m closer to the Castle, but my wife really enjoyed it. A Japanese map of these shopping streets is here, but I would recommend doing this on the way back from the Castle, in case you find as many bargains as we did.

It was 11:30am by the time we finished shopping, so we decided to have lunch and recuperate a little before climbing the Castle.


Food Review: MATSUBISHI HONTEN (Himeji)
Address: Hyogo-ken Himeji-shi Fukunaka-machi 98
Hours: Thu-Tue, 11:30-13:45 and 16:30-21:30 (According to Gurunabi)
Website/Map: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/k030100/map1.htm
Directions: It took us 45 minutes of circling around the neighbourhood to find this place, so I'll give you the best directions I can. Take the North Exit from Himeji's JR Station. Walk straight towards the Castle on the left side of the main road (called Ootemae-dori). When you see the Yamato Yashiki department store on your right side across the street, walk to the end of that little block and immediately turn left into a small street. Walk straight for five blocks, and Matsubishi will be on your right hand side.

If I had done a little more homework beforehand and figured out the above directions for our own use, it would have taken 10 minutes instead of 45. I could have given up earlier, but this was supposed to be one of the premier restaurants focusing on Himeji's famous local catch, and I definitely didn't want to miss out.

To the Japanese, Himeji is not only synonymous with the Castle, but its Seto Naikai (Inland Sea) coast is also famous for producing Anago, the Japanese conger eel which is a summertime favorite in the Kansai region. We've had fresh Anago before in Tokyo (see review of Sushi Dai), but this is an old, renowned restaurant at the heart of the producing region, and we had correspondingly high expectations.

My first impressions of Matsubishi were the well-embellished interior, the 3000-8000 yen (CAD$30-$80) dinners courses, and the 1575 yen (CAD$16) lunch specials. So prices are fairly reasonable for lunch, and the choices were plenty:
- Anago-zushi Teishoku (Anago sushi set)
- Anago-don Teishoku (Anago ricebowl set)
- Tempura Teishoku
- Niku Amiyaki Teishoku (broiled pork on a wire mesh)
- Sashimi Teishoku
- Nigiri-zushi Teishoku (5 pieces of Anago sushi, plus 5 pieces of assorted)

We ordered Anago-don Teishoku and Anago-zushi Teishoku, as we were curious to find out how our chef would handle our theme ingredient in several different cooking methods. Well, it took about 30 minutes for our lunch to arrive even though we were the only table, so I guess our chef was taking the test seriously.


My Anago-don Teishoku arrived with an Aka-dashi soup, a salad with some mysterious little calamari, pickled vegetables, and a Yuzu (Japanese citrus) sorbet not shown in this photo. I remember the soup quite well -- it was a savory seafood-based (Anago bones perhaps?) broth with a strong red miso paste and garnished with strips of Anago. The pickles and sorbet weren't spectacular enough to stand out in my memory. But the true star of the meal arrived, accidentally, when I poped one of those little calamari into my mouth.

And it was an audible "pop" as the squid's tender body bursted under my bite and released a sweet, heavy paste. It's a velvety cream texture, but with a wonderful sweetness of shellfish and a hint of seawater. The squid body itself was roughly 5cm long, with little short tentacles, and very delicately steamed. So what is this dish called?

"Hotaru Ika no Sumiso-ae," or Firefly Squid with Vinegar-Miso Dressing, explained the Obasan who served us. Really? I had heard of Firefly Squids before, but mostly in a sightseeing context where people would take a night cruise in late spring and watch the sea turn into florescent blue. The Obasan continued to explain that the sweet paste was actually the roe, and that it was currently the best season (mid-May) as the mating squids were being fished out of the local waters. It was an unforgettable appetizer, and it would not be our last encounter with the Firefly Squid on this trip.

On to the main course ... what a disappointment it was, or at least MY main course was. I was hoping for a tender, moist fillet with a smoky tasting baste, but the result was just the exact opposite. I'm not saying it was a bad Anago-don -- I just happened to make the wrong choice for my own preference.


My wife's choice turned out much better -- six pieces of pressed Anago sushi, and four pieces of steamed Anago sushi. Her lunch set also came with the excellent Firefly Squids and the Aka-dashi soup, as well as the sorbet.


The lightly broiled Anago in the pressed sushi was better than my rubbery dry fillet, but to me the combination of broiling and the rich sauce entirely undermined the delicate flavor of the Anago. Again, it wasn't bad -- it was just not what I was looking for.


Wonder why there's only one piece left? Because this was by far the best of the three Anago preparations, and we almost finished it off before remembering to take a close-up photo. Initially plain-steamed without sauce, this Anago piece was unexpectedly firm and mild-tasting, with the light application of sauce complimenting rather than overpowering the subtle oiliness of the flesh. This was exactly the Anago I was looking for, but ... hey where did the rest go?

Bill for Two Persons

Anago-don Teishoku	1575 yen
Anago-zushi Teishoku	1575 yen
TOTAL	3150 yen (CAD$31)

Time to begin the ascend. The magnificent Castle looked deceptively close, but like many medieval strongholds the approach was a winding maze of steps slowly climbing up the compound. In fact it took an hour and forty minutes to go from this picture to the top of the main tower, according to the timestamps.


The seemingly rambling path was adorned with 400-year-old architecture and beautiful landscaping, belying its original purpose of misdirecting attackers.


Imagine you're a foot soldier in the Warring States period and you're climbing these long flights of steps in your 20kg armour suit, with arrows and musket fire raining down from above. Then you'll start to understand the value of the unusual defensive structures you come across on the way up. Heck ... I had a good workout myself even with a 2kg camera bag.


Finally a clear shot of the Tenshukaku (main tower). There's a REALLY interesting little semi-hidden courtyard nearby called the Harakiri-Maru, constructed with the sole purpose of providing the Master a secluded area for an undisturbed ritual suicide in a worst case scenario.


The interior is equipped with very steep stairs as you can see. Inside the white plastic bags are our own shoes, which must be removed prior to entering the interior of the Castle.


A life-size model of Sen-hime, a princess of the Shogun and a beloved historical figure, and the Wedding Desserts delivered to her husband Lord Honda Tadatoki by the Shogunate. Sen-hime was originally married to the Shogun's arch-enemy, and was remarried to Lord Honda after the Shogun defeated her first husband in battle and forced him to commit suicide. So you can imagine how this puppet princess was treated as a means of diplomacy in 17th century Japan.


This is just a random shot of the hundreds of exhibits throughout the Castle. The exotic Samurai armour is actually not too dissimilar in principle to their European counterparts from the same period in history, except the use of muskets was only beginning in Japan and so the armours were still comparatively thinner and lighter.


The killer whale talismans at the roof seems to be a typical feature of Edo period castles. Also note the Master's clan crest on the rounded "crest tiles" (Mongawara) -- the ownership of the Castle changed hands many times throughout history, and you can always associate a clan crest with its represented period of origin.


This is my favorite view from the top of the main tower, a westward view towards the rest of the castle compound and the town beyond. Not even a tall buildings in sight, so it wouldn't have been very different from the view Lord Honda woke up to nearly 400 years ago.


This is the southward view towards the Otemae-dori, with the JR station at the end of the boulevard.


A model of the city of Himeji in the Edo period. Note the series of walls and moats that the potential attacker must breach even before reaching the Castle. The left edge of the picture is roughly where today's JR train station stands, so the entire walled area must have been two or three kilometres in diameter.


Adjoining the Castle on the southwest side is a relatively new (1992) Japanese garden called Koko-en, or Garden for Love of Antiquity ... well my translation anyway. If you've been to one of the more historic (and more lavish) Japanese gardens such as the Three Famous Gardens (located in Kanazawa, Okayama, and Mito), or if you have little interest in Japanese gardens, then I would recommend skipping this. Otherwise it's not a bad place to watch the colourful Koi fish and relax after a long hike up the Castle. The "combination ticket" for both the Garden and the Castle is just 100 yen more than a ticket to the Castle alone.


Built on top of an excavated site of former Samurai residences, the Garden fittingly reconstructed a series of beautiful earthen walled alleys, eerily similar to the Nagamachi samurai quarters of Kanazawa. The only clear giveaway hint of modernity is the perfect straight lines of the stone foundations.


A 100 yen (CAD$1) ride back to the JR station is a no-brainer at the end of a long day. The Loop Bus departs from the front of the Koko-en Garden once every 30 minutes.

Lastly, if you're planning to visit Himeji on a day trip from Osaka or Kyoto, I'd strongly recommend that you go to the nearest major JR station (eg.Kansai Airport, Osaka, Shin-Osaka, Kyoto) and get a JR-West Kansai Area Pass for 1 Day. It looks like this:


For 2000 yen (CAD$20), you get unlimited travel on any local and Kaisoku (fast) JR trains in the Kansai region from Nara to Kyoto to Osaka to Kobe to Himeji. Since a return trip from Osaka to Himeji costs about 2900 yen, you're getting a serious discount even if Himeji is your only destination of the day. Or if your hotel is in Kyoto, you're effectively getting 50% off regular fare. And if you're making a brief stop in Kobe for a steak dinner ... you get the idea.

Official site of the JR-West Kansai Area Pass is here.

The Old Master of Osaka Style Broiled Unagi

KUROMON KAWAHIRO IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED According to first-person reports from several readers, Kuromon Kawahiro, an Osaka-style Unagiya and one of my favorite memories of Japan, has permanently closed its doors. This page will be left in its current state, as a tribute to Chef Kawano Iwao and the pinnacle of Osaka-style Unagi that he crafted out of his very hands. For readers planning a trip to Osaka, the following restaurants all serve Osaka-style broiled Unagi: Honke Shibato - a 300-years-old Osaka institution Uoi Honten - another venerable restaurant, a little younger at 140-years-old. Una Shige - another Osaka-style Unagiya

Food Review: KUROMON KAWAHIRO (Osaka)
Address: Osaka-shi Chuo-Ku Nihonbashi 1-22-9
Hours: Mon-Thu from 11:00-14:00 (According to Yahoo Japan)
Website/Map: http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/0002146335/P006397/
Directions: First go for a walk at Kuromon Market (Nihonbashi subway station, Exit 10, walk Southeast for a couple of blocks). It will help work up your appetite. Then from the South end of the market (opposite from the Nihonbashi side), walk East for one little block, then turn left and comb your way North, towards the Nihonbashi direction. A couple blocks later you'll see its black (Japanese only) sign on the left, as shown in the picture at the bottom of this article.


You must be wondering:

1) What is Osaka Style Unagi anyway?
2) How is it different from the Unagi at my local Japanese restaurant?

If you're a Japanese food enthusiast, you should know that there are at least two major styles of preparing Unagi -- Kanto-Ryu (Tokyo Style) and Kansai-Ryu (Osaka Style). The easy way to tell is to flip over your Unagi, skin side up. If the white skin is in the middle of the fillet, it's Tokyo Style; if the white skin is at the edges, it's closer to Osaka Style. Easy enough?

The real reason behind this is that Tokyo Style slices open the Unagi at the *BACK*, while Osaka Style guts the Unagi at the *BELLY* side. One theory is that Tokyo was the centre of the Samurai society during the Edo period (ie. the Shogun lived there), and so slicing open the abdomen is a taboo linked to the Samurai class's unique ritual suicide (or execution) of Seppuku. But another plausible theory is that fillet is thinnest at the belly, and by slicing open from the back the chef would be able to keep the thin regions of the fillet from over-charring. In Osaka though, Unagi is gutted just like any other fish. I guess Kansai people are more concerned with efficiency and customer turnover.


The other major difference between the two styles is the steaming process that exists only in Tokyo Style. In essence the Unagi is flame broiled, steamed, then brushed with sauce and flamed broiled again. The steaming not only removed excess fat, but also creates the softness and delicate taste that is widely considered to be more "feminine." But in Osaka Style, the Unagi is flame broiled, brushed with sauce, flamed broiled, brushed with sauce ... until the degree of charring and crispiness is to the Chef's liking. Thus the fillet is supposed to be crispier, stronger flavored, and "masculine," as we're about to find out.


This is the place. I've spent hours reading Unagi reviews on Japanese websites and blogs, and this was my choice. It's not the cleanest location (next to Osaka's largest market), and it's not cheap either ... Yahoo Japan's old review reported 3200 yen ($32) for an order of Mamushi (Kansai-style Unagi on rice) for lunchtime(!), which is more expensive than even the 200-plus year old Unagi specialist Shibato. So why did we pick this place out of many reputable candidates?

Because I trust Majin-san's Unagi Review Blog. Now THIS is a serious Unagi lover, and if you can read Japanese you can see his 160-plus reviews of Unagi restaurants. Most of the restaurants are in Tokyo where he lives, but there are occasional reviews from other parts of Japan. This is where I first read about Kuromon Kawahiro, the only Kansai Style Unagi restaurant near the top of his list. So I decided that I MUST give this place a try, if I ever travel to Osaka in my lifetime.

So the picture above is what the restaurant looked like -- garbage cans on the side (must have been a garbage collection day), someone's bicycle in front, and only a couple of old signage reading "Kuromon Kawahiro" in Japanese. We actually passed by this place at 11:20 and saw its door half open, so we thought they weren't yet ready and went back to the Kuromon Market for another round of shopping. But when we came back at 12:00 it was the same half open door. That's when I decided to stick my head closer to the door for a peek, and an old lady waved me in.


"Gomen kudasai," I said, excuse me. It was a narrow little shop with only three staffs -- the old Chef working on the Unagi behind the counter, the old lady who was the Chef's wife, and a middle aged daughter. There were no tables, only a counter with about 10 seats, where the three of them "Dozo"-ed us to sit down.

"Mamushi de Yoroshii ne?" (Mamushi okay for you?), the old lady asked. Mamushi is "Unagi on Rice" in the Kansai dialect.

"Ah, hai. Futari" (Yes. Two people.) I hadn't had a real chance to practice my Japanese since a trip to Tokyo several years ago.

Up to this point I still hadn't seen anything resembling a menu, outside or inside the shop. I looked around at the walls, and the counter, and then I realized, THERE IS NO WRITTEN MENU!! And no Price List whatsoever. So I just ordered two bowls of Unagi on Rice, at a price known only to the shop. I knew the rough price from browsing Yahoo Japan, but this is getting weird even for the Japanese.


At this time the Chef was still busy skewering the Unagi ... several big stainless steel containers of them. He must had spent the entire morning filleting and cleaning the eels, and now he's skewering the last few and finishing up. With every eel, the old master meticulously inserted 10 or so steel skewers perpendicularly through the fillet, as close to the skin as possible, but without piercing the skin. Then as a final step he hosed water over the skin the to wash any remaining mucous off the Unagi.



"Shashin wo totte mo ii desu ka?" (May I take pictures?) I asked, and the Chef replied with a delighted "Hai, dozo dozo." That's when we started an odd conversation, me in broken Japanese plus single words of Japanized-English, and the chef, Kawano-san, fully in Japanese. Chef Kawano was like ...

"It takes three years, just to learn to skewer the Unagi."

"Chikara. It takes strength to do all this." (Pointing to the several containers of eels)

"This is a single portion. No, THAT is a double portion of Unagi."

... and so on. I gained a lot of random knowledge about Unagi.


I've seen Unagi being prepared before, but never at this close range, in front of a master chef, and who is willing to demonstrate all his techniques. The Unagi is undoubtedly Osaka Style, with the white belly skin at the fillet's edges. And looking at the thickness of the supposedly thinnest part of the fillet, I began to wonder if this was really a single portion, and how we were supposed to finish the meal. When Chef Kawano finished all the skewering, he took a double portion of fillets with the skewers sticking between the fingers of his fisted hand, and walked towards the kitchen.

At this point I did something I normally would never do. I took my camera, followed to the opposite side of the open kitchen, and asked "May I take pictures?" again ...



"Ii desu yo," Chef Kawano said as he turned on his stove, AND his intensity. For the next 10 minutes, the Chef would constantly use his skewer-wielding right hand to adjust the fillet's distance from the fire while using his left hand to adjust the flame. He started with the strongest flame, holding the Unagi at 30cm above the grill, and rotating between the meat and skin sides constantly. All housewives know this scorches the outside and locks in the juices, but how much scorching is enough? That, is the experience that makes it worth several thousand yen.


After several minutes of grilling, Chef Kawano started to slaver the Unagi sauce onto the meat side of the fillet with a small brush. The grilling continued, and if I remember right the sauce was applied more than once.


The flame was turned much lower by then, and the fillet was placed close to the flame to infuse the sauce and reduce the excess fat. This is the clearest picture of the fillet I've got, as Chef Kawano kept flipping the fillet constantly, hundreds of times in fact, during the entire process.


It's a family business, and during this whole time Kawano-san's wife had been busy making the Unagi liver soup and preparing the side dish, while the daughter served us tea and hot napkins. Eventually the Chef re-emerges with the skewers still in his right fist, but in a shiny glazed golden brown colour, and an unbelievable smoky aroma of Unagi oil, char, soy sauce and sweet mirin.


While Chef Kawano was getting the Unagi into our rice bowl his wife served a side dish, which was basically one whole pickled Japanese cucumber under a *mountain* of Katsuo-bushi (skipjack tuna shavings), seasoned with a Dashi soy sauce. The picture shows the serving for one person. I don't know if this is a typical side dish for Kansai Style Unagi, but I've never had this much Katsuo-bushi shavings served to me in any side dish or even main course. An interesting way to start a meal for sure, but as it turned out the Katsuo-bushi worked great as a appetizer, bringing an Umami taste to the mouth while not taking up much room.


Finally the moment I had been waiting for -- the famed Mamushi of Osaka. The three huge pieces of Unagi fillet in the picture is actually only half an eel, as the rice bowl is layered with Unagi at the top, then rice, then Unagi again, then rice at the bottom. Sorry about the slightly blurred pictures, but my emotions was telling me to just dump the camera aside at this point.


The first bite was unbelievable. It was a taste of intense smokiness, sweetness, saltiness, and a mouthful of savory oil all at once. As the crispy charred skin crackled under my bite, my tongue was coated with the Unagi's juices, which had maintained a wonderful strong oily flavor but without a "fishy" taste. My father once taught me how to get the fishy taste out of eel dishes, and I knew, after one bite, that Chef Kawano's technique was as good as it gets.

After that my appetite was like an avalanche, unstoppable until the last piece of Unagi fillet and the last grain of rice. I think we tried to take it slow and savour each bite of a special meal, but according to the timestamps on my pictures we probably finished it in 10 minutes. I don't know how even my wife managed to finish the entire bowl, but it was really that good.

After the meal Chef Kawano showed us his collection of newspaper articles and interviews, one of which was an interview with a Hong Kong food critic, who gave high praises, and also described the difficulties of working as an Unagi chef -- years of Unagi grilling has taken its toll on Kawano-san eyes and knees, and there is no successor to inherit his technique ...


I remembered Kawano-san saying earlier that he was born in Taiwan and didn't move to Japan until the age of 10, and that was 60 years ago. I couldn't help calculating his age, and it made me very sad. This is how I will always remember this visit: the proud, dignified eyes of the master chef standing with his creation in hand, like Michelangelo before his David.


The mystery price turned out to be 3500 yen (CAD$35) per person, but now I understood why it's worth every single yen. It was a complex feeling of sadness as we walked out of Kawano-san's little shop; perhaps it's out of my own selfishness, but I really wish him good health -- I hope to have the pleasure of watching him at the grill again, the next time I visit Osaka.

Bill for Two Persons

Mamushi x 2	7000 yen
TOTAL	7000 yen (CAD$70)

A Random Review of Osaka's Local Cuisine

Osaka is a food lover's paradise by anyone's standard -- whether you come from New York, Paris or even Tokyo. In Japanese it is affectionately known as "Tenka no Daidokoro", or Japan's Kitchen, with legitimate reasons. I've never seen another Japanese city (or any city in the world, for that matter) with a higher concentration of eateries.

Note that I'm talking about "eateries", not bonafide "restaurants," as much of Osaka's favorite culinary creations began as peasant food at streetside stands. Today you can still find Takoyaki (octopus balls) stands on Osaka streets just about everywhere, but the Okonomiyaki (grilled pancakes), Doteyaki (beef brisket on skewers), Kushikatsu (deep fried skewers) and Ramen noodles have mostly moved indoors into specialized eateries.


For foodies coming to try out the vibrant local food scene, south Osaka's Dotonbori is definitely the place to be. In Osaka, anyplace with the suffix "-hori" or "-bori" is typically a river or canal, and Dotonbori is a short stretch of canal slicing horizontally between two of Osaka's busiest entertainment districts, Shinsaibashi to the north and Namba to the south. The canal is lined with Osaka's most familiar sights such the Donkihote (Japanese pronunciation for Don Quixote) bargain store, with its elliptical ferris wheel. Note that it's not a 100-yen store, but a chaotic, multi-storeys supermarket / department store / 2nd-hand shop selling everything from shampoo to used Prada handbags.


Dotonbori's main drag just south of the canal features the most colourful store fronts. This evil looking character belongs to the Dotonbori Gokuraku Shoten-gai (http://www.doutonbori-gokuraku.com/foreign/english.html), advertised as a food-related theme park decorated in the style of pre-war Osaka. Perhaps it's a fun place, but we chose not to pay 300 yen (CAD$3) just to access its list of restaurants since all we wanted at this time was an order of Takoyaki.


Hardly any tourist would leave Osaka without a picture of one of these giant claw-waving mechanized crabs, the mascot of the Kani Doraku restaurant. I specifically went to this restaurant's website (http://www.douraku.co.jp) to check out its seasonal menu before the trip, but I reasoned that later on this trip we will be going to the crab-producing region of Kanazawa where we can have our crab for cheap. So we managed to subdued the crab-lovers in ourselves and moved on.


Then there's the depressing story of Kuidaore-Taro, the mechanized drum-playing figure which had been a symbol of Osaka for half a century until 2008, when the restaurant announced closing its doors. The restaurant was still in the final months of operation during our visit, but most people just came to swarm around the figure for a souvenir photo. At present (June 2008) it's still undecided where Kuidaore-Taro will go next, but the hometown of Cuidaore restaurant's original founder in Hyogo prefecture is making a bid for it.


Hmm ... decisions decisions. This evening we decided to go for a good bowl of Ramen noodles, and at this particular stretch of the Dotonbori the choices are plenty. The most famous one is probably Kinryu Ramen (http://www.kinryuu.com), with its namesake "golden dragon" snatching the attention of the potential clients passing by. The soup-base is the typical Tonkotsu (pork bone) from the southern island of Kyushu, so it's not an Osaka invention. We did our research beforehand and picked another Tonkotsu Ramen specialist with a better street rep ...



FOOD REVIEW: ICHIRAN RAMEN (Dotonbori Branch)
Address: Osaka-shi Chuo-Ku Dotonbori 1-5-10
Hours: Daily 10:00-23:00 (according to Yahoo Japan)
Website/Map: http://www.ichiran.co.jp/pc/hp/tenpo/tenpo/doutonbori.html
Directions: Take subway to Namba station, take Exit 14 and walk to Dotonbori's canal side. Head straight to the big elliptical ferris wheel, and when you face the ferris wheel Ichiran Ramen is a few shops to the right, just before the bridge.

We decided to try this highly popular Tonkotsu (pork bone) Ramen chain originating from Fukuoka. Not an Osaka speciality, just very popular with Osakans. It was just past 6PM on a Sunday, and a line-up was starting to form.

The servers made us wait at the street level, and after about 10 minutes we were invited in ... only to buy our tickets at the automated vending machine and wait a bit more. I didn't see any English on the vending machine, so if you can't read any Japanese you'll probably have to ask for the servers' help. We ordered only two bowls of regular size noodles (650 yen) with half-boiled eggs (100 yen).

Five minutes later we finally got to the ... uh ... counter. You can see a photo from the official English website here, and frankly speaking the little divided booths makes me feel like visiting someone at a prison ... I prefer normal undivided counters or tables.

Next comes the order sheet, in Japanese. They probably have an English one according to their English website, though I haven't seen it at my booth. If you're planning on going and don't understand Japanese, I would recommend printing out the English order sheet here.

In case you're interested, we picked Strong Flavor, Rich Soup, Regular Amount of Garlic, Strong Green Onion (ie.the white stem), Roast Pork Fillet, Regular Amount of Secret Sauce, and Medium Tenderness for the noodles.


One of the BEST bowls of noodles (of any nationality) I've had. The roast pork was average, the egg was good, but the soup base was simply excellent. Incredibly rich and thick, dominated by the flavor or pork, and complimented by a zest of red chili. Better than any Kyushu style Tonkotsu soup I've ever had before. Just thinking about the soup brings slaver to my mouth.

The toppings though wasn't spectacular -- no bamboo shoots, no seaweed, and the pork comes from the shoulder cut, which is a little too lean for my taste. The presentation of the soft-boiled egg was surprising -- not as two halves of soy sauce flavored egg placed on the noodles, but as a shell-on boiled egg on a small dish on the side. What you see in the picture is after I peeled off the eggshell and took a bite. Sorry, I guess that's not the best presentation ... my bad.

Bill for Two Persons

Ramen x 2	1300 yen
Soft-Boiled Egg x 2	200 yen
TOTAL	1500 yen

The ramen wasn't quite filling enough, so we headed back to the main street and passed by this Aka-oni ("Red Devil") Takoyaki stand, famous for its signature Takoyaki container that stacks on top of a soft drink cup, as illustrated in the little picture on the right of the store sign. 6 pieces of Takoyaki with a drink goes for 525 yen (CAD$5). But we didn't have our Takoyaki here, because our usual strategy of blending in with the locals is ...

... to find the place with the longest lineup!



FOOD REVIEW: HONKE OOTAKO
Address: Osaka-shi Chuo-Ku Dotonbori 1-5-10
Hours: Daily 10:00-23:00 (according to Yahoo Japan)
Website/Map: http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/0006712529/M0027002664/
Directions: Take subway to Namba station, take Exit 14 and walk to Dotonbori's main drag. Keep walking east until you see Kinryu Ramen's big green dragon on your right. Honke Ootako is diagonally across from Kinryu.

Well, it's about as Osaka as it gets, a take-out only Takoyaki stand in the heart of the Dotonbori. There were 20 people ahead of us when we arrived, but they have a staff member taking the pre-order from the queue, so the actual wait was only 5 minutes. Which is a good thing, since all the tall buildings somehow work in conjunction to channel the wind down to the canal level and it was freezing cold standing there even in May.

There's only one item on the menu, and only one flavor available. The only decision to make was 6 for 300 yen, 10 for 500 yen, or 20 for 1000 yen. Being already quite full from the Ramen, we ordered 6 to share.


So this is how it's made. The first guy works with the containers full of boiled octopus chunks, individually placed each chunk into one of the semi-spherical holes of the Takoyaki grill. Second guy uses a couple of little bamboo skewers to push the gradually drying batter towards the centres of the holes. And the third guy's job is the trickiest -- stabbing at each semi-cooked ball with his skewers to flip and ensure even grilling on all sides. No secret to it, just lots of practice.


And here's the finished product -- actually pretty ordinary on first glance. Average amount of sauce, average amount of Katsuo-bushi shavings, a little powdered Nori, just what you'd expect at any anonymous takoyaki stand anywhere in Japan. Upon the first bite the skin was rather soft and chewy, which was opposite of what I expected (I personally prefer crisper skin). The filling was excellent though, with a creamy half-cooked sauce surrounding a huge piece of octopus about half the size of a thumb. That alone makes it a fairly good deal at 50 yen a piece, which is probably what the line up was all about.

Bill for Two Persons

Takoyaki 6 pieces	300 yen
TOTAL	300 yen

Food Review: SHODAI EBISU
Address: Osaka-shi Naniwa-ku Ebisu-Higashi 2-5-2
Hours: Daily from 10:00-24:00 (according to official website)
Website/Map: http://www.yebisu.cc/map/index.html
Directions: If you've fully read the story below and STILL want directions to this place, you're a brave guy and I'll give you good detailed directions. Take the subway to Dobutsuen-Mae station. Take Exit 1 and walk north, through the underpass, and then through the covered arcade. Once you come out of the arcade, walk straight until you see the big pufferfish lantern towards your left. Walk towards the lantern and turn right underneath the lantern. Shodai Ebisu is right next to the pufferfish restaurant (Zuboraya).

This is the place where the Yakuza (gangsters) came in to collect protection money, while we were munching on our Kushikatsu. Were we surprised? Very. Did we appreciate the experience? Definitely not. But we stayed in Osaka for three days and came across this by pure chance, so I suppose you can say we're "lucky", depending on how you look at it.

Now you must be thinking: we must have picked the crappiest little eatery in the roughest of all neighbourhoods -- after all Japan is supposed to be one of the world's safest countries. Well, I can assure you that we were in one of the most popular (to domestic tourists) sightseeing areas, on a busy pedestrian street, and sitting in a huge 200-seat restaurant. It just happened to be a bad time since it was raining outside, a little early (17:45) for dinner, and thus we were the only table out of 50 or so tables. I guess that made it a convenient time for the Yakuza to come in ... for a withdrawal.

Long story short: the four Yakuza-san were invited into the party room, a staff went out and came back with the money, and the visitors left visibly holding a small stack of cash. And the two of us, well, just minded our own business, trying our best to relax and enjoy ourselves during the 20-minute visit. A staff did come to our table to bow and apologize though, so I guess they're managing the situation the best they could.


This is a memorable picture. Just right after pressing the shutter, the Yakuza-san came out of the party room and I had to scramble to put back the camera before they think I was photographing them. It was an anxious moment to wait for the four to walk past my back and out the front door.

Enough about the unexpected entertainment -- this is supposed to be a *food* review. The reason that we chose this particular restaurant for Kushikatsu (deep fried skewers), out of 15 or so others in the same area, was the we wanted to have Okonomiyaki (grilled pancakes) as well as Kushikatsu. Okonomiyaki is one of Osaka's signature dishes, and Kushikatsu is the signature dish of Osaka's Shinsekai district in particular.


So here it comes, our first try at Kushikatsu at the birthplace of Kushikatsu. From the left: Octopus, baby squid, sea scallop, shrimp, yam, eggplant, and with an unskewered asparagus lying underneath. As you can see the crumb coating was very light, and the only flavoring was in the big steel container of Worcester-based dipping sauce available at every table. The sauce is likely shared by all guests, of past, present and future, hence there was a big sign that said "No Second Dipping" right above every table. Not an appetizing thought, but I guess we're eating like the locals now.

And the taste was actually quite good, better than what I expected of a random restaurant. In fact the sea scallop was excellent -- large, plump, and full of juices. The crunchy yam and asparagus were very good also.


Even though we had our eyes on other items on the menu, the Kushikatsu was so good that we ordered a second round -- two sea scallops and a chicken gizzard. Scallops were excellent again, and the chicken gizzard nice and crunchy. It was surprisingly good food at 100 to 200 yen (CAD$1-$2) per skewer.


We then ordered another south Osaka specialty known as Doteyaki, which is beef sinew/brisket or whatever normally tough and cheap areas, slow cooked for hours and smothered in a thick, sweet miso sauce. The meat was still a little tough, and the sauce was rather strong, so I guess it serves its purpose as a beer snack. But on this dinner table there are a lot of better food.


Finally the Seafood Okonomiyaki that we've been waiting for ... sort of ... I expected them to bring the ingredients to our table's hot-plate and let ourselves grill it. Perhaps they figured foreigners would appreciate this service. Oh well.

I should have at least taken a picture of it being cut open, as it was just packed with squids, scallops, shrimps and other goodies. I don't know if it's always like this, or if they're just making up for that Yakuza scare. But for 580 yen (CAD$5.8) that's an impressive amount of seafood. And the seasoning was just right -- not too salty, not too much vinegar, and not so much sauce that would overpower the delicate taste of the seafood.


We also ordered a bowl of Asari Sakamushi (steamed clams in wine broth). Again, surprisingly good for a large Izakaya-style place. I guess this is the advantage of being the only table.


We finished with an order of Nankotsu Karaage (deep fried cartilage), which is really the knee joints of chicken. Nothing spectacular about this dish.

Overall there were some excellent items and some average ones. Apart from the Yakuza thing, this was definitely an enjoyable meal with a good variety of Osaka's most representative dishes, and at a reasonable price of just over 2000 yen (CAD$20) per person.

So would I go there again? Well ... I think it would largely depend on how empty it is at the time ...

Bill for Two Persons

Beer (medium bottle)	550 yen
Squid	130 yen
Octopus	160 yen
Scallop x 3	630 yen
Shrimp	250 yen
Yam	120 yen
Eggplant	100 yen
Asparagus	210 yen
Chicken Gizzard	120 yen
Doteyaki	280 yen
Nankotsu Karaage	450 yen
Seafood Okonomiyaki	680 yen
Asri no Sakamushi	504 yen
TOTAL	4184 yen

Hotel Review: HOTEL CHUO (Osaka)
Address: Osaka-shi Naniwa-ku Ebisu-Higashi 2-5-2
Price: 6500 yen for a Japanese-style double room with private bathroom
Website/Map: http://www.hotel-chuo.com
How To Book: Through official website
Directions: If you're arriving from the Kansai International Airport, take the Nankai railway and get off at Shin-Imamiya station. The hotel is two blocks to the east. Or if you're arriving from other parts of Osaka, take the subway to Dobutsuen-Mae station. Take Exit 1, and the hotel is to your left, within the same block.


As far as Osaka goes, this is the cheapest it gets unless you're settling for share-bathroom facilities (in which case you can get by for about 2000 yen (CAD$20) per person per night). But this is one step-up, a Japanese-style tatami-floor room with a private, western style bathroom and toilet, complete with bath towels and bathing gel and conditioning shampoo that you would expect from a western-style hotel chain. There's a TV with about 10 channels (Japanese channels, so don't even ask about CNN), and you can borrow a hair dryer from the front desk for free. There's even a simple continental breakfast with bread and some pastries. What more can you want for 6500 yen (CAD$65)?


If you've never stayed in a Japanese-style room before, this is how it looks after you setup your beddings. Place the Futon mattress first (or stack 2 Futons, if you like it fluffier like my wife does), which will have a clean bed sheet attached to it already, then your pillow and blanket/duvet. That's it. Most people would put it away in the morning and bring the low table back to the middle of the room, but you don't have to if you're comfortable with watching TV on your Futon instead of sitting cross-legged around the low table. This room is 6-tatami mats in size, plus a small entrance area, the bathroom, and large closet area for hanging clothes and storing the Futons.


Another great thing is having a small fridge, which is not a common amenity in Japanese style rooms. So this evening we brought back my favorite brand of Japanese ice cream, Mayonaka no Zeitaku, and my wife's favorite non-carbonated drink Premium Calpis. And the Yebisu beer? Well, I still haven't found a Japanese beer to fall in love with.


This is what the lobby looks like, with soft drink and beer vending machines, guidebooks and free tourist maps, and best of all, free Internet. There's also an adjoining laundry room with washers and dryers. Chatting with the receptionist here is a white guy, one of many foreigners I've seen over a few days. So it seems it's been well discovered by Gaijin.


This is looking outside our window at the neighbourhood, which is probably the only aspect one can complain about. This is not the most affluent neighbourhood, and you'll see a few homeless people wandering outside the church next door. However we stayed for a few days and it's pretty safe even at night -- I'd rather be in Osaka than any North American or European city of this size.

However few hotels can beat its convenience of the subway station (Dobutsuen-mae) next door, JR train station (JR Shin-Imamiya) across the street, and direct access to Kansai International Airport from Nankai Railway's Shin-Imamiya station a couple blocks away. For me, the luxury of a hotel next to the subway station at the end of a long day is the ultimate appeal.