Osaka - Dining and Accommodation Suggestions?

[yflyer]

Hello everyone, I am considering Osaka for a short end of year break. Anyone have good dining suggestions (Where to go for sushi, in particular)?

If anyone has suggestions for family-friendly accommodation, that would be appreciated too!

As a side note, there is healthy competition for flights on the SIN-KIX sector...SQ looks to be the only one to fly direct, but fares aren't too bad.

It gets really interesting once you get to one-stop options, where you are spoilt for choice on both full service and budget carriers, including Jetstar, Scoot, Cathay, JAL, and ANA. Surprisingly, the competition is so fierce that I am getting the lowest fares from JAL and ANA (one stop via Haneda), and not the LCC's.

[CarbonMan]

Yflyer, I'm heading there myself in Dec but will be doing Tokyo-Kanazawa-Kyoto-Osaka over two weeks.

Normally I would recommend the Fraser Residence Nankai in Osaka. Great service apartment with facilities like a kitchenette and laundry. But for some reason I can seem to get any availability. And it's right next to Namba station and a short walk to Dotonbori area. Try your dates and see if they're available. Ignore their free breakfast, it's not worth wasting your calorie-quota on it!

I've not found really good sushi in Osaka yet (only in Tokyo and Kanazawa). On the other hand, I've found one of the best ramen (I've found this to be VERY subjective) in Japan in a tiny shop near Nakatsu Station. Tripadvisor rates them 3.5 - however I think that's way below what they deserve based on the queue of locals that are perpetually in front of the 15-seater restaurant (even in the rain). And they are only open 11am-4pm Mon-Fri http://www.noodle.co.jp.

Enjoy!

[yflyer]

Originally Posted by CarbonMan

Yflyer, I'm heading there myself in Dec but will be doing Tokyo-Kanazawa-Kyoto-Osaka over two weeks.

Thanks for the recommendations, CarbonMan!

If you are are flying out of KIX, we might run into each other in the Lounge!

Originally Posted by CarbonMan

I've not found really good sushi in Osaka yet (only in Tokyo and Kanazawa). On the other hand, I've found one of the best ramen (I've found this to be VERY subjective) in Japan in a tiny shop near Nakatsu Station. Tripadvisor rates them 3.5 - however I think that's way below what they deserve based on the queue of locals that are perpetually in front of the 15-seater restaurant (even in the rain). And they are only open 11am-4pm Mon-Fri http://www.noodle.co.jp.

Appreciate the food and lodging advice! Will keep the ramen recommendation in mind. I would not read too much into the trip advisor rating, from how you described it, it sounds like an excellent place! The fact that the website is in Japanese only makes it even more appealing to me!

[CarbonMan]

Originally Posted by yflyer

If you are are flying out of KIX, we might run into each other in the Lounge!

Sun Dec 20th, SQ619 (waitlisted on Dec 19th SQ615 - is that you choping all the redemption seats?!?!)

[yflyer]

Originally Posted by CarbonMan

Sun Dec 20th, SQ619 (waitlisted on Dec 19th SQ615 - is that you choping all the redemption seats?!?!)

I haven't booked tix yet...Leaning towards ANA at this point, mainly to check out their 787's. The fact that they are, surprisingly, the cheapest one-stop option is also a plus in their favour...

Looking to be there in the first half of Dec, where there is slightly better availability, so we definitely aren't competing for the same redemption tix !

[jhm]

Originally Posted by CarbonMan

I've not found really good sushi in Osaka yet (only in Tokyo and Kanazawa).

That's exactly what a Japanese friend in Osaka once told me - it's not the place for sushi. Anyway, there are many other good things to eat besides sushi.

[9V-SIA]

Best sushi I've ever had was in Kanazawa

They send their reject seafood to Tsukijii!

[CarbonMan]

Originally Posted by 9V-SIA

Best sushi I've ever had was in Kanazawa

They send their reject seafood to Tsukijii!

Pray tell which restaurant 9V-SIA. I'll be there for a couple of nights in Dec. Right now I've only got Otomezushi on the list.

[yflyer]

Originally Posted by 9V-SIA

Best sushi I've ever had was in Kanazawa

They send their reject seafood to Tsukijii!

Originally Posted by CarbonMan

Pray tell which restaurant 9V-SIA. I'll be there for a couple of nights in Dec. Right now I've only got Otomezushi on the list.

Now you've both piqued my interest in Kanazawa!

[jhm]

Originally Posted by 9V-SIA

Best sushi I've ever had was in Kanazawa

Where did you go ? The last time I was in Kanazawa, I went of course to Komatsu Yasuke (小松弥助) given the fact that with the best will in the world the 80+ year old sushi chef won't be around forever! Reasonably priced, a sushi chef of the same generation as Jiro in Tokyo (but without the big ego) and pretty good.

However, what I liked even more was Mekumi Sushi (tel: 076 246 7781). I've only been able to find one English language writeup of this place on the Internet (it was in a Malaysian or Singaporean newspaper ?) but I can't find it now. It was a recommendation from a Japanese sushi chef in London (who runs the sushi bar which everyone pretty much acknowledges is the best in London - Sushi Tetsu).

Mekumi was literally in the middle of nowhere in what looked like a residential area - we had to take local trains and then walk about 30 minutes to get there. We couldn't find it, phoned and they had to send someone out to fetch us. After we finished eating, all the trains had stopped for the night so we had to get a taxi back to our hotel in central Kanazawa (it wasn't expensive and much easier (only about 20 minutes if I recall) - I'll do this next time).

7 seats at the counter. Just the sushi chef (who used to work in Tokyo before moving back to Kanazawa) and his wife (who the restaurant is named after) working there it seems. Apart from the two of us, the only other customers that night we saw were three Japanese men who turned up later. JPY 16,000 for the omakase. The chef was friendly and tried to speak English with us (even pulling out a book to show us what we'd eaten and a map to show where in the local region (e.g. the nearby Noto peninsula) it came from). The food included the fattest oysters I've ever had (grilled for 2 hours over a low flame), abalone steamed for 8 hours (no salt, no oil, nothing added), sea urchin from Fukui (? the chef said it's the best in Japan), a very fatty fish called nodoguro (?), crab from the local area etc. There was also something which the chef said is expensive - it was yellow and it smelt a bit bad but tasted okay. It's called something like "chimi" ? He said it's traditionally eaten in the nearby Noto peninsula area. He called it Japanese cheese.

[jhm]

Originally Posted by yflyer

Now you've both piqued my interest in Kanazawa!

You should go. I've been twice and that was before the Shinkansen line reached Kanazawa so there's really no excuse now. Kanazawa is a great little city (often referred to as little Kyoto) on the windswept north coast of Honshu, and includes former samurai areas, one of the top Japanese gardens in Japan, it's own local version of kaiseki etc.

[jhm]

Originally Posted by CarbonMan

Right now I've only got Otomezushi on the list.

This was the recommendation I got from the abovementioned sushi chef a couple of years ago:

Komatsu Yasuke, Shinosuke, Sentorisushi honten. Otome. Mekumi. I think these are the best choices in Kanazawa.

[jhm]

Originally Posted by jhm

Mekumi Sushi (tel: 076 246 7781). I've only been able to find one English language writeup of this place on the Internet (it was in a Malaysian or Singaporean newspaper ?) but I can't find it now.

Found it! It used to be this (the link no longer works):

http://www.soshiok.com/critic/article/14891

YOU often hear of the Japanese chef whose claim to fame is the company of suppliers that he keeps. The more access he has to suppliers who in turn have access to some of the best quality, hard-to-source produce, the more diners beat a path down to their cypress wood doors. Then there are chefs for whom moving to the product source makes a lot more sense, which is how it came about that chef Yamaguchi and his wife Mekumi decided to return to his hometown of Kanazawa to set up his own sushi restaurant. Named after his wife – an unusual move for a Japanese sushi restaurant which is traditionally named after the chef-owner – Mekumi is a nine-year-old eatery literally in the middle of nowhere just on the outskirts of downtown Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa prefecture. It looks like you’re in a residential neighbourhood and parking in someone’s driveway, but it’s really the e...

Edit: and here's the full article courtesy of the Wayback Machine:

http://web.archive.org/web/201103092.../article/14891

[jhm]

Originally Posted by yflyer

Hello everyone, I am considering Osaka for a short end of year break. Anyone have good dining suggestions (Where to go for sushi, in particular)?

This past thread might help:

http://www.sqtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11599

I like Kiji in the basement of the Sky Building for okonomiyaki.

[yflyer]

Originally Posted by jhm

You should go. I've been twice and that was before the Shinkansen line reached Kanazawa so there's really no excuse now. Kanazawa is a great little city (often referred to as little Kyoto) on the windswept north coast of Honshu, and includes former samurai areas, one of the top Japanese gardens in Japan, it's own local version of kaiseki etc.

Definitely on my radar now! Bounced the idea off Mrs yflyer but she felt the trip was too short to include another destination. Looks like we are sticking to Osaka and Kyoto because of time constraints. Oh well, a future visit then...