Osaka
-
Shin-Osaka Station: Great Food Options to Try While Waiting for Your Bullet Train
If you’re taking a bullet train out of or into Osaka, you will end up at Shin-Osaka Station. Fortunately, there’s a number of restaurants and places to grab snacks at here. I was at Shin-Osaka Station a couple of times and ate at two of the restaurants there.
Hokkyokusei at Shin-Osaka Station
Hokkyokusei is a restaurant that specializes in omurice. A Western influenced dish, omurice is a very common and popular Japanese dish. The beloved dish traces its history all the way back to the early 1920s. Its origin is a bit hazy, with some believing it started in Osaka, while others claim a restaurant in Tokyo was the first to offer the tasty dish. Regardless of its origin, omurice is now a national dish and another iconic food in Japan.
Omurice includes ketchup fried rice, yes ketchup fried rice, wrapped in a very thin omlette with ketchup drizzled over the egg. The egg is very crepe like, it’s a very thin layer. The ketchup fried rice is generally mixed with chicken and vegetables.
The Omurice
The omurice I got was the traditional chicken fried rice encased in the thin crepe like egg (970 yen, $6.65 USD).
This came loaded up with chicken fried rice. A little sweet, a little savory the pieces were nice and tender as well. The sauce drizzled on the plate was pretty much like a thinner, bitter ketchup. Interesting flavor to it.
Despite the omurice being loaded to the gills with fried rice, this was stll a very light meal. The egg is so light and airy. I really have no idea how they’re able to wrap the rice inside of it like they do. It seems so delicate and easy to rip. This was my first experience eating omurice and it was definitely an enjoyable breakfast. It’s certainly something I’d enjoy trying to make in the future myself. I doubt the presentation will look as good as this though!
Dashi Chazuke En at Shin-Osaka Station
Dashi Chazuke En is a chain restaurant in Japan that is know for serving ochazuke with various toppings over it.
What exactly is ochazuke? It’s a simple Japanese dish that includes a bowl of cooked rice with hot tea or dashi poured over it. You add toppings such as Japanese pickles, nori (seaweed), salted fish, and really any other topping which sounds appealing to you, you can throw in there!
This is something that I’ve eaten with my family after certain Japanese meals, essentially my entire life. We use the rice left over from the meal for it and pour tea over it and eat with pickled vegatables.
I’ve never seen ochazuke in any restaurant in my life before so I was actually quite excited to see there was a restaurant in Shin-Osaka Station whose menu tilted towards serving the dish.
It was definitley helpful that the menu was in English as well. I went with the grilled salmon and sesame kelp option (650 yen, $4.10 USD). This little meal set comes with the bowl of ochazuke a couple of side dishes and some pickled vegetables. You get your own personal teapot and pour the tea in yourself. There’s also a seasoning packet provided that you can pour into the ochazuke to add some additional flavor.
I dumped in all the side dishes and pickles as well. It all combines to make what could be considered a type of stew. With rice, salmon, pickled vegetables, there’s a whole lot of different textures to enjoy with this meal. This is definitley a comfort food for myself and it was great to be able to enjoy it in Japan. This was a perfect breakfast as I waited for my train. Light, yet filling, warm, and comforting, it was a great way to kick off the day and was extremely affordable as well!
A Lot Of Options
These are just two of the restaurants you can eat at. There’s about 10 total restuarants but over 36 total shops / restaurants / cafes within this area in the station. If you don’t want or have time for a sit down restaurant there’s a ton of places with pastries, sandwiches, sweets to choose from within Shin-Osaka Station. I wouldn’t necessarily worry about grabbing a bite to eat prior to heading over to the station, there’s plenty to choose from here!
-
Popular Comfort Food Hamburg Steak Is A Mainstay At This Osaka Resturant
Hamburg steak is a very popular food in Japan. Enjoyed by all generations and especially popular amongst children, hamburg steak is very much a comfort food throughout Japan.
It’s basically a meat pattie consisting of a combination of both ground pork and ground beef, sauteed onions, egg to bind everything together, and bread crumbs. This combination creates the juicy and tender Japanese hamburg steak.
The sauce generally consists of a blend of Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and Japanese sake creating a flavorful sauce to coat the hamburg steak.
Sides generally include potato salad and /or rice.
Table of Contents
Grill Ron
Hamburg steak was not something that I had eaten in many years. With it being so popular in Japan it was available at many different locations and one night it just sounded really good and I was able to find Grill Ron’s in Osaka.
Located in the basement level of the Osaka Hankyu Sanban-gai, a large mall near Osaka Station, Grill Ron has been in business for nearly half a century. It’s a small restaurant and there was about a 20-minute queue when I went around 6pm. It’s quite convenient that they have stools lining the front of the restuarant so you can sit while you wait, which after a long day of touring is quite nice and very welcome!
I came here for the hamburg steak and it’s certainly a prominent item on their menu. They have a few different options to choose from three different sets with different sides to choose from. Having an English menu was also a huge plus!
I went with the A Set which included a hamburg steak, fried shrimp, and croquette (1,250 yen, $7.77 USD). This also included a side of rice and miso soup. Quite a deal for $7.77!
The Food
The presentation on the plate is quite nice with the hamburg steak, croquette, and fried shrimp all lined up nicely. By American terms, the hamburg steak is a little small, BUT I mean, we tend to over do things food related, so this hamburg steak is probably sized correctly lol. It did however stand out to me initially.
The hamburg steak was really lean and extremely juicy. It paired well with that brown Worcestershire, ketchup, and Japanese sake sauce which was a little a sweet, a little savory. It was quite tasty.
The croquette ended up being potato, with a perfectly crispy exterior and mushy inside. The contrast between both the exterior and interior was fantastic. It was really like a deep fried mashed potato pancake. Dipped in some of that sauce really made it quite tasty as well!
Finally, the shrimp. First off, the shrimp was quite large. Fried to perfection, it was nice and crispy and the shrimp was very swee. Definitely a nice addition to this set. It comes with what is basically tarter sauce for dipping sauce.
Is It Worth A Visit?
Overall, this was a good meal, especially for the price. I liked the different combination of flavors and textures with the fried shrimp, hamburg steak, and potato croquette. Throw in some potato salad, some cabbage, rice, and miso soup, and this was quite a lot of food (yes, even with the “smaller” hamburg steak!)
Grill Ron has been around for a very long time and they know what they’re doing. If you’re in the area and craving a hamburg steak it’s certainly worth stopping by and grabbing a delicious, budget conscious meal.
Grill Ron
Address: 1 Chome-1-3 Shibata, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0012, Japan
Hours
Monday 11 AM–10 PM Tuesday 11 AM–10 PM Wednesday 11 AM–10 PM Thursday 11 AM–10 PM Friday 11 AM–10 PM Saturday 11 AM–10 PM Sunday 11 AM–10 PM -
Hole In The Wall Senryo Sushi in Osaka Provides Authentic Experience
The tiny Senryo Sushi in Osaka is a sushi restaurant located off a main street near the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. After walking around and enjoying the aquarium why not enjoy some sushi in a quaint local sushi joint?
Table of Contents
Senryo Sushi in Osaka
After visiting Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan in the evening and walking around enjoying the sights there, I was definitely quite hungry and looking forward to finding something to eat in the area. I managed to find Senryo Sushi which had an excellent 4.5 star rating (out of 5) on Google and decided to give it a try.
This is tucked away off the main street and you could easily miss it. It’s a very small restaurant consisting of a sushi bar with about 12 -15 seats. There’s one sushi chef. It seems like a husband / wife duo that run the place. It’s definitely a neighborhood type of restaurant that’s been there for a while, which I loved. It’s a very cozy, warm atmosphere. They do not speak any English here and only cash is accepted.
The Sushi
Senryo Sushi in Osaka does have an English menu with preset sushi sets, which is certainly helpful, but the menu is quite small which limits what you can try. I did order off it but in hindsight wish I had gone the Google Translate route to open up more options on the main menu.
I went with the Chu-Nigiri sushi set (1500 yen, $9.56). Definitely a good deal for the price! Eight pieces of excellent looking sushi for under $10? Sign me up. The presentation of sushi at Senryo Sushi in Osaka is impressive as well. Everything looks so meticulously placed and put together. I had zero idea of what most of the sushi was to be honest outside of the shrimp, unagi, tuna, and salmon roe, but was more than happy to give it all a try.
Something that immediately caught my attention was how the fish was extremely fresh and the sushi presentation was fantastic. It looked delicious when it was brought out!
Something else that was a little different was the wasabi was already spread on the rice, underneath the fish. I’d never seen it served like that, I’m generally accustomed to getting a glob of it on a side dish to mix it in with some soy sauce. I liked it!
The standouts to me was, of course, the melt in your mouth tuna and the shrimp which was very sweet. All of the pieces had their own type of texture, for better or for worse since I’m a big food texture eater.
Some of the cuts of fish were a little too chewy or a little too firm for my liking, but it was a great sampler of what is offered in this little restaurant and again, the fish was good quality. I just didn’t know what it all was lol. I do wish I had tried ordering off the main menu to be able to open up all the different types of sushi they offered. I certainly would have ordered a lot more of the tuna but I suppose it will have to wait until my next visit!
Final Thoughts
Overall I really enjoyed eating at Senryo Sushi in Osaka. It was definitely a find. It’s a good spot if you’re looking for a place to eat after visiting the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and are heading back to the subway station. Very affordable, and you can’t go wrong with a local restaurant serving good food. You really get a cool vibe from eating at places like this. I certainly recommend it!
-
The Popular Okonomiyaki Is A Must Have While Visiting Osaka
Okonomiyaki is a popular, savory pancake dish that is found throughout Japan. Consisting of a flour batter and cooked on a teppan, common ingredients include cabbage, meat, and seafood, with toppings including a thicker worcestershire type sauce, dried seaweed flakes (aonori), bonito flakes, Japanese mayonnaise, and ginger.
It’s prepared much like a pancake with the batter and ingredients pan-fried on both sides of the teppan.
Originally created in Osaka in the 1930s, it quickly spread throughout the Kansai region (Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Shiga). This version of okonomiyaki is what is generally found throughout Japan. In Hiroshima they have their own distinct take on the popular dish, where the ingredients are layered instead of mixed and there is about 3-4x more cabbage used with noodles and a fried egg topping it off.
I didn’t get to visit Hiroshima this trip, but was in Osaka to have their style of okonomiyaki.
Table of Contents
Okonomi Yukari
While out and about in Osaka, I ran into Okonomi Yukari which is a okonomiyaki restaurant that has been around since 1953. There’s a few of these restaurants throughout Osaka. The one I went to in the Kita Ward is the flagship location. With it being my first night in Osaka I thought it was a great time to get my okonomiyaki for the trip!
They had many different variations of okonomiyaki here, with a large selection of toppings you could add as well. I went with the most popular choice – the Special Mix Yaki (1450 yen, $9.25 USD). This particular mix included pork, cuttlefish, and shrimp.
The table you sit at has its own teppan and once you order your server comes by with a bowl with all the ingredients and an egg which gets cracked into the mixture and you stir it all up. You can either make it yourself or they will make it for you. Since I had zero idea of how to actually cook the okonomiyaki, I let the pro handle it.
Just like a big ol’ pancake chalk full of ingredients with pork laid on top, this is what the okonomiyaki looked like when it was first placed on the teppan.
It takes some time to get it nice and cooked (at least when you’re hungry and have food cooking right in front of you) but it started coming along. The outside was getting nice and crisp and the inside was starting to cook as well. It gets flipped a few times before it’s ready to be served.
Once fully cooked through the thicker worcestershire type sauce, dried seaweed flakes (aonori), bonito flakes, Japanese mayonnaise all get added. The pictures don’t quite do this justice. This is a large, dense, pancake! There’s a spatula that you use to cut the okonomiyaki into smaller pieces so you don’t need to dig into the whole thing.
The Okonomiyaki
After watching this cook before my very eyes I was ready to dig in! I gave myself a nice chunk of the pancake and dug in.
The outside had a nice char to it with a slight crunch. The inside is fairly packed with all the goodies. The cuttlefish was really tender and well done. It wasn’t dried out at all. The shrimp was sweet and the pork was a nice tasty surprise when you got a bite of it. There was also some green onion and carrot mixed into this as well which went great with the mixture.
The combination of the worcestershire type sauce and Japanese mayonnaise adds a little sweet and savory to the pancake. They gel well together and are really the perfect complement topping for this dish.
Overall, it was a satisfying, very filling meal! For under $10 USD it was a great value and it’s just one of those meals that you must have if you’rve visiting Osaka!
