The Japanese Food Adventure - Day 9

Day 9 - Eating my way around Osaka!

 I looked out at Osaka from the hotel window for the first time in daylight, it was going to be reaching 30°C today! We had heard about an area called Amerika Mura with lots of record shops so we decided to head there first.

 Amerika Mura was amazing, quirky street lights too!

Many places were closed when we first arrived but the food joints still stood out with their impressive signage.

This stopped me in my tracks, not quite what I wanted for breakfast though so we kept searching for somewhere open to eat.

This place seemed like a good option, Set D it was then.

 We joined the cats outside and took a seat.

 I ate the salad first and popped the egg and ham inside the roll. It got a bit messy when the yolk popped but certainly hit the spot, plain and simple but delicious.

 The breakfast included a drink, as it was getting really hot outside I cooled down with an iced coffee.

 The lamp people were getting more colourful and helped us navigate the streets of Amerika Mura more easily.

Before leaving the UK a friend had suggested that I try the Kuro (black) burger being sold in Japan by Burger King. I usually avoid burger chains in the UK choosing to support my local independent kebab shop. I was in Japan though and happy to eat what people were requesting I try and this looked interesting. Less than 15 minutes after my breakfast I sat down with my Kuro burger, I wasn't particularly hungry but what the heck!

The cheese and bun had been coloured using bamboo charcoal and squid ink. To be honest it tasted exactly the same as a standard burger, just a bit of a novelty to look at.

This place looked interesting, we went to take a look.

Almost a week ago in Tokyo I was told about The Meteors Japanese Tour being cancelled, the support bands were still playing though so we would go along to that anyway.

In the basement of Time Bomb I discovered an excellent section of Psychobilly vinyl, I almost bought something but couldn't bear the thought of damaging it in my suitcase.

This chap was very selling something unusual costing less than £2.

The 40cm ice cream!! I struggled to hold this chocolate beast and almost finished it. I am not sure what was added to the ice cream, it slowed down the melting process though!

 Osaka had hundreds of 100 yen vending machine, any drink for about 70p was a bargain.

We crossed the Dotonbori canal, we were now entering Osaka's food district and I wasn't feeling particularly hungry.

These four giant sculptures stand outside the Dotonbori Hotel.

This district made me feel like I had travelled forward into the future.

 We passed some impressive buildings along the way.

This giant moving crab greeted us in Dotonbori's main restaurant street.

The smell of food along this street smelt amazing, hungry or not I was going to try more things.

Vending machines offered urinating dogs or cat desserts, my wife couldn't resist it and walked away with a cat trifle.

 This basement offered fishing.

This sushi restaurant was offering dishes at 135 yen, a bargain we thought and we took a seat.

Those that have eaten at a Yo Sushi in the UK will know the score but for those that haven't here's how it works. The sushi is prepared and put on to a conveyor belt.

Using the hot water tap in front of you pour yourself a green tea.

There are a selection of sauces and dips to chose from, just help yourself.

If anything on the conveyor belt takes your fancy grab it quickly before it passes.

If you are unsure what anything is the menu will help you decide, we started with salmon.

 The ginger here is a palette cleanser and was really good, it was in a pot in front of you so you could just help yourself.

Hmm.. I forget what this one was.

Shrimp salad and rice wrapped in seaweed. I found it easier to pop the entire thing into my mouth, far less messy too.

I think this one was eel, I loved it, my wife wasn't so keen though.

We was curious so we grabbed it, just egg though!

Sweetcorn Salad was the last plate we grabbed, pretty nice! You can of course spend silly money on sushi in Japan but I was keen to see what the locals were eating. When you have finished eating you press the bell in front of you and a waitress comes along. She counts your empty plates and gives you a bill which you pay on your way out.

As we ventured along the street I was reminded that I must try some Kobe beef during my time in Japan.

We saw Takoyaki (octopus dumplings) being cooked and although not hungry decided to stop and try some anyway. Containing minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion they are cooked and then served covered in Japanese Worcester sauce and mayonnaise.

They looked amazing and tasted great. I was not however a fan of the phlegm like texture inside.

More impressive drain covers could be found in Osaka.

If I was still feeling hungry I may well have gone inside to investigate.

Motorways run above the streets of Osaka, this one ran the entire length of the road.

These lured us into a bakery, we were just going to take a closer look.

What amazing looking bread!

We couldn't resist buying a cat cake.

A sweet bread roll with a chocolate surprise inside, delicious!

This looked impressive but was a bit dry, nice chocolate cube filling though.

We found a massive eight storey shopping centre called Namba Parks with gardens on top of it, the perfect place to relax and get away from the busy city below.

This looked familiar! It was a grape version of the jelly drink I had found a few days ago in Kyoto, no fruit or marshmallow cubes this time though.

Eventually we ended up inside a giant food market.

I would love to have sampled these 100 yen treats but just didn't feel hungry.

Whenever we saw fruit for sale it was really big and incredibly expensive.

It had been an amazing day in Osaka, I had eaten so much food!

On the way back to the hotel we saw an escalator that goes around corners, it was a first for me!

Back at the hotel we tried a banana cake, very nice indeed!

I didn't fancy anything too rich so ate a simple egg and ham sandwich, crusts cut off and very enjoyable.

A bag of Crunky chocolates ended the day perfectly!

Click here for Day 10
Feeding the deer of Nara and a good view of Osaka.