What's cooking in Naniwa?
In Western Japan, they say ""Kyoto values the taste of ingredients, while Naniwa (old Osaka) values the tastes of guests."" Rather than focusing on bringing out the subtle flavors of ingredients, chefs in Osaka adjust ingredients to satisfy their customers. This is one of the many cultural differences between Kyoto and Osaka, where food is meant to be heartily enjoyed. In this report, we introduce five restaurants that represent the taste of Osaka today.
Naniwa Kappo Kigawa
Flavor first. Zero waste.
Jouyatou Toyosaki Honke
Great oden since 1945
Ristorante QUINTOCANTO
Quintessential joy
Chi-Fu
Liberated Chinese
Point
Radiant without recipes
Naniwa Kappo Kigawa浪速割烹 喜川
Phone: 06-6211-3030
- Address:
- 1-7-7 Doutonbori, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Tuesdays to Sundays, holidays and days before holidays
Lunch 11:30 – 14:00 Dinner 17:00 – 21:30 - Closed:
- Mondays
Counter seats on the first floor provide the best view of Ueno and his kitchen.
Grilled hamo (pikeconger) soup with prawn wrapped in yuba (tofu
skin) and dill in summer.
Lightly broiled, sliced awabi (abalone) with ginger awabi liver sauce, watercress, leeks and radish.
“We present Osaka's seasonal best with both feet planted firmly in the ground,"" says owner Ueno.
The restaurant, on a corner of charming Hozenji Yokocho alley, has been in business for over 60 years.
Flavor first. Zero waste.
”People like to compare Kyoto and Osaka cuisine. But the differences, such as the use of different kelp in the dashi, are not very important,"" remarks Osamu Ueno, the second-generation owner-chef of Osaka’s leading Kappo restaurant, Naniwa Kappo Kigawa.
Ueno is more concerned about maximizing pleasure and minimizing waste. When cooking tai (sea bream) for example, he grills the meat, simmers the head, boils the bones and even fries the scales. The restaurant has applied this same spirit of practical, eco-friendly cooking to all seasonal ingredients since opening its doors nearly 50 years ago, and the approach has helped maintain a diverse range of flavors that attract gastronomers.
Originally trained in the art of French cuisine, Ueno moved on to kappo-style cooking where he continues to redefine the genre. He adds basil vinegar miso sauce to akagai (blood clam) and tako (octopus) sashimi, herb dressing to makogarei (marbled sole) sashimi, and dill weed to simmered hamo (pike conger). The subtle seasonings induce guests to drink more sake and wine which are perfectly paired with the dishes.
""When cooking, the deciding factor is whatever tastes best,"" Ueno assures us with a smile. ""The ingredients and cooking methods need not be limited to those of traditional Japanese cuisine.” In Osaka, known as the “Kitchen of Japan”, Naniwa Kappo Kigawa continues to please the palate with cutting-edge ""waste-free"" kappo cuisine.
Phone: 06-6211-3030
- Address:
- 1-7-7 Doutonbori, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Tuesdays to Sundays, holidays and days before holidays
Lunch 11:30 – 14:00 Dinner 17:00 – 21:30 - Closed:
- Mondays
Jouyatou Toyosaki Honke常夜燈 豊崎本家
Phone: 06-6371-1115
- Address:
- 2-8-14 Toyosaki, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Mondays to Fridays, Saturdays and the day before holidays
Lunch 11:30 – 13:30 No lunch served on Saturdays
Dinner 18:00 – 22:00 - Closed:
- Sundays and holidays (lunch on Saturdays)
""People become tired of exquisitely prepared food,"" says Ikenaga. ""My customers don't praise my cooking finesse, but they keep coming back for more.""
Homemade ebiten (tempura like fried shrimp cake) and sumaki (steamed fish cake) made from hamo (pike conger).
The delicious simmered daikon radish and vegetables are grown locally in Tango.
Chameshi (flavored rice) at Jouyato is rice cooked in oden soup served in extra soup with nori (seaweed) and sesame.
Longstanding relationships with suppliers ensure a steady supply of high-end Akashi octopus.
Great oden since 1945
Oden is a common Japanese winter dish made by simmering various foods in soup. In Kansai (western Japan), the dish is known by older residents as Kanto daki (simmered eastern Japan style), a name that conjures up images of B-class food sold by beach vendors and snack shops.
Jouyato Toyosaki Honke restaurant was launched in November 1945, only four months after WWII ended. The priest of nearby Tsuyuno Tenjinsha shrine asked the father of Jouyato's current owner (a gardener by trade), if he could find a way to cheer up discouraged neighbors. Following the advice of acquaintances, he opened Jouyato on the shrine’s premises with the assistance of local food market workers. Food was scarce at the time, but he managed to lift local spirits by serving rolled sushi prepared by his wife. Oden was added to the menu later.
The current owner, Shin Ikenaga, quit working at NTT many years ago to take over his father's business. While keeping the traditional menu intact, he has striven to maintain a higher overall quality. His specially made fish cakes and other delicious items are simmered in a flavorful oden broth made from the heads of tai (sea bream), Rausu konbu (kelp from Hokkaido) and shiro-miso (white miso paste).
Regular guests include connoisseurs and celebrities such as the late, legendary film actor Hisaya Morishige, who described Jouyato’s oden as ""Kansai daki” rather than Kanto daki. While oden may be common throughout Japan, it is anything but ordinary at Jouyato, where delicious ingredients, a laudable history and a loyal star-studded patronage make the dining experience something special.
Phone: 06-6371-1115
- Address:
- 2-8-14 Toyosaki, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Mondays to Fridays, Saturdays and the day before holidays
Lunch 11:30 – 13:30 No lunch served on Saturdays
Dinner 18:00 – 22:00 - Closed:
- Sundays and holidays (lunch on Saturdays)
Ristorante QUINTOCANTORistorante QUINTOCANTO
Phone: 06-6479-1811
- Address:
- 1F, Daibiru Honkan, 3-6-32 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Weekdays, Saturdays, holidays and the day before holidays
Lunch: 12:00 - last order 13:00 Dinner: 18:00 - last order 20:00 - Closed:
- Sundays and the first and third Mondays of the month
Every seat provides a clear view of lush greenery from the principally white interior. Open-air in the daytime, it becomes dramatically lit in the evening.
Fennel orange shrimp appetizer in a refreshing spring course.
Heavenly dolce chocolate eclair with banana and pistachios.
Duck ripieno-filled agnolotti with porcino mushrooms and pear sauce.
The talented young Keita Yuge honed his impressive skills at Chez Ino in Tokyo.
Quintessential joy
Ristorante QUINTOCANTO serves cucina creativa, a genre of Italian cuisine combining traditional and regional cooking methods. The category, however, fails to express how deeply the cuisine surprises and pleases.
From the start, Ristorante QUINTOCANTO earned a reputation for amazing customers. Like sister SALONE 2007 in Yokohama, it serves a single course per month that will never be repeated. This intriguing policy has contributed to a lasting popularity that makes the restaurant hard to book.
While the course is never repeated, every meal begins with the same exquisitely rich and cool Foie Gras Wafers with bitter lemon marmellata accent and warm aromatic pheasant beet soup. ""The ingredients are traditional,"" explains Chef Yuge, ""but the combination of hot and cold heightens dining pleasure.""
Every innovatively prepared dish reveals flavor in multiple layers and further flavors are divulged when dishes are paired with recommended wines. It's a process of discovery that sets Ristorante QUINTOCANTO apart and never fails to thrill guests.
Phone: 06-6479-1811
- Address:
- 1F, Daibiru Honkan, 3-6-32 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Weekdays, Saturdays, holidays and the day before holidays
Lunch: 12:00 - last order 13:00 Dinner: 18:00 - last order 20:00 - Closed:
- Sundays and the first and third Mondays of the month
Chi-FuChi-Fu
Phone: 06-6940-0317
- Address:
- 4-4-8 Nishi-Tenma, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Weekdays, Saturdays, holidays and the day before holidays
Lunch 11:00 – last order 13:30 Dinner 17:30 – last order 20:30 - Closed:
- Sundays
A ferris wheel platter of assorted appetizers prepared on a bean theme.
""Verdure”, a vegetarian version of Bejing Duck containing douchi (fermented black beans), yuba (tofu skin) and namafu (gluten cake).
A rare combination of wild boar and flounder served with nori (seaweed) and plum called ""Chaos.""
Azuma develops a unique theme and name for each dish based on the ingredients and recipe.
The kitchen arsenal includes Chinese cleavers, petite knives and convection steam ovens.
Liberated Chinese
""Isn't it French or Japanese?"" is a comment often heard at Chi-Fu restaurant in Nishi-Tenma. Chef Kouji Azuma cheerfully assures the inquirer that the food is Chinese. His vegetarian dish “Shinryoku(Verdure)” may look French, for example, and its yuba (tofu skin) and namafu (gluten cake) may be associated with Japanese cuisine, but when you taste them with the Tian Mian Jiang (sweet bean sauce) and butterbur sprout miso, there is no doubt the dish is Chinese. He may occasionally employ French and Japanese cooking techniques, but they all fall within the range of Chinese cooking.
Azuma smiles at the questions his cooking elicits, saying, ""it may take a few bites and a process of elimination, but most customers conclude that our cuisine is Chinese."" While food always comes first at Chi-Fu, sommeliers are also on hand to expertly pair the dishes with complementary wine from the restaurant's 3,000-bottle cellar.
The chef's intimate familiarity with an incredible range of Chinese dishes enables him to prepare dishes outside the knowledge of his delighted guests. While steeped in the art of Chinese cuisine, he is driven by the Japanese spirit of Shuhari (master, detach and transcend) to continuously elevate his cuisine to a higher plain.
Guests may not be aware that the “steamed pheasant and konbu soup” was a traditional Chinese court food, but it doesn't matter. The important thing is to genuinely enjoy the great taste and presentation.
Phone: 06-6940-0317
- Address:
- 4-4-8 Nishi-Tenma, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Weekdays, Saturdays, holidays and the day before holidays
Lunch 11:00 – last order 13:30 Dinner 17:30 – last order 20:30 - Closed:
- Sundays
Pointポワン
Phone: 06-6455-5572
- Address:
- 1F, 3-12-20 Fukushima, Fukushima-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Tuesdays to Sundays, holidays and the day before holidays
Dinner 18:00 - last order 20:00
Wednesdays to Sundays, holidays and day before holidays
Lunch 12:00 - last order 13:00 - Closed:
- Mondays, one Sunday a month and lunches on Tuesdays
Hors d'oeuvres include green olive and bacon cake sale, foie gras and tomato soup with sea urchin mousse.
“Peas and shellfish” with choice shellfish, pea pod broth and bean puree.
Cooked in syrup, the organic lemon tart brings out the full flavor of domestic lemon.
The dining room provides a view of the spacious, partition-free kitchen.
Nakata laughs and confides, “I never tried French food until I graduated from college”.
Radiant without recipes
Point is located just one station away from Osaka JR Station in a quiet, rustic neighborhood slightly off the main road. Its simple white, elegant structure stands out among the local buildings, evoking the curiosity of passersby.
While most established French restaurants have specialty dishes on their menu, ""Point has no specialty dishes or even recipes,” says owner chef Kenji Nakata.
His chefs follow some general rules such as using 13 grams of salt for every kilogram of fois gras, but otherwise they cook based on their own sense and judgment. Even so, the food is rather traditional and he prioritizes the original flavor of ingredients over style and creativity.
His ""Sakura shrimp and white asparagus veloute,"" for example, is seasoned with nothing more than salt, pepper and butter. The asparagus is finely chopped, sauteed in butter and served with broth made from the skin. Shrimp, also lightly sauteed, multiplies the flavors of both the asparagus and shrimp. He instructs his staff to repeatedly taste the food and trust their own senses rather than recipes.
“There was a time when I strove to surprise my guests. But they soon became tired of such games,"" explains Nakata. His guests now describe his food as kind because they can sense his affection for them as well as for the ingredients. Rather than keep customers guessing, he creates cuisine with flavors that are easy to identify.
Phone: 06-6455-5572
- Address:
- 1F, 3-12-20 Fukushima, Fukushima-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
- Open:
- Tuesdays to Sundays, holidays and the day before holidays
Dinner 18:00 - last order 20:00
Wednesdays to Sundays, holidays and day before holidays
Lunch 12:00 - last order 13:00 - Closed:
- Mondays, one Sunday a month and lunches on Tuesdays
*Articles are written based on information available at the time of publication.
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