Japan Trip 2013 - Day 15

Day 15

It was another fine day to dine. In addition to our usual pastry line up at Maison Keyser we also stopped by the nearby Kintetsu department store basement for some other savory items.

Shrimp Cream Croquette 

Menchi Katsu

The shrimp cream croquette was a bit cold and it was not as creamy as we would have liked it.  The cream and shrimp filling caked up and was not as smooth and delicious as we had hoped.  The menchi katsu was like a deep fried burger. Kitty really liked it...and hardly shared any of it with me...

Cheese Bread

Chestnut Danish

From Maison, we got a cheese bread and chestnut danish.  Kitty wanted a much more savory breakfast and was becoming tired of all the sweets we were consuming.  The bread was nicely cheese flavored.  The cheesy crust was nice and crispy.  The bread had not filling, but the cheese top was more than enough to provide flavoring for the bread.  The chestnut danish was sweet and the outer ridges of the danish was dusted with powdered sugar.  The danish just had a sweet taste with some firm chestnuts in the middle.  The chestnut danish is a must try for people who like chestnuts.  Pretty much cannot go wrong with anything from the Maison shop.  

After breakfast we made our way to Ikeda, home of the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. Admisison is free, but to make your own customized instant ramen cup it's only ３００円!

Custom Artistically Drawn Ramen Cups

We will probably cook our noodles after we get home. Meanwhile we went to Osaka castle and found a little mom and pop snack shop...probably catered towards the tourists. None the less Kitty wanted some ice cream and yakisoba.

Grape Soft Serve and Yakisoba

Grape soft serve is wonderful!!! Have yet to see this flavor anywhere else. As for the yakisoba...well...that's going to taste the same nearly anywhere. But we needed that snack break none the less.

Golden Pineapple Calpis

Ducky picked up a bottle of Golden Pineapple Calpis after the trek to Osaka Castle.  It tastes like Calpis with pineapple.  It was a very refreshing and sweet drink.  A must try for people who like Calpis or pineapple.  As with most Japanese drinks, it has less than 50% fruit juice.

We were feeling pretty lethargic so we went back home and took a nap. We woke up late in the evening...but ready to prowl the Tennoji neighborhood for some good eats. Per our host's recommendation we looked for a little shop way behind the huge Abeno Cuestown mall...called Hayashi. It was a little difficult to find at first but when we did.....it was worth it.

Mix Okonomiyaki

Kewpie Mayo, So Delicious!

Modern Squid Okonomiyaki

It was a little mom and pop store...with only 2 people running it. It was very cozy and we just hollered to the waitress which okonomiyaki we wanted and watched the chef as he grilled our orders. Each okonomiyaki took around 15-20 minutes to make so most people usually enjoy some beer in between and relax. Both okonomiyakis we had were very delicious...the mix had both pork and seafood while the modern squid had yakisoba in it as well. And our total bill was less than $10!!! Bargain dinner! We would go out of our way to come back here when we come back to Osaka. Speaking of restaurants we would go back to...

Bene Spaghettie Store Front

This quaint Italian restaurant that's next to the ever famous Ippudo gave us a very warm experience. Ducky was hesitant to try it at first since it was Western food and we did not travel all the way here just to eat something we could have at home.. But he caved in to my persistent pleads, and we were glad because really did get something we could not find at home. When we stepped in... we were promptly greeted. Upon learning that we were from San Francisco, the staff seemed a bit nervous...or felt a higher pressure to do a good job.

Vegetable Dip Appetizer

 We started off with this complimentary appetizer...Ducky and I got really excited because it was probably the first real vegetables we've had in two weeks. We dipped the vegetables in this hot broth mixture of anchovies, garlic, seaweed and olive oil. I fell so much in love with this taste I even asked for the recipe so I could attempt to replicate it at home. They were super nice and wrote it down for me...! And even asked if I needed any clarifications. It was probably one of the best souvenirs I had received.

Recipe for Super Awesome Dip 

The first thing I ordered was one of their steamed hand made pastas that this restaurant was known for. It came in this ceramic set up. It reminded us of a volcano since there was smoke piping out of from the top vigorously. After 5 minutes the buzzer rang and one of the staff removed  the lid.

The Volcano

 And low and behold it revealed both the pasta and seafood propped up in another ceramic plate. and both were balanced over the center of broth. The steam from the broth cooked both the pasta and the seafood. She promptly put the pasta into the brother as pictured below and added cheese and pepper to our liking.

Seafood Pasta

This dish already had a very unique novelty factor in the way it was cooked. But it was not gimmicky at all because the flavor delivered! The pasta was so soft and mixed in with the seafood broth...it was definitely one of the best pastas we have had. Plus they were very generous with the seafood: 2 prawns (shell taken off already!), 2 clams, 2 mussels, 2 calamari pieces, and a whole scallop.

Post Pasta Bread Dip

Afterwards there were two pieces of what seemed to be stale toasted bread in a little cup. The waitress told us to enjoy it by dipping it in the broth after we have eaten the pasta. It was a great way to finish off this dish. The texture of really hard bread with some soaked in broth was really good along with its rich taste.

Steak and Foie Gras

Finally Ducky ordered a steak and foie gras dish. It came with some arugula salad and deep fried lotus roots. And underneath which unfortunately is not shown in the picture is a very tasty demiglace sauce. We were tempted to clean the plate with the bread they provided us (which was made in house as well!). The steak was tender and made to medium rare and the foie gras was cooked a little to the firmer side but still very delicious none the less.

The biggest kicker was that each of these dishes we ordered was only $17! We could never possibly find this kind of quality for only $17 back home in the states. Heck we can't even find foie gras anymore since we're in California. The quality and price of the food really just took us away.

I had to tell our waitress how good the food was...and she lit up and yelled to the staff about our reaction to their food. One of the girls in the back yelled back, "I love you!!" in English. 

Another cute notion is that whenever a customer leaves they lead him out, offer some post dinner candy, and stand a bit outside as he walks away. When we left they did the same....and even though we walked about a block away...when I turned around all the staff was standing outside and they waved enthusiastically. We returned the gesture with the same vigor. I wish I took a picture of them...it was a very memorable meal.

Anyone who's going to Osaka should definitely stop by Bene * Spaghetti !!!