Today is our last night in Osaka. Originally we had planned to take the train to Kyoto and spend the day visiting some shrines and temples. But instead we both needed a more relaxed morning. We did have our breakfast - really closer to brunch - at 9:30 AM. They have a Japanese/American breakfast buffet at the hotel and it has been interesting seeing what items are identified as American. We ate here on Friday so were curious if anything new would be added. The Japanese items included steamed dumplings, several fried items on skewers including shrimp and congee (with all the toppings including bonito). The American items included ribeye steak with mashed potatoes, two kinds of pizza, beef lasagna and American sausage. All the American items were the same. Interestingly the only eggs on this buffet were hard boiled. And certainly many more brunch items. They also had some delicious ice cream. I had strawberry ice cream and Angie had green tea ice cream. We headed back to the room. Angie had some work emails and phone calls to catch up on while I planned a day in Osaka. We stayed in the room until about 1:30 when we headed out on our adventure.
We took the train to the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living. After getting off the subway we walked down through a neighborhood with so many small restaurants that were packed to capacity. Plus pachinko parlors (aka casinos), butcher shops and grocerettes. Definitely a local neighborhood. We reached the museum after about ten minutes of walking through this interesting alleyway. I would definitely comeback here next time I am in Osaka.
The museum was all about how the housing and living situation has changed from the Edo period (17th century to mid 19th century) to today. They had constructed an authentic full sized Edo village on one of the floors with all the shops, kitchens and housing. Fascinating to walk through.
Then they had a section which had miniatures of the building design. It was interesting to see how the Western influence was included. But that was only on the outside. Inside the row houses and other structures were still a very typical Japanese design aesthetic. It's interesting to look at two Asian cultures such as the Japanese and Chinese and see how they developed with and without a Western influence. The museum was really well done and was only 800 JPY ($6.16 USD) per person.
After the museum, we headed to our late lunch/dinner. When we were in Tokyo we wanted to try a style of Japanese cooking called Okonomiyaki. We just weren't able to fit it into our plans. Since this was our last night in Osaka, I figured we would try this. There was a place I found on Dotonbori Street called Chibo which specialized in this style. We visited this street on Thursday night so the area was familiar.
We were seated quickly. Each table had its own flat top grill. We didn't know much about this style of cooking. Were we going to cook our own meal, similar to a Korean BBQ? Would it be like teppanyaki? It ended up being like nothing we had ever experienced. There were several choices of proteins. Angie picked number 3 and I went with number 2. We also ordered some gyoza. These had a cooking style I had never seen. Instead of being shaped into a dumpling and pan fried, these had been flattened and then pan fried. It made them super crispy!! Why aren't restaurants in the United States making them this way?
Our orders arrived!! And they were nothing like I was expecting.
The chef had prepared it on their flat top grill and these were brought to our table and placed on the flat top. Then our waiter drizzled some Japanese mayo on top. What was inside? Sort of like a stir fry and egg foo young together. The Okonomiyaki batter starts with eggs, flour and shredded cabbage. Then you add other ingredients as shown on the menu. It's then pan fried like a pancake and typically topped with green onions and a fried egg. Other toppings are available such as bonito flakes, a thick sweet sauce similar to hoisin, dried seaweed and dried pepper.
The dish was so tasty. And the proteins were all so flavorful, especially the shrimp and squid. And then you could add the additional toppings. The bonito flakes were my favorite, although that sauce was very good as well. And like a lot of foods, each region of Japan has their own twist on this food. The dish has an interesting, somewhat mysterious, history. It is said to have been "invented" during WWII when rice was in short supply. Instead they had lots of wheat flour and eggs. Whatever the truth is, it's a very tasty dish. On our way out of the restaurant, the line has grown to at least 25 people. I guess we picked a popular place.
After dinner (late lunch), we headed to our favorite happy hour bar The HUB for some people watching by the window. It was then time to take the subway back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we will leave the hotel by 7AM so we can catch our train to Yokohama. We'll check into our hotel, probably have a snack and then get picked up by a local guide who is taking us to a baseball game!! It's the most popular sport here so I will be so interested to see the fans. Then on Monday we will board our cruise ship the Holland America Line Westerdam for a two week sailing around Japan.
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