Pardon the musical pun. What’s grillin’ while you’re chillin’ on a warm summer night out on the patio?
Last night we went out with a group of 6 to try a new Asian-Fusion place in town (I would’ve preferred pretty much any cuisine over yet another Asian-y place, but here we go) & split 10 of the small plates between us. A lot of the dishes were fried, but some were quite tasty, and we’ll probably be back some time to check out their entrees – short ribs, chicken fried rice, and the strange sounding ramen.
As for tonight, we’re invited to a poker game hosted by friends (the 3rd or 4th game within a week, I believe ), and dinner will very likely be delivery.
As much as i love the idea of cooking my own chickpeas in reality that doesn’t happen in the summer (no instapot or gadgets to use here).
Goya to the rescue. Added some scallions, a little bit of roasted red pepper from a jar (the rest of the chunk ended up in my mouth), lots of pepper, red wine vinegar, a little olive oil. All added to the container and then shake shake shake done.
Side of these delightful olives and the rest of the cucumbery corn salad that was left (had some for lunch ontop of greens). And kombucha of course.
Pan chicken with peppers , garlic , and vinegar . I enjoy the little charred pieces. Sweet Chile sauce on the side . With salad and rice .Wine to drink .Cheers.
We woke up late our first day in Osaka. Too late to visit Kizu market, so we visited the “touristy” Kuromon market instead. Still a great experience. We headed to Dotonbori afterwards and just proceeded to eat all day. We’ll do Osaka Castle the next day, we thought.
This humble sashimi was the best thing we ate all day. It was like having sashimi for the first time.
Spotted this stand right outside the market. Freshly filleted, charcoal grilled eel. It was 3000 yen, but very much worth it.
My first bowl of ramen. (There is halal chicken ramen in Osaka.) The broth was fantastic. We were spoiled with fresh noodles in China, so I haven’t been impressed with noodles here thus far.
Matcha ice cream was hardly sweet. The “black sugar” (dark caramel?) topping and mochi make it sweet.
Original, simple Japanese milk ice cream. I loved it. It has an icy texture, and that perfectly okay with me.
Ended the day at a bad seafood restaurant (no pics, phones out of battery). So sad after all the good food. A long line and full of locals does not equal good here, either.
meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
12
I was in Japan for a conference in the mid-90’s. Word traveled quickly about a place with barrels of live eels cooking them up to order. Tiny Mom & Pop place with no menu - just a broth to start followed by the eel and rice. Absolutely amazing flavor. I ate there daily for the the length of the conference!
I’m so glad you found a similar place!
Do check out the food offerings in the basement of the department stores. When I visited there were major markdowns every evening which helped my finances. The selection and quality of food was quite good too!
Grilled flap steak, pan roasted cherry tomatoes from the garden, garlic scape pesto, shaved fennel salad with cinnamon basil. Fresh, simple and delicious.
Random assortment of stuff for dinner- aka par for course…
Cilantro salad! There’s some scallions, olives and the lettuce is hiding. A bit of dijon heavy basic vinegrette.
Found a decent priced packet of mixed mushrooms that had hen of the woods (maybe my most favorite aside from chanterelles) and shiitakes and such. Sauteed with a bit of salt and pepper and one minced garlic clove. Crazy amazing.
I just cleaned and sliced my box of organic strawberries, they’re from a town near my parents and are good enough but we’re definitely picked too early. I’ll have some tonight and whatever is left for breakfast
I’m a sucker for a deal. But the basement department store discounts weren’t as good as I expected. Only 100 yen off for an 1100 yen item, e.g.
meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
16
I guess a 20 year old experience doesn’t always hold up so well…At that time the mark downs were quite deep since everything was to be made fresh daily.
My wife loves sashimi, and has gotten very good at getting the best deals.
Most Japanese supermarkets will start stickering at a set time each evening. We went to one Shibuya market where they markdown throughout the day. The shorter shelf life products are on the shelves for a couple or three hours, then they are off 10%, then20%…
This package was stickered down twice already to 50%. I’d had whale sashimi in restaurants before and did not particularly care for the taste. This sashimi was very good, very clean flavor. Almost like a beef tartare.
Wife could not want to wait and gamble on a deeper discount on these choice items, so secured her late night snack at “only” 30% off.
Endo Sushi. A spot right outside the fish wholesale market. Fish was fresh as can be. Unfortunately, rice overseasoned and too much wasabi. Also knife work not as good as I expected. Great experience overall, though.
I’ve known about this fruit mochi for a while. It took forever to find. There was a long line, which made me worried maybe it was a tourist trap. They give an ice pack to keep the mochi cold!
So many snacks look impossibly pretty here. To me, it looks unnatural. Makes it very hard to judge what is factory made and what isn’t. Even with the fruit mochi, I couldn’t tell.
There’s three of us and we share most things. It takes a bit of discipline to just eat enough calories to get to the next place but you have to walk so much in Osaka that it wasn’t that hard.
), and dinner will very likely be delivery.
