After our exciting time in Kyoto, ranging from meeting a maiko to dressing up in kimonos, it was time to head to Osaka. We knew the least about this city, but we were excited to try the food as the motto of Osaka is Eat Until You Are Broke.
We started our adventure by checking into our hotel at Namba station at the Swissotel. From the moment we arrived, we were impressed by the elegance and comfort of our surroundings. Our room offered stunning views of the city skyline, and the service was impeccable. I lost my room key when we were at the pool and they brought me a fresh set of keys without even asking for my passport or anything.
They even had a dehydrator for your swimsuit when you finish swimming to dry it in 10 seconds. Absolutely incredible. I did it over and over just like a kid who discovered the flight attendant call button on a long haul flight (ask my dad about that experience when he brought me back from Russia).
Osaka is renowned for its culinary scene, and we made sure to savor its best offerings. One of our standout meals was at Wanomiya Beef, where we indulged in some of the finest Kobe beef. The meat was incredibly tender and flavorful, practically melting in our mouths – an unforgettable gastronomic experience. I’ve always wanted to use the word gastronomic because it sounds soooo fancy. Did it sound fancy? Yep, you can tell when I (Andrei) write the post because you get all my inner thoughts and random facts (Did you know that 7-11 is a Japanese company or did you know that Japan has over 5 million vending machines).
Ok back to our Kobe beef steak experience. After comparing that steak to other great steaks we have had (Hell’s Kitchen, Costco Filets – ask my dad about the steak i prepared him … probably one of his proudest moments, the first steak I had at Texas Roadhouse, and our most recent steak adventure in Kyoto for 15$), I couldn’t help but reflect that, at a certain point, steak is steak. I don’t think you’re missing out toooo much if you never get to experience Kobe beef, but still fun to say we have done it!
The neat part of the Kobe beef restaurants in Osaka is that they are easy to spot because of the Spiderman statue crawling on the entrance sign. I asked our chef about this, and he informed me that the owner really liked Spiderman and wanted tourists to be able to find high quality Kobe beef quickly, so he ordered a large amount of Spiderman statues and it continues to stick (no pun intended).
Our culinary explorations didn’t stop there; we dove into the bustling street food scene and tried the famous takoyaki (octopus balls). While they were an interesting and authentic taste of Osaka, they didn’t quite live up to our expectations. However, the crab in Osaka exceeded our initial expectations.
Jessa loved dipping her crab in soy sauce and Wasabi. She tried a couple of times to sneak Wasabi in my soy sauce, but my spidey senses were on extra high alert. Any other anti Wasabi folks out there? Please use the “about page” on our website to send all your messages about how much you dislike Wasabi 😏.
To finish off our evening, we stopped by the bowling alley next to our hotel. This wasn’t your typical bowl and try to break your high score of 38 points (yes I’m not very good and always lose).
The ball was the size of a large softball, and the pins were slightly smaller, but it wasn’t candlestick bowling. We got a pass that let us play all the games for 90 mins. We managed to bowl 6 games, bull riding, digital boccee ball, and ping pong! Then we concluded with checking out pachinko and slots. Pachinko is the Japanese version of slots and pinball. We didn’t understand anything so maybe we won maybe we lost? Gambling is illegal in Japan, the loop hole consists of a middle man store that gives you tokens to exchange somewhere else for money.
if you’re still reading this, props to you! This has been a long winded post, so well done!
Osaka is situated in a central hub of several Japan prefectures such as Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Himeji etc. This makes Osaka a great place for short day trips such as our experience in Nara.
After our chronicles in Nara, we unwinded in the hotel pool. By unwind, I had Jessa race me and even do some underwater breath holding contests (I won’t say who won). During our time in the pool, we met another couple from the USA who recently got married and were also on their honeymoon!
Even crazier, we all got married within a couple days of each other at destination locations, and invited the same amount of people to our wedding. As we started asking more questions, Jessa mentioned that she was adopted from China. Both of their mouths were agape when they heard that because she was also adopted from China!
Our 5 more minutes in the hottub quickly turned into another 45 mins, and then we went to dinner at a random ramen shop with them. This ramen shop was neat because you order from a vending machine and hand them your ticket for them to prepare. We experienced our first rain that evening on our trip and wow when it rains in Japan it poured! We finished the night off with some mango ice cream bars from 7-11.
The next day was our last in Japan, so we started it off by going to the Doctor’s office to ensure we weren’t going to get Lyme disease from my deer adventures the previous day. They laughed and told us that Lyme disease is pretty rare compared to the USA, but gave us a prescription just to be safe. Pro Tip: always buy travelers insurance when going to a foreign country! Never know when you’ll use it.
After the Dr visit we made our way to the chuo ward of Osaka to try a hot pot restaurant. This had been on Jessa bucket list, so I could not disappoint. However, the only hotpot restaurant open was a Chinese one that was tucked away on the 10th floor of a random shopping center. This restaurant was known for automating most of their kitchen staff and part of their wait staff.
We were the only American couple to be seen, and they got very excited when we arrived. They found us their best English speaker and we had a private guide for the entire experience. She walked us through the different dipping broths, and even walked us literally to the sauce creation station. We didn’t know what anything was so she showed us what she was making us and wow was it good! She helped us order the correct amount of meat and noodles.
She had me order this was one single noodle, and I was a little confused! Who orders a single noodle??? Not noodles ONE NOODLE.
Our meats were fantastic, we had crab, sirloin, and waygu. Even dipping the bak choy and spinach was a delight!
As I was cooking my ramen noodles(i see why they gave me an apron 😬), this younger gentleman comes over and sets a speaker on our table. I look confused, and he says “music” and starts BLASTING some American pop music. Everyone around us look over to our booth that is blaring some song from my high school days, and I am thinking how do I shut this off! The younger guy comes back and this time he has a big grin on his face. He has a long piece of dough in his hand and starts throwing it around. Soon I realized, THIS WAS THE NOODLE I PAID FOR 😂
He continues to dance and starts whipping this long noodle all over the place. That noodle was inches from smacking me in the nose. It was long enough he probably could have started using it as a jump rope. Now everyone is really watching us. He concludes and puts this noodle into our boiling broth and it was surprisingly very good.
Ok, time to get the check… wrong she tells us to wait a moment. Then all of the staff come over and start singing a Chinese celebration song to us because it was our honeymoon, and provide us with a bag of gifts and a plate of fruit.
They must not get too many Americans because they were so thrilled to have us. It was such a treat and the food was yummy in my tummy. The name of the restaurant was called Haidilo Hot Pot and originated in China. Highly reccomend if you’re ever in Osaka.
To conclude our Osaka trip we walked a few blocks to Misahiko Paris, a dessert shop where the confections are crafted to look like knitted items. The artistry and detail in each dessert were astounding, transforming simple sweets into miniature works of art that were almost too beautiful to eat. The delicate textures and flavors were as delightful as their appearance, making for a truly memorable treat.
5 more minutes… famous words of every pastor who then continues to preach for another 10 to 15 mins. I promise we are almost done. Would you like to know the thing that stood out most to me during Osaka. It wasn’t the Kobe beef, or the Bambi deer… IF YOU GUESSED MCDONALDS YOU WIN!!!!
Huh, McDonald’s are everywhere what are you talking about? I needed to use the お手洗い (otearai) aka restroom so stopped into the nearest Mickey D. Then on the menu, I saw the weirdest item… a peach macaron! So I ordered a peach smoothie and peach macaron, and wow was it good! I made my way upstairs and in the sitting area for McDonald’s was …. if you guessed grand piano you are correct 😂 Peach smoothies, macarons, and grand pianos are the last thing I expect to see at a McDonald’s, but alas here we are. Never know what you’ll find in Japan.
Let’s recap: Osaka – fantastic food of all price points, Universal Studios Japan, close to lots of other cities such as Nara (deer), and home to the McDonald’s with a grand piano! What’s not to love! What a fantastic way to end our time in Japan.
