Curiously Carmen

Osaka Eats: Top Five

Last month, the fiance and I went back to Japan for vacation! This time, we went to the Kansai region, which includes Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and Himeji. With the exception of Kyoto for 3 days, we stayed in Osaka for the two weeks of the trip. This post will contain the top five places we ate at in Osaka! I also did a similar post for Tokyo eats, if you’re interested in reading that as well.

The area we stayed in was Namba so most of the restaurants will be around here. Namba is one of the central hubs in Osaka known for their food and shopping.

Osaka is nicknamed ‘Japan’s kitchen’ because they have the most amazing food. Takoyaki, okinomoyaki, and kushikatsu were all invented in Osaka!

1) Kushikatsu Hyotan: Our absolutely favourite restaurant of the trip. We went here three times because we couldn’t get enough! They serve kushikatsu, which is deep fried meat or veggies served on a skewer.

The kushikatsu breading is not like tempura breading. Tempura breading is flakier and has a softer crunch, whereas kushikatsu batter contains breadcrumbs and has a harder crunch. Kushikatsu batter is also thinner. I’m not sure if that makes sense because I’m no food expert, but that’s how I’d describe it.

I like both tempura and kushikatsu, but there is currently only one restaurant in Vancouver that serves kushikatsu so we had to eat more of this while in Osaka!

This is random, but they also had an amazing seafood yakisoba that we ordered each time to go with the kushikatsu! Equally as good as the kushikatsu!

The only bad thing here was service wasn’t that friendly, but clearly we didn’t mind because the food was so good.

2) Takoyaki doraku wanaka: There were a lot of takoyaki places in Osaka, especially in Dontonbori. Every few steps, you would come across a takoyaki stand. Rather than going to the first place we saw, we walked around Dotonbori to compare prices and see what caught our eye.

This was one of the cheaper places for takoyaki we found! A lot of places charged 500 yen for 6 pieces, but they charged the same amount for 8 pieces!

The takoyaki was big and so delicious! The batter was so flavourful. A bonus about this place was that they have a two floor seating area inside, so you could enjoy it in peace!

In Japan, it is considered rude to eat and walk at the same time and there are many signs telling you not to, so people usually stand and eat before carrying on.

3) Naruto Taiyaki Hompo: The fiance discovered this place during the second half of our trip. We wish we discovered this sooner! A bonus was that this was only a block from our hotel, on the way back to the train station!

The taiyaki here was AMAZING. They make it fresh in front of you, so it is served piping hot. The outside was crispy, while the inside was filled very generously with your choice of filling – I usually went with the custard, the fiance went with red bean. The best dessert to end our night.

We also found out that this was a chain, so you can find stands throughout Osaka!

4) Torikizoku: We also love yakitori, aka grilled meat skewers! Our favourite in Osaka was Torikizoku. Torikuzoku is a chain based in Osaka that is known for their chicken skewers and cheap prices.

We did not know that an order includes 2 skewers! All the skewers are 300 yen (about $3.50 CAD) and it comes with 2 skewers! Such a good deal and the quality of the food was not sacrificed either.

If you’re not a fan of chicken, they also have other meat and veggies available. The chicken was full of umami flavour. Mouthwatering and delicious!

5) Mister Donut: Mister Donut is a popular fast food chain in Japan for donuts. I remember seeing Mister Donut in my textbook when I was learning Japanese in university, haha! So yes, I’ve heard of Mister Donut but we didn’t try it until now, and OMG have we been missing out!

Mister Donut is famous for their pon-de-ring donut (top right), which was soooo good. They were delightfully chewy yet airy. Think of a light, airy donut mixed with mochi.

My favourite was the strawberry pon de ring, pictured on the top right! It was like their original glaze pon de ring, but with a strawberry topping that tasted like Pocky strawberry. Their other donuts were amazing too! You can find Mister Donut everywhere. We mostly ate it at the food court in local shopping malls.

We found that Osaka didn’t have much to see in terms of sightseeing but made it up in terms of food. If you are a food lover, you have to go to Osaka!

Travel: Tokyo DisneySea Resort Review

I actually started writing this draft in April, but never ended up finishing it! Back in November 2018, the fiance and I went on our much anticipated trip to Tokyo. One of the places we wanted to check out was Tokyo DisneySea.

Tokyo DisneySea is the only DisneySea resort in the world! Next door to Tokyo DisneySea is Tokyo Disneyland. Since we have been to Disneyland in the past and had limited time, we decided to only check out DisneySea.

The weather was quite cold for Tokyo standards that day! Also, the Disney resorts are located on the outskirts of Tokyo, closer to Tokyo Bay which also made it colder.

There were also some drizzly periods, but that didn’t stop us from having fun! You can tell from my photos that it was also cloudy that day. I thought about editing them to make it brighter but wanted to show potential visitors what the weather is like in November.

Tokyo DisneySea did sell some rain ponchos and portable sticky heat pads as well.

Getting there: Both Disney resorts are easily accessible from Tokyo, and is approximately 1-1.5 hours each way, depending on the method of transportation.

The cheapest option is to take the subway from Tokyo, but you’ll have to transfer a few times. Since we were meeting with our friends early, we purchased shuttle bus tickets on the same morning that departed from the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal. It was a great decision because I was able to nap the whole way and not worry about transferring trains or keeping our friends waiting from getting lost in Tokyo’s vast subway system.

American Waterfront at night

Just like Disneyland, DisneySea was divided into different themed areas – Mediterranean Harbour, Mysterious Island, American Waterfront, Port Discovery, Arabian Coast, Mermaid Lagoon, and Lost River Delta!

The park was huge, and we were so glad to have our experienced Japanese friends guide us around. If it was just the two of us, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to explore as much as we did that day.

Toy Story Mania, one of the most popular rides! We didn’t have time to go on it though. 🙁

There was also an app that they used, which told you the wait times for each ride. I don’t remember if it was only in Japanese or not though… Clearly that day, we were useless and trusted our friends LOL!

Mediterranean Harbour: The first area of the park!

As the name suggests, Mediterranean is named after a seaside Mediterranean town. This is also where the nightly water show is held too.

For lunch, we went to Miguel’s El Dorado Cantina, the Mexican themed restaurant. The food was delicious!

Also, I brought in some onigiri from 7-11 just incase, as I was still dealing with my stomach issues during the trip and didn’t want to upset my stomach/in case I couldn’t eat anything at the park.

There wasn’t a problem with bringing in my own food, so you could also stock up if you have strict dietary requirements or want to save money on food.

Stella Lou is one of the exclusive DisneySea characters. I fell in love with this adorable, soft purple bunny! Other exclusive DisneySea characters include Shellie May and Duffy.

All the cute Stella Lou’s!

Another Tokyo food exclusive was Toy Story’s alien mochi! I knew we had to get these.

They were cute and also delicious, with either a chocolate, strawberry or vanilla filling. You can find these at a trolley in American Harbour. Just a heads up that there will probably be a line up because they are very popular!

Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets! I forgot which place my friend got these though. They tasted like regular chicken nuggets, except they were Mickey Mouse shaped.

Mermaid Lagoon: This indoor area of the park was dedicated to Ariel and ocean life. It was a huge building with some different rides and a gift shop.

More Mermaid Lagoon

Arabian Coast

Found Stitch at Arabian Coast!

Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage, Disneysea’s version of the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride. We were on a boat which slowly transported you to different themes.

Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage

Gondolas at Mediterranean Harbour

At the end of a fun day, we watched the night show at Mediterranean Harbour. The show was in Japanese so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. It was still fun to watch though!

We had a very fun day at DisneySea! If you are staying in the Tokyo area for more than 4 days (anything less I would recommend only checking out the neighbourhoods in Tokyo), I would recommend reserving a day for DisneySea.

Travel: An afternoon in Kamakura, Japan

On one of our days in Tokyo, we wandered out of the hustling city center and visited the small seaside city of Kamakura for the day. We actually weren’t planning on coming here, nor have we even heard of Kamakura, but our friend offered to take us around since he grew up near here!

Kamakura is about 1.5 hour away from Tokyo via the subway. We arrived around 12pm and spent about 5 hours there. It was a good amount of time for us to check out the main sights.

Here is an itinerary of our afternoon spent! Hopefully this will help you plan an afternoon there too.

Lunch: Even though Kamakura is a smaller city, there were plenty of restaurants to pick from. For lunch, I would recommend eating shirasu don- tiny, sardine like fish. They are a Kamakura speciality and are caught locally, so it is super fresh!

You can have shirasu cooked or raw. Our friend prefers it cooked, so we listened to his expert local advice and loved it! It is a plain and simple dish but full of savoury flavour. There is a bit of egg and onion as well. 

Many restaurants offer shirasu-don since it is a Kamakura specialty. There are usually picture stands posted outside restaurants, so just pop in and try it. 

Elevated walkway to 
the Tsurugaoka HachimangÅ«, with traffic on both sides

After lunch, start making your way slowly to the Tsurugaoka HachimangÅ« shrine. There is a nice, elevated pathway to walk along leading directly to the shrine.

Our friend told us that it’s really beautiful during the cherry blossom season!

Tsurugaoka HachimangÅ«: This is the main shrine in Kamakura and probably the reason why you’d like to visit! Spend some time walking around the shrine, there is also a pond and other small areas to check out. 

Hōkoku-ji bamboo forest: This is about a 15-20, non-uphill walk from the shrine. The sidewalks are a bit narrow so you will have to walk single file, but traffic is very calm and reserved. There is also a small entrance fee of about 300 yen, or 500 yen for green tea & a cookie. 

I really enjoyed the bamboo forest. There are different pathways and also other greenery in the forest.

It was calm, quiet and a nice nature break from the city landscape of Tokyo (which I loved btw). 

After spending about a hour here, we took the bus to Kamakura station (or you can also walk but our feet were sore) and then the train to Yuigahama station, the coastal part of Kamakura next to the Pacific Ocean.   

Kamakura Matsubaraan: This is a quaint little restaurant specializing in fresh soba noodles. It gets quite popular and usually you need a reservation. Since we were still full from lunch, we went to their cafe instead. Our friend ordered delicious scones, the boyfriend had a coffee, and I enjoyed some apple juice. 

Yuigihama Beach: A quick, five minute walk and you will see Yuguihama Beach. Since it was their winter season, there weren’t many people but apparently in the summer, it gets quite busy here. 

We came at the perfect time: sunset (about 4 pm). It was so beautiful and the waves were so calming. I wish we could have stayed longer and walked along the beach more, but the Big Buddha park closes at 5 so we were on our way.

Big Buddha: This is probably the second most popular attraction in Kamakura, next to the temple. The Big Buddha is probably about a 7 minute walk from the beach. There is a small entrance fee for this as well. They close at 5pm so be sure to get there by 4:30pm!

So, there was our few hours in Kamakura! I really enjoyed Kamakura and thought 5 hours was a suitable amount of time. It was a nice change of pace and we got to enjoy some cultural and historic aspects of Japan. 

Travel: Tokyo Eats – Part 3/3

Woohoo! Part 3/3, the final post of my favourite restaurants in Tokyo! Have you been to any of these places?

Yakitori: We stumbled upon this small bar in Shinjuku outside of Memory Lane that probably fits about 10 people, and had such delicious yakitori. Unfortunately, there isn’t an English name for it nor do I remember the exact location. I’m kicking myself for not taking a photo of the entrance like I usually (always?!) do… ugh!

Near the end of our trip, we tried to go back because it was so delicious but couldn’t retrace our steps. 🙁 You’re probably wondering why I’m even posting this if I can’t remember the name? It’s because I like to look back on all my posts as memories, so I want to see this when I look back on my trip.

Kagurazaka Kurikoan: In part 2, I shared a taiyaki stand that we randomly came across in Akihabara, Akihabara Kurikoan. It was our first time trying taiyaki, and we fell in love with the taste so much that the next day, the boyfriend researched some places and came across Kagurazaka Kurikoan! It is a small cafe bursting with many different taiyaki flavours.

Compared to the first place, Kagurazaka Kurikoan had a lot more filling. We tried the regular custard, matcha, and cookies and cream. My favourite was the custard. It was so rich and creamy!

Menya Musashi: This was a ramen place in Shinjuku. Ramen and my sensitive stomach does not sit well, so I opted out while the boyfriend went for a quick lunch. He tried the Musashi ramen which is a combination of chicken, pork and bonito broth which was delicious.

Shin Udon: This is a small little place in Shinjuku, hidden from the main and busy area. They make their udon fresh here and it did not disappoint! The boyfriend’s chilled udon was very unique. It came with some citrus peels (?) which added depth to the chilled udon and beef. I ordered the normal soup udon and it was full of umami flavour.

Tsurotontan Udon: The second udon place we tried, and last meal in Tokyo. Both of my local friends recommened this udon place, so we went to the location at Haneda Airport before our flight back home! I was quite shocked to see people line up for an airport restaurant. However, this udon was spectacular! They had pretty unique types such as the duck meat udon (so delicious), chilled udon with spicy cod roe, egg swirl udon, and more!

Yummm! I know I’ll be looking back at these posts and be drooling over all the delicious food I ate. Until next time Japan, you won’t be able to get rid of us!

Travel: Tokyo Eats – Part 2/3

Continuing on our food adventures in Tokyo, Japan! Funny story, I was only going to do two parts… but then I showed the boyfriend, and he kept bringing up other restaurants I didn’t talk about. So two became three! This isn’t even all of the restaurants we ate at in the 8 days. Come to Tokyo with a hungry stomach!

Hakushu Teppanyaki: OMG, Kobe beef. This was our one major restaurant splurge… we both did not want to leave without trying Kobe beef. We were worried that we couldn’t get in without a reso, but luckily the owners squeezed us in the same night.

The Kobe beef was life changing… I’ve never had such amazing steak before. So incredibly soft, and buttery.. we were on a steak high for the rest of the evening. We thought the bread was a bit strange, but it is used to soak up the precious Kobe beef juice so you can enjoy that after the steak. Highly recommend having Kobe beef at least once in your life!

Sushi Zanmai: This is yet another chain in Tokyo, and personally, my favourite nigiri sushi of the trip! We went to two different locations, in Shinjuku and Shinokubo, but I liked the one by Shinokubo more. I’ve never had such amazing and fresh salmon nigiri in my life… for only 100 yen which is $1.15 CAD!

They also had really good fatty tuna. This is more of a sit down restaurant where you order. It was also really cool to watch the sushi chefs make our nigiri. They do it so fast and artfully!

Sutameshi: This was one of the restaurants that we randomly stumbled across, and turned out to be really delicious! The one we went to was on the second floor of a building in Akihabara.

Japanese people love their hamburger steak, which is essentially a hamburger patty with a side of rice and sauce. I couldn’t leave without trying one, and it was so good! The patty was simple but juicy, and the curry sauce went well with it.

The boyfriend ordered a fried chicken bowl and it was so good as well. It had a very strong garlic flavour, like deep fried garlic chicken.

Daily Chico: Eight. Layer. Soft. Serve. Need I say more?! We came here on the last day following a recommendation from a friend. It is unassumingly located in the basement of Nakano Broadway.

The flavours change often, but the 8 eight flavours we had that day were: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, coffee, chestnut, grape, green tea, and soda pop lemonade.

Akihabara Kurikoan: Going to Akihabara was full of pleasant food discoveries! A couple of hours after having lunch at Sutameshi (see above), we randomly saw a stand that served taiyaki. Actually, we spotted it because we wanted matcha soft serve. At the last minute, the boyfriend decided to also try their taiyaki since most people were ordering that.

Well, it was a wonderful decision on his part because it was delicious! Surprisingly, we both have never tried taiyaki before. The matcha ice cream in Tokyo has a more natural and earthy flavour, so don’t be expecting the highly sweetened matcha from Starbucks. Both the soft serve and taiyaki were delicious, and this spontaneous decision led us to source out other taiyaki places on the remaining days of our trip.