A Food trip in Osaka

CEBU, Philippines – I’ve had two articles published on a recent visit to Osaka with the family of our good friend Consul Robert “Bobby” Joseph and his Cebu family – that’s me, my wife Jessica, former Tourism Regional Director Patria “Dawnee” Roa and Philippine Star Lifestyle columnist Honey Loop. If there is anything that we have in common with Bobby Joseph, it is that we love to eat together.

Our trip to Osaka happened just a couple of days after the Joseph brothers’ hosting of the 15th Grand Wine Experience at the Marriott Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, an article on which was also published in the Lifestyle section of The Freeman.

Arriving in Osaka late in the evening, we quickly checked in at the Hotel Nikko Osaka. Then we went out and walked for a few minutes to a soup and noodles restaurant, the Kamakura Restaurant. It turned out to be a learning experience for us.

Jessica and Dawnee were surprised to find no cashier or waiters in the restaurant as we went in. They were heading to the exit door but found beside the front door a machine that looked like a jukebox with the photos of the all the dishes that the restaurant offered.

I decided to get the Set Menu for 880 Japanese yen, equivalent to 352 in Philippine peso. I put a thousand yen in the slot, pressed the button, and a paper receipt came out. Having done as I did, diners were then to go inside, sit on a stool and put the receipt in front of them. We found out that there were only five workers in that restaurant. But the food served was totally filling.

We also visited a Family Mart shop (yes, the Family Mart which has already opened several shops in Cebu). To my total amazement, Family Mart was full of foodstuff that a busy working Japanese who doesn’t have time to cook could just go and get hot food quickly.

Teppan-grilled skewers were our choice for lunch, and to our delight Teppan-Jinja had an English menu. It was fun tasting their teppanyaki – they had alligator tongue, which made this restaurant exotic. After lunch, while walking in the Shinsaibashi covered arcade, we chanced upon a sidewalk vendor cooking huge shrimps, tako (octopus) and giant clams (for 500 JPY or P200 bucks!) and shells. Our food binge was unending as food was everywhere in the arcade.

The most expensive Japanese restaurant we tried was the Matsusakaya Beef, where a beef platter good for six people cost 13,800 JPY or P5, 520 pesos. This restaurant had an English-speaking waitress so it was easy to order. After we ordered our steaks, she brought out the raw meat, which we were to cook at our tables. She taught us which steaks to cook first, and listed the name of each raw steak for our cooking.

There was one Japanese restaurant that we went to that could not take all of us in one seating – the place was so small. But their sushi and sashimi dishes were very good and inexpensive. After that meal, Bobby Joseph dropped by a Korean restaurant and their steaks were as good as the legendary Kobe Beef.

In ending this delectable story, I should mention that the Hotel Nikko Osaka’s breakfast buffet was one unique experience in the sense that they had a whole leg ham that a chef would slice for you. But their bacon strips are to die for as it is, to me, the best bacon that I have ever tried. The strips are so crisp and totally drained of oil. Best of all, eating in Japan is a great, inexpensive experience… and there is no tipping there, which makes Japan a totally unique place in the world of dining!