Osaka 2007
This time around I plan to go to other parts of Japan that I didn’t manage to go to in the first place. This include Hiroshima and Miyajima island. The reason I couldn’t go before was because Hiroshima is such a far away place from Tokyo. Let’s say I leave around 10am in the morning using Shinkansen, I’d be arriving there around 4-5pm, which is kind of moot. Because of that, I decided to spend one week in Osaka so I can go to Hiroshima and lower parts of Japan more easily. This means I will be able to go to Kyoto, Nagoya, and Kobe without spending too much time inside the train.
I just arrived in Osaka yesterday and I’m still a bit tired so I’ll blog about Osaka tomorrow. For now, I’ll just show some of the foods that I’ve had while I was in Tokyo for 2 days (to watch Evangelion) and what I had in Osaka yesterday. I had this really nice Inari sushi bowl which was really nice. This is pretty much rice topped with your favorite seafood dish. I order the tuna, crab, and ginger set which includes a miso soup. If you go to Japan, I really recommend this. Unfortunately I forget the name of the shop but I don’t think it’s important since there are many shops which sell this kind of dish.
If you go to Shinjuku station, there’s this stall which sells Hirota ice cream. This is ice cream encased inside a Choux pie. They’re pretty cheap (100 Yen) and comes in variety of taste from Green tea to Sesame seed. They’re pretty good too for a 100 Yen ice cream. Word of warning though, if you buy it to take home, make sure you properly guesstimate the length of time it’ll take for you to reach your fridge. The reason for this is because the sales assistant will put in some ice inside the bag to ensure that the ice cream inside the Choux pie does not melt. I had one melt on me because I didn’t eat it fast.
I also had some all-you-can-eat Sushi. That was pretty bad although there are occasions where I got some good stuff like the Mackerel sushi shown above and the Wagyu Beef. In general, however, I’d like to avoid all-you-can-eat anything unless it’s all-you-can-eat Beef. Once I arrived in Osaka yesterday, I decided to purchase some Takoyaki. There are many Takoyaki sellers here and apparently the taste of the Takoyaki differs from one seller to another. The one that I had was pretty good (8 giant balls for 482 Yen). To wash the taste, I had a Green Tea and Kuromitsu ice.
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I missed this site and all the beautiful pictures (especially of food!). How was the green tea crispy ice cream sandwich?
It’s very tasty :) The wafer somehow stays crisp despite the ice cream inside it. Maybe it’s the thick layer of kuromitsu (black sugar syrup) that stops the ice cream leak.
That is brilliant! I always wonder about the life of a food or chemical engineer who works for one of these food companies. Do they have days where they suddenly say, “Eureka! I should use kuromitsu to keep the sandwich crispy!!!!” right before a major discovery? =D
I think people in Japan really take their food craft seriously. I don’t think I’ve had a really bad experience with foods that I buy here. The only exception was that all-you-can-eat Sushi bar. Even then that was just mediocre and I was asking for it. There’s no such thing as cheap Sushi and if there is, then the likelihood is that they don’t taste good (ie. dry).
hey garten! how’s osaka? hope you’re having fun! hmmm… i never tried all-you-can-eat sushi but i tried the 100yen sushi restaurant… hmmm… they’re also dry. not a place i’d want to go again~
oh about the choux ice-cream, is it in shinjuku eki or outside? i might go tomorrow or sunday and its worth a try if it’s that good. hope the typhoon didn’t spoil your vacation! chiba got hit pretty bad but it wasn’t that scary.
funny though coz when me and hubby went out for breakfast today there were broken umbrellas everywhere. scary, but kinda funny. thanks for the heads up on the choux cream though!
Milkberry, sorry that I didn’t notice sooner that your post was on moderation. I hope you won’t have problem commenting anymore from here on.
Osaka is hot. Too hot. I want to go back to Tokyo. 100 Yen sushi is probably better. The all you can eat sushi is not only dry but the selection was also poor.
The choux ice-cream is inside the Shinjuku eki. Tokyo was fine when I left last week. It’s hard to believe that the typhoon suddenly caused havoc.
Garten,
Where are you staying in Osaka? and where did you stay in Tokyo? I will be heading over there for the 1st time in Nov.
Kitty, I was staying at this place called Flexstay Shinsaibashi while I was in Osaka. It’s basically an apartment that you can rent for 1 week. It’s cheaper than a hotel but slightly more expensive than the usual budget hotel. You do get what you paid for though since I have my own fridge, microwave, and internet access (which is important to me). I paid around 6,200 Yen because I stayed for one week.
In Tokyo, I stay at one of the Toyoko-Inn budget hotels. Again, it’s more expensive than the usual budget hotel (which you can get for around 3,500 Yen) but it’s a lot cleaner, and has the same basic facility as the one above (minus the microwave). Bear in mind though that this time around I’m in a full holiday mode and not in a backpacker mode (as in I’m not in the mood to be away from convenience).
If I were in backpacker mode, I’d go for a something that would only cost me 3000 Yen but a lot further outside the city like Palette Takashimadaira. This is where you share the bathroom (you have your own toilet), kitchen, and living room with 3 other people but have your own bedroom. There are other options inside the city but they usually are not as clean. Well, I hope that helps.
Thanks Garten! Can you recommend which area to stay in Tokyo? There is so many choices with Toyoko-Inn. I will be spending 4 days there. This will be my first time in Japan so I hope to see a little of everything.
hi garten! i tried the hirota choux ice-cream and yeah it was nice! thanks for the info. i didn’t have to go to shinjuku eki to get it though.
we were at omotesando eki when i saw the hirota stall! got myself the macadamia ice-cream. i had to stop myself from wanting more LOL. thanks for the heads up again!
Kitty, sorry for the late reply. I think you should try staying within the Yamanote line stations (Shinjuku, Ikebukuro). So if you can get a Toyoko-Inn which is immediately on Yamanote line (as in you don’t have to take subways afterwards), it’ll make life easier on you. Be careful though. Just because a Toyoko-Inn is in Akihabara (one of Yamanote line stations), for example, it doesn’t always mean that it’s very close to the station.
Hey, sorry to be a bother - I was wondering if you had a phone number or an email address for Palette Takashimadiara in Tokyo? I can’t seem to find one anywhere on the internet. Thanks!
Carolyn, sorry for the late reply. Not that I’d be much of a help anyway. Unfortunately I can’t remember their phone number at the top of my head.
Great photos! I like your post.
Are there are other food tips that you would like to share to people like me who would like to go there? Of all the delectable things you’ve sampled, what would you highly recommend to someone on a budget trip for a week’s stay? Thanks in advance.
Ted, sorry for the late reply. If you happen to read this, you can always buy cheap food at the basement of a shopping mall. The prices are especially cheap if you go there one or two hours before they close down. As for eating at restaurants, the places that I go to are relatively cheap. I don’t have much money either to go to high-class restaurant. The most expensive meal I’ve had only cost $10.