Days 9, 10 & 11-Osaka food and Kobe beef

Ok, the time has come to talk about Osaka, the land of street food and dizzying lights!

The first full day in Osaka I booked myself another food tour (see a theme here?) that took me around Dotonbori, or the district of Osaka with lots of street food and lots of lights. We met at the main area with the Glico sign (the iconic sign from this area) and I managed to snap a few cool pictures before the tour started!

Once everyone met up at the designated spot, we toured around the area and went to three different spots-an izakaya, a sake tasting room, and a bar that specializes in gin and whisky drinks.

The izakaya that we went to specialized in bar foods, specifically takoyaki. If you don’t know what that is, they are balls with egg and pieces of octopus in them, along with ginger and other spices. We got to try our hand at making them, and they actually turned out really good! We also got an egg omelet wrapped around pieces of pork, mackerel, and chicken karaage (or fried chicken) and it ended up being the perfect amount of food to have that night!

After finishing our food, we went to a sake tasting. Now, if you remember a few posts back, you’ll remember that I did not enjoy the sake tasting portion of the first tour. This time, however, I did not mind the offerings, and actually preferred the dry sake out of the three that I tasted! Pictured are the three options-dry, sweet, and sparkling, from right to left.

Once finished with our tasting, we went to this building with many pocket bars! Each bar had different themes to them, including a gamer bar that had computer screens for each patron. The bar we went to had a bunch of snacks in the middle of the establishment, including these crisps that were BBQ beef flavored and oddly very good! After the tour ended, the group stayed behind at the bar and had one more round. A good group to meet, indeed!

The next day I went to Osaka Castle, a Japanese castle that played a vital role in the unification of Japan in the 16th century. I wandered around the grounds, walked up to the castle itself (which is massive!) and made my way back to the train station to head to my next destination…

Kobe.

Besides trying the world-famous beef (which I’ll get into), what else is there to see out there?

Back during World War II, my maternal grandfather served in the occupation of Japan, and his base stations were Yokohama and Kobe. My mother has some pictures from when he was out there, but I wanted to see it for myself. Even if I was only there for a couple of hours, I wanted to get a look at downtown Kobe and explore the area.

But first, lunch. And not only lunch, Kobe beef for lunch!

Back in Kyoto, I met a man on one of the tours who suggested Steakland in Kobe for a delicious lunch, so I set my sights on getting lunch there. I was seated at a table that was like a teppanyaki restaurant in the US and I was the only one who did not speak Japanese at the table. Luckily the waitstaff and the cooks all spoke enough English to help me navigate through the menu and get my steak cooked the way I wanted it (medium rare, of course). I had high hopes for this meal, seeing as Kobe beef is ridiculously expensive in the US.

This meal shattered all expectations. I firmly believe that this was the best steak I’ll ever have in my life. It was so buttery, melted in my mouth, and had the absolute best flavor! Nothing will ever compare! And for 4,500 yen (about $30), it came with everything shown AND a coffee (or orange juice for me) at the end of the meal. That is a steal! Well done, Steakland. Well done.

After a highly satisfying meal, I walked around the downtown area to see what all is there. I came across a temple called Ikuta Jinja and made a stop to check it out. It is incredible in these ultra-modern cities there are still temples and shrines from the 16th century and older that have stood the test of time! This temple was beautiful, and I can only imagine that my grandfather (at 18 years old, no less) walked these streets and saw similar sights as me. A very humbling experience.

At this point, I misjudged the battery power on my phone and had to head back to Osaka. I discovered on the way down to Kobe, the train did not have English translation so I had to keep my Google Maps on to keep track of which stops I made and how many more I had until I got to my destination. One day I hope to spend a little more time in Kobe. Until then, the rest of the city shall remain a mystery to me!

I arrived back in Osaka just in time to think about dinner. As it was my last night, I wanted to have some other street food that I did not get to have the night prior-gyoza!

I did some research and found a gyoza shop only a 15 minute walk away from where I was staying. The staff were wonderful, and I happily ordered pan-fried gyoza that were super tasty! A great treat to end my trip in Osaka.

On the walk back to my AirBnb, I walked into a movie/show production, and of course saw a funny (albeit vulgar) sign along my walk. Osaka was definitely a trip!

Tomorrow, I will talk about my trip back to Tokyo and how I have had a vastly different experience compared to the beginning of the trip! Only 3 more days left until I fly back to the US!