Let’s Goyang!

I can’t tell ya how much I love Japanese cuisine. As a foodie (and also a drinkie - but that’s another story), I love most sorts of cuisine, but I can’t eat it everyday for every meal. With Japanese cuisine, I can! And I just won’t tire of it.

Fresh soba noodles with tempura

There is a Japanese etiquette where it is customary to say “Itadakimasu!” before starting your meal; it means “I shall receive.”

But Osaka does it abit differently. They say “Kuidaore!”, which means “Eat and drink until you burst!”

And believe me, the Osakans live and breath by this philosophy . It was fun at first joining them in this, but after two days and four meals, it was too much for me! Its like the Osakans - even the skinny ones - have a bottomless pit for a stomach!

Sometimes I think “Kuidaore” didn’t start out as a polite saying to inform everyone to eat. Its more like “I challenge you to a duel to the death - via eating!” started by a couple of fat samurai.

A typical takoyaki stand

Food in Osaka (and Japan in general) isn’t cheap - even by their local standards. I was told the reason for this is because the Government limits food imports to protect farmers in Japan. Therefore most food here is locally grown and produced. And without competition from imports - farmers can charge high prices for their produce.

But the upside to this is that no matter where you eat, you can be assured that the food here is top-notch.

A tonkatsu restaurant in the Umeda subway station

One of my most memorable meals was the tonkatsu I had in a random restaurant in the subway station. It was the best tonkatsu I ever had. Golden and crunchy on the outside, but moist and tender on the inside. Thinking about it makes me miss it.

1000 yen can get you a set meal with unlimited rice, miso soup and pickles. That’s the cost of an average meal in Osaka, but for Malaysians, it converts to roughly RM$27! But rest assured you’ll walk away full!

Than there are the fancy places that my hosts treat me to. I am eternally grateful to them for I’m not sure if I could ever afford to eat at places like these in Japan!

The place that stands out the most for me is a small restaurant called Hagakure. We sat at the bar and my host just told the chef to bring out whatever. I think in French it would be called a degustation. Seven or eight small courses of whatever the chef is preparing that evening.

I’d never had a meal like that ever in my life. The restaurant specializes in traditional Japanese cuisine with a modern twist. Its not fusion mind you. Its very Japanese, but yet somehow… elevated? Its hard to explain. But it was heavenly.

My host told me its ’slow food’. As in the dishes are prepared with very simple techniques - but the utilization of very fresh ingredients is a must.

And who am I to argue? The best dish on that evening was a piece of fish head grilled with salt! It was incredibly tasty - and I was surprised when the chef told me that the only seasoning he used was salt.

But! It was no ordinary salt. The salt came from the grounds of a nearby mountain. And it certainly helps as well that the fish was only caught that morning.

The interior of the restaurant

I don’t know how much the meal cost, but I’m certain it wasn’t cheap. I honestly never expected to dine in a place like this when I boarded the plane to Osaka. I actually had a budget planned.

When my host asked me what I wanted to eat that evening, I told him I wanted to go to an izakaya and eat yakitori. He laughed at me and told me he’d do better than that and treat me to some real food.

He certainly wasn’t wrong.

*TO BE CONTINUED*

This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Tripping Overseas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.