what i will miss..

… when i leave japan, are all the amazing food places that i’ve been to while here. eating is a huge hobby of mine; while i come from a country that has lots of good and cheap food, i dont think i’ve ever eaten as well as i do in japan.

it’s probably because this is my first job - and a well-paying one too – that i have the opportunity to just spend money on food. but apart from the cheap ticket-vending-machine places and the japanese-style (和風）pasta joints (they’re just not to my taste), i havent really had bad food in japan.

i also find that more effort is put into preparing and serving food in japan. there’s also more fresh ingredients; japan has many cheap italian places too, unlike singapore – i’ve discovered that i love italian food. not to mention indian curry restaurants (i eat more indian food here than back home) and all those marvellous cafes.

i want to introduce two places i really like – Marylebone Cafe and Kobe Ninnikuya Restaurant:

 

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Marylebone Cafe

 

English-style cafes are fairly popular in japan, and there are many dotted around osaka. my favourite is Marylebone, because there’s one near my house at Noda station (hanshin line)/ Nodahanshin subway station.

Marylebone has very delicious cakes, big sandwiches and good coffee served in huge cups – i’ve seen soup served in smaller cups than those used here:

my favourite cakes at marylebone are their cheesecake and mixed berries short cake. the latter has really delicious as it has sweet berries, very fresh cream and light sponge. you can see it below – 2nd from the left on the bottom shelf:

 

if you like berries, i also spotted someone having a mixed berries french toast. the concept seems a little odd to me, with the sweet and salty mixture, but it looks amazing！:

 

here’s the map to the marylebone outlet which I frequent. there’s another branch in Whity Umeda – map here.

 

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Kobe Ninnikuya

I was brought here for the first time for an enkai, and the food is really good. I only return for one thing, really, which is their fantastic crab cream pasta. check out its picture in their official banner:

The pasta (￥1291) comes decorated with half a crab's shell, and the sauce is rich, creamy and bursting with the sweet flavour of crab meat. It's so good that I never fail to want more after I'm done with the dish.

Their pizzas, though having very thin crusts, are delicious too, and so is the black pepper chicken dish.

Don't be put off by the "ninniku" (garlic) in this restaurant's name - most of their dishes come without garlic, and even if they do, you're given mints as you leave to freshen up your breath.

I also found this amazing picture of their spicy prawn cabonara pasta – doesnt it look so fantastically delicious? the sauce seems so heart attack-inducing creamy and rich…. *slurp*!:

ohhh i can’t wait to go back; i havent been there in the longest time! the one i visit is at Fukushima station (JR, Hanshin), but there’re quite a lot of other branches all over Osaka and kobe. please visit one near you!

Directions:
From Fukushima JR station, cross the road directly in front of the station exit. Head right to Hotel Hanshin and go down the stairs to Basement 1. The restaurant will be on your left.

 

(photos from here, here, here and here)