Exploring Osaka Namba area – Kuromon Ichiba Market

28 November 2016

After enduring a rainy first day in Osaka, the weather was fortunately good for our visit to the Namba area of Osaka. We started the day by taking the subway from Nishi-Umeda subway station to the Namba subway station.  Kuromon Ichiba Market (Kuromon translated means “black gate”), located in the Namba area of Osaka, was easily reached by a short walk from the Namba Subway Station.

This is one of the most well known central food markets and a top spot for fresh seafood, local produce and street food in Osaka!  Therefore, this is a must-visit place in Osaka for foodies and it was best to go with an empty stomach and a wallet full of yen. 

Compared to Kyoto’s Nishiki Market, Kuromon Ichiba Market has more stalls selling foodstuff that tourists can consume on site. When we arrived at about 9.30 AM, this place was already quite crowded. Most of the visitors, mostly tourists, were on the main street. The side streets were not so crowded.

The rest of this blog post describes what we saw and ate at this market.

One of the typical seafood store with loads of fresh seafood on sale for on site consumption or take-away. This stall sells the Kingcrab and giant salted grilled prawn.

“White” strawberries.

Some of the sweetest and most expensive rock melons are produced and sold in Japan.

Minami Fish Store - Shop selling the Japanese delicacy fugu, or pufferfish.

“One man’s meat, another man’s poison” – as the saying goes. The fugu is so poisonous that the smallest mistake in its preparation could be fatal. Only trained chef is allowed to prepare the dish.

Fugu in tanks.

After a walk along the entire street which was about 600 meter long, we made a mental note of what we were going to eat and got down to it. Definitely no fugu! 

Live sea urchin  - the stall-owner will open, clean and serve the edible creamy orange insides of the sea urchin to customers.

 

A must try in this market would be the fresh seafood. Our first course was sashimi.

Assorted sashimi for 2500 yen.

The best and most tasty was these slices of well-marbled fatty tuna.

The seafood were all pre-packed and displayed. Just select what you fancy, pay for it at the cashier and go find a place to enjoy the food. The seafood stores has tables and chairs set up within their premises where we could sit and consume our food. Soy sauce, wasabi, chopsticks were provided.

Next course after the sashimi was a king-size salt-coated grilled prawn.

Giant salt-coated grilled prawn.

There was a stall selling freshly grilled scallops. The aroma from the grilled scallop was so enticing. For 1000 yen, the stall-holder will clean a large scallop, load it with butter and soy sauce and grilled it over a charcoal fire.

 

We came across a stall called the Kurogin Tuna Store with a man carving up a large tuna. After acquiring a taste for the fatty tuna during this trip, we could not resist the sliced tuna sashimi that was sold at this store.  The sliced tuna were packed in boxes and there were many options to choose from: Otoro, Chutoro, Akami, Assorted, Sashimi or Sushi.

We bought some otoro  (fatty tuna sashimi) from this stall, to be consumed immediately by the side of the stall. The "Otoro" is the most valuable and expensive cut from the underbelly of the tuna and is also the fattest. The pink colour came from the high levels of omega-3 fats that are found in the flesh and is a prized delicacy for the melt-in-the-mouth taste. 

Pink fatty tuna slices (Otoro) for 3000 yen. 

 

After indulging in the fatty tuna, we patronise a store selling the wagyu beef on skewers. Beef from many regions of Japan were sold here, e.g. Saga, Kobe, Matsusaka. One of the most expensive beef is the Matsusaka beef where some may claim is better tasting than the more famous Kobe beef.

We could not resist the temptation to have a stick of Matsusaka Beef skewer.  

 

While the beef was delicious, the portion was small. On hindsight, we felt that it was not worth paying 2500 yen for this skewer of Matsusaka Beef. It would be better to save that money and go splurge on a proper Matzusaka Beef Yakiniku dinner at some other time.

We back to the stall selling the giant grilled prawn and bought a box of huge boiled King-crab claws and legs for 5800 Yen. We loved eating crabs and this is one of the highlights of our visit. This was our last seafood item at this market.

Coffee lovers should check out this store selling coffee from all over the world.

 

One of the best thing to drink at the Kuromon Ichiba Market. Freshly ground and brewed coffee from this stall.

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Exploring Osaka Namba area – Dotonbori Street and Shinsaibashi Shopping Street

28 November 2016

After a morning of eating at the Kuromon Ichiba Market, we headed north to the Dotonbori canal.  The entire area of Dotonbori is thronged with an unbelievable number of restaurants and amusement facilities, starting with the famous Kani Doraku restaurant near the Nihonbashi Bridge.

Dotonbori is another place in Osaka where visitors could eat and eat. We already had our fill at the Kuramon Ichiba Market, so the next best thing to do is just to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere and take it the sights.

You can guess by the large signage what the stores are selling.

Large puffer-fish on top of a fugu restaurant.

This stall sells dragon meat? No, this is the Kinryu (Golden Dragin) Ramen restaurant.

Okonomiyakai is one of the food to try along Dotonbori. There are many Okonomiyaki restaurants.

Another Kani Doraku restaurant with the iconic red crab with moving claws and legs along Dotonbori.

We spotted a picture of ourselves; candid camera.

Inside a confectionary store. 

Dotonbori is a great place to pick up Japanese souvenirs, manga and anime keepsakes, knick-knacks, sweets and treats.

The famous Glico Running Man sign by the Dotonbori canal.

From the Ebisubashi bridge, next to the Running Man sign, we can see the entrance leading to the Shinsaibashi Shopping Street. 

There are many stores selling Takoyaki or Octopus Balls and our research led us to the Atchichi Honpo Dotobori shop, located by the canal.

We could see that this store was the most popular by the long queue. Takoyaki is one of the must-try street food at Dotonbori, so we joined the queue which moved quite fast. After buying our octopus balls, we managed to get a seat by the stall. We ate the steaming hot takoyaki while watching the cooking process.

One staff places one piece of cooked diced octopus into each mound in the metal tray, while his colleague was cooking the balls on an adjacent tray.

Some yellow coloured ingredients were sprinkled by hand into the trays.

He then came back with the batter and fills each mound with the batter.

Expertly turning the balls while it was being cooked. 

Final product. Nine Octopus Balls or Takoyaki from the Atchichi Honpo Dotobori shop for 500 yen. Brown sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes and shallots were added on top of it.

Before going to explore Shinsaibashi Shopping Street, we decided to go make a reservation for dinner. Of the many options for dinner along Dotonbori, we had craving for beef yakiniku and our research on the internet brought us to the Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M restaurant. This restaurant serves the famed Matsusaka Beef. We went to make reservation for dinner at the M Yokocho branch and was directed to go to the Gyu Nabe M restaurant instead.

Map showing the locations of the Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M restaurants in Dotonbori area.

The Gyu Nabe M restaurant is along the Hozenji Yokocho, a narrow, stone-paved path that leads to the Hozenji Temple. Cozy and quaint, both sides of the lane are lined with small food shops and cafes serving traditional Japanese food, including the Fugu.

Hozenji Yokocho, a narrow, stone-paved path that leads to the Hozenji Temple.

Although the name was that of Beef Sukiyaki, we were assured by the staff who took our reservation at the Gyu Nabe M restaurant that Beef Yakiniku is also served.

 

Hozenji Temple.

We went to visit the Hozenji Temple. We saw some people splashing water as an offering to the deity and pray for their prosperity. Because of the large amount of water splashed onto it, the statue has grown a large amount of moss.

A worshipper splashing water at the moss covered Fudo-myo statue.

After making our reservation, we went to walk the Shinsaibaishi Shopping Street, Osaka’s longest shopping arcade.  The arcade boasts a wide variety of shops, both local and well-known international brands. In the midst of window shopping along Shinsaibashi Shopping Street, we stopped for more food. This time, it was lobster roll from Luke’s Lobster, a popular NYC chain that had came to Japan.

Since we were visiting Osaka in autumn, we took a detour from the shopping street to take a look at the ginkgo lined Midosuji Street running parallel to the Shinsaibaishi Shopping Street.

Autumn foliage of gingko trees along Midosuji Dori.

Tired from all the walking, we rested at the coffee store till the sky turned dark. The sky turned dark pretty early in autumn so we did not have to wait too long.

 

Midosuji Dori at night looked so much nicer!

If Midosuji Dori at night looked nice, Dotonbori at night looked super awesome.

At night it is lit by hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signs. The canal area was specially nice at night, with the reflected neon lights shimmering in the water.

Boat tours took visitors for a cruise down the Dotonbori Canal.

The famous Glico Running Man sign by the Dotonbori canal.

Dotonbori was more colourful and vibrant at night. Many restaurants competing for the share of wallets.

 

Who has the fiercest stare?

Inside one of the souvenir stores.

Gudetama Toy Figurines - Only the Japanese could make an egg so cute!

Ebisu Bridge area.

The Ebisu Bridge area would give New York’s Times Square a good fight in terms of liveliness, sights and sound. There was even a live music and dance performance by a local girls’ group by the banks of the canal. Besides the sights and sound, Dotonbori is also home to some of the best restaurants serving some of the best food in the world. Amongst them, would be the famous beef of Japan. We ended our visit to Dotonbori with dinner at the Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M restaurant, enjoying the best beef in the world.

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Exploring Osaka Namba area – Yakiniku (Japanese BBQ) dinner at Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M restaurant

28 November 2016

Our quest for eating the best beef in the world in a good Japanese Grill (Yakiniku) restaurant led us to the Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M. This restaurant specialises in serving the prized Matsusaka beef.

We went to make a reservation for dinner at the Hozenji Yokocho branch in the afternoon but ended up being directed to dine at their Gyu-nabe M branch instead. We found that there were actually a few branches in the Dontobori and Yokocho area.  Although the name, Gyu-nabe, was that of Beef Sukiyaki, we were assured by the staff who took our reservation at the Gyu-nabe M restaurant that Beef Yakiniku was also served.

Map showing the locations of the Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M restaurants in Dotonbori area.

We arrived at the Gyu-nabe M restaurant promptly at our reservation time and the staff who took our reservation welcomed us warmly. We were led to a private room, with traditional Japanese style seating, for our dinner. 

The menu was extensive. There were interesting sections explaining the origin and certification of Matsusaka Beef.

Wagyu beef cannot be called Matsusaka Beef unless it is certified! Strict quality control.

”Considered as "the art of meat", MATSUSAKA BEEF get its tasty reputation and virgin status from the special treatment the cattle is given.
Raised between the Izumi and Miyagawa river in the suburban area of Matsusaka city, for several years all cattle is managed with the highest degree of quality and care. To ensure satisfaction to our customers, all cows are fed beer to create a healthy appetite, and given a body massage with a mixture of shochu. This particular treatment creates a smooth blood circulation throughout the body of our cows.”

The myth that the high grade Japanese beef were from cattle that was fed with beer and given special massages to produce the perfect meat seemed to be true! At least it is true for Matsusaka beef.

A chart provided in the menu showing the beef parts, ranked in terms of fatty marbling was interesting. No 12, 11, 10, and 9 were the more expensive parts.  There were chicken, pork,  seafood and vegetables in the yakiniku menu too.  To make things easy, we decided to order one of the set dinners. There were three Matsusaka beef courses. The Standard Course, Special Course and the Premium Course.  

Since we enjoy eating marbled beef, we went for the Matsusaka Special Course which cost 5800 Yen per person. It came with the following:

• Assorted appetizers
• Matsusaka Marbled Beef Sushi
• Matsusaka Short Rib with Leek and Salt
• House Salad
• 4 Different parts of Matsusaka Beef (mainly marbled beef) –chosen by chef
• Garlic Rice
• Today’s dessert.

**  The Standard course (3800 Yen/person), included 3 different parts of Matsusaka Beef (mainly lean beef). It also did not include the Matsusaka Marbled Beef Sushi.

Assorted appetizers, salad and the mandatory cold beer to go with the grilled meat.

Matsusaka Marbled Beef Sushi.

 

Friendly English speaking staff cooking the Matsusaka Short Rib with Leek and Salt at our table.

Matsusaka Short Rib with Leek and Salt.

4 Different parts of Matsusaka Beef (nicely marbled beef).

 

The 4 different parts of Matsusaka Beef  chosen by the chef were the M-Ribeye, Haneshita, Ranichi and Ohtoro Karubi. We grilled these beef ourselves, a few pieces at a  time, and ate the well marbled beef hot from the grill. This was the best way to taste the full flavour of the special meat. No need to add any dips except salt.

Garlic Rice.

Comparing the items provided in the set dinner against the cost of the individual items in the ala-carte menu, the set dinner was value for money. I highly recommend this restaurant for its high quality beef, friendly staff and nice ambience.

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