Walking and Eating with All Star Osaka Walk Part 2 : Wagyu at Yakiniku M

Tourists who travel to both Tokyo and Osaka will realise that when it comes to eating,  Osaka is not just a second city to Tokyo.  While Tokyo may have more 3 star Michelin restaurants, I am fonder
of the casual, laid back and dare I say it -- "proletarian" food and atmosphere that you can find in Osaka.

After enjoying our introduction to osechi ryori at Tsuruhashi Market (see previous post) we set off
with Minako san on the next half of our walking and eating tour.

This is Ebisubashi, one of the most famous shopping places that you can find in Osaka.  Together with Shinsaibashi, which it connects to, this covered arcade is lined with shops, boutiques, restaurants and stretches nearly 2 kilometres long.

Foodies (I hate that word) know that the longer the line, the better the food.   My inner hog is tempted to stop and join the queue but I have to move on.

We leave Ebisubashi and walk over one of the many bridges that cross Dotonbori canal.

The main event for today is a wagyu lunch.  A short walk from the bridge is Yakiniku M, a very popular restaurant in a side street off Dotonbori that had quite a line when we got there. If you are intimidated by the price of wagyu, you will be pleasantly surprised (as I was) that Yakiniku M has
reasonably priced wagyu set courses.

Yakiniku M serves Matsusaka beef or matsusakagyu.   Kobe beef may sound more familiar but matsusakagyu is just as respected and held in high esteem.  Some Japanese gourmets even  call it 

the best wagyu.   The beef  comes from Japanese black cows raised in Matsuzaka in Mie Prefecture 

in the Kansai region.  

The waitress leads us up a narrow staircase to the second floor where diners can eat in their own private rooms.  Surprisingly, Yakiniku M is not a big restaurant, there are some tables on the 

ground floor and just a few rooms on the second floor.  This explains why there are lines 

during lunchtime and why reservations are absolutely essential.

We stayed in a dropped floor dining area good for 6 people but for bigger groups, there are "connecting" rooms where you can open the sliding screens.

We were first given bowls of warm soup which looked insipid and cloudy, reminding me of 

dishwater.  My first sip dispelled all fears --  it tasted of the deep umami essence of beef bones, 

boiled and simmered for hours.

Our matsusakagyu was presented to us on a tray with the different cuts conveniently identified.  There was rib eye, lean beef or sirloin and of course the fatty marbled cut that distinguishes wagyu from other types of beef and makes it particularly prized.

Two small globs of beef fat or suet are on the table.   I hear faint cries -- but it's just my arteries,  screaming in horror.

We put the beef fat on the hot grill and it melts into what I am sure is a delicious-high-cholesterol- artery-clogging oil that will cook our matsusakayagyu.

I start off with slices of rib eye.  It doesn't take too long to cook the meat -- just a few seconds 

of fragrant, mouthwatering sizzling and it's good to eat.  

My first bite dissolves like butter on my tongue.  A thousand voices burst into the Hallelujah 

chorus in my mouth -- effectively drowning out the shrieks and wails from my ventricles.  

What can I say -- tongue beats out brain and heart every single time!

We are given kimchi and a cabbage slaw but today, at this very moment frozen in time and 

saturated fat,  vegetables  are nothing but a distraction.   

I just want to indulge in the melt-in-your mouth goodness of wagyu.  It is truly tokubetsu na (special). 

Sadly, all good things must come to an end.  After that remarkable lunch,  we say good bye,   

the taste of wagyu lingering  in our tastebuds.  I would gladly "kuidaore"  at Yakiniku M any time ... eating myself to ruin (and bankruptcy) with matsusakagyu,  the best beef  in Japan!

P.S

For those who want to share the taste of wagyu with their four-legged best friends, 

Yakiniku M sells homemade dog treats made from ... yes, scraps and ends of real Japanese beef.    Aptly called "Slow Dog"  these gourmet treats are packed in colourful take out boxes and contain three kinds of dog treats -- beef jerky,  beef cookies and vege bone sticks.   It's 1,500 yen for each pack and I take a couple home to my labradors,  Nero and Travis.

Okonomiyaki from Warai at Dotonbori -- Osaka Soul Food Part 1

This 2014, we had a Kansai Christmas just like 2013.  But this time, we stayed a few nights in Osaka instead of going straight to Kyoto.  A bit of busy, bustling Osaka before cool and calm Kyoto would be just the thing to make this Christmas different from the last one.

What could best capture Osaka's unique fun and casual character than one of my favourite places in this city -- Dotonbori.  Acclaimed by chefs, bloggers and foodies everywhere, Dotonbori is food heaven in a class by itself.

For our stay in Osaka, we wanted to sample the "soul foods" that the city is famous for -- okonomiyaki, kushi katsu and takoyaki.  If we didn't have enough time,  two out of three would not be bad at all.   So when we saw the sign for Warai Okonomiyaki, we knew this would be our dinner destination for tonight.

Okonomiyaki is a type of savoury Japanese pancake -- made with vegetables, eggs, meat, seafood -- actually anything that you can throw together that will taste good.  It's cooked on a grill so at Warai, each table was outfitted with a  huge hot grill so that you can finish cooking the okonomiyaki yourself. 

Aside from okonomiyaki, Warai's menu shows other dishes -- yakisoba, dumplings, teppanyaki, stir fries, etc.   But we knew what we were here for - okonomiyaki, in as many flavours as we could enjoy it.

By the side of each table are jars and bottles of all the condiments your food could possibly need -- chili flakes, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, soy sauce, pickled pink ginger  and yes -- even a bottle of msg!

Here is the obligatory cold  beer shot -- that seems to accompany all my posts about food in Japan!

We started with yakisoba with meat and seafood.  The waitress slid the serving on the grill and we added the pickled ginger on top for that extra tart kick.  Warai's yakisoba was just excellent.
The gyoza came in a small cast iron skillet and was perfectly pan fried!  They were great little nibbles and did not have that strong garlicky aftertaste that most gyoza usually have.
We all agreed that Warai's gyoza were the best dumplings we had ever had.

I saw this on the menu and thought it looked deliciously different -- it certainly was.  This vegetarian okonomiyaki has generous serving of sprouts and micro greens and a drizzle of a very light mayonnaise.  It was so delicious -- and quite different from the usual okonomiyaki that I've tried.

This is the more traditional okonomiyaki with all the bonito flakes you could possibly want.  This had a nice glaze and by letting it sit a bit more on the hot griddle, we got a slight crunch and char on the bottom which made it taste even better.

And this is the waraiyaki or Warai's star recipe.   Strings of mayonnaise covered the top and blended well with the sauce that was a bit salty, a bit sweet with just a hint of heat.
It was soft but still delightfully chewy and didn't fall apart when sliced.
I think it was the best of all the three that we ordered.
Warai Okonomiyaki was a delicious start in our quest to eat and enjoy Osaka's Soul Foods!

Yakiniku Dinner at Showa Taishu Horumon in Dotonbori, Osaka

Osaka is famous for being a food lover's city -- much more so than Tokyo although I am sure that statement will not be well received by my colleagues at the Head Office.  

It is in Osaka where people use the term "kuidaore" or "eat oneself into ruin" or in more colloquial terms "eat till you drop".

My colleagues and friends in Osaka have told me that  "if you want to eat an expensive, fancy meal go to Tokyo but for a delicious meal, go to Osaka".

 After having been to both places many times, I lip-smackingly agree!

Even in terms of atmosphere, eating in Osaka is so much more easygoing, casual and fun.

At  the centre of this Osakan foodie culture is the famous eating street called Dotonbori.  

Situated in the Namba area and adjacent to the shopping arcades of Shinsaibashi and Ebisubashi, Dotonbori is a  street lined with restaurants and food stalls. 

You can eat practically any kind of Japanese food here from sushi and sashimi to wagyu, tempura ...

... to takoyaki, that iconic soul food of the city.

There  are specialty places like crab restaurants,  fugu or blowfish restaurants, gyoza restaurants, ramen restaurants ... you name your food craving and Dotonbori can satisfy each and every one.

You can eat, drink and make merry in Dotonbori.  Everything is  set in a such a crowded, raucous, colourful setting.  

Certainly, there is nothing as informal, unpretentious and friendly as Dotonbori in Tokyo.  

Even the izakayas in alleyways in Tokyo are not as comfortable or laid back ... populated as they are by office workers who seem to be stressed and uptight even as come together after office hours.

The action in Dotonbori begins as the day ends.  So it was perfect timing that right after our last business meeting, we hied off to Dotonbori for dinner.  

We couldn't quite make up our minds amidst the wide diversity of choices.  

We finally ended up deciding on yakiniku and chose this very popular Dotonbori branch of 

Showa Taishu Horumon.  The name is actually quite interesting when translated to english.

The Japanese use names to refer to a particular period of time.  Showa refers to the period from 1926 to 1989.   Taishu means a large group of ordinary people.  And horumon is the Japanese word for organ meats.

So if you literally translate the name of this restaurant, it means "organ meats for commoners, established in the Showa period".

Since it's for commoners the place is very unceremonious  -- the wooden benches and cubicles and the wood panelled walls remind me of the atmosphere of an old, well-worn inn.  It's not yet 6 pm so we are the first onaka ga suita (hungry) ones in the place.

You can choose an all-you-can-eat course but you have to finish ordering in 45 minutes.
Or you can go ala carte and choose from this dizzying selection of horumon or organ meats.
Thank goodness for an english menu to guide us and keep us from ordering a "heart crotch" whatever that is.
It seems that every organ and part of  a pig or cow is represented -- intestines both small and big and dainty (I wonder what a dainty intestine is?),  liver, kidneys, throat, cartilage, breast, heart, face, cheeks and yes, even a bull's penis can be ordered and grilled right at your table.

If you think we, as commoners,  ate organ meats Showa Taishu Horumon, let me disabuse you of that thought.  It was not high up on the cravings list for that dinner.
Happily, aside from horumon, the flip side of the menu listed the more normal cuts of beef and pork such as ribs, tongue, loin, belly and flank.

Since this is a yakiniku place,  a small charcoal grill is on top of the table so you can cook your own meal.  An exhaust fan conveniently located above the grill whisks the smoke away so you don't end up smelling like steak after you've just eaten one.

For an evening of yakiniku,  a tall cold glass of Asahi super dry beer was just the thing to further whet the appetite.

My friend ordered raw beef or beef sashimi which she mixed with onions, minced garlic  and a raw egg.  We also ordered a plate of beef tongue with scallions.

Aside from that, we had two different cuts of  beef very well marbled as the Japanese like it, skirt steak, pork belly and assorted spicy sausages.

Everything was grilled over glowing charcoal until the desired doneness.
In this case, the beef and the tongue were grilled to just medium rare while we let the pork belly cook a little longer till the fat was rendered and voila ... it was like eating the Japanese version of  inihaw na liempo!

Who can eat all this meat without a cup of rice?  We also asked for some Korean spicy paste or gochujang which came with some perilla leaves.
Perfect for wrapping around a just-grilled piece of juicy, tender meat!

We rolled out of Showa Taishu Horumon with full bellies -- ready to wade through the crowds lining Dotonbori and start our frenzied shopping spree at Shinsaibashi!

But first, a quick visit to this beloved and well known icon of Dotonbori -- Kuidaore Ningyo.
This clown beating a drum used to stand inside a large restaurant building along Dotonbori, which has since closed down.
I don't know why he's called Kuidaore when he is a rather thin figure but he continues to stand along the street, beckoning everyone to "eat till you are ruined".
And there are certainly many opportunities to do so along Dotonbori ...  this unique, amazing, mouthwatering food street of Osaka.

Pigging out on Pablo Cheesecake in Osaka

Pablo Cheesecake is considered Osaka's best and most popular. The lines around its stores can sometimes extend around the block.  I always recommend it to friends traveling to Osaka and so far, I've heard nothing but raves.

On this last business trip to Osaka, I made sure to fit in some Pablo Cheesecake in my betsubara (what the Japanese call the "second" stomach that most ladies have, usually reserved for dessert or sweets).
One night,  I was walking back to the hotel through Osaka Station when wonder of wonders, I found a Pablo kiosk where the line was just two ladies deep!   I was not about to miss out on this stroke of luck.

It's amazing that cheesecake of such high quality is sold for only 741 yen (tax included).
One cheesecake is about 6 inches in diameter but because it is so rich, it can be cut into small slices and shared by as many people.

Pablo Cheesecake comes in two variants -- raw or medium. Should you choose "raw",  the cheese is really wet and runny.  If you prefer a more solid consistency, then the medium version is right for you.

Two  evenings later,  after a whole day of meetings, I headed off to Shinsaibashi for some shopping.
I found that Pablo had opened a cafe right in the heart of this area.  And only in this cafe do they sell smaller, single portion cheesecakes, good for one (or two)  which you can enjoy, along with coffee and other specialty drinks, in the very comfortable and spacious restaurant on the second floor.
These solo cheesecakes though are for dine-in customers only and cannot be taken out.
It's a good way to protect the main product and best seller, the regular 6 inch cake.

There were a lot of kawaii images and statues of cows -- to further reference the fresh milk that goes into the making of Pablo's cheesecake.

Even the overhead lamps came in an adorable cow print!

As I sat and waited for my cheesecake, I couldn't help but smile at this view.  A huge cheesecake hangs on the window, surrounded by old fashioned milk cans and yes, those adorable cows.

Here's what I ordered!  The cheesecake order comes with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and a little pot of orange infused honey.  The ice cream and honey definitely enhanced my enjoyment and helped lessen some of the richness of the cheesecake.
But, gomen nasai, my betsubara and I could not finish this solo portion, much as we tried.

 Thank you Pablo!  What better way to cap off an evening of shopping than a late night date with the best cheesecake in Osaka.