15th April 2009 - Kyoto and Osaka (Noda)

This morning the skies were very cloudy but at least the rain had stopped. It was breakfast time and we needed fuel to get us through yet another shopping expedition. Looking onto the main Shijo-Karasuma street from the entrance to our hotel... an immediate breakfast option sprung at us out of nowhere.



It looked promising from the outside.



They had a proper coffee machine too!

Seeing as we were going to get a proper coffee this morning... we may as well pick up some food as well. Ee Laine picked a muffin that was flavoured with green tea and red bean. It was surprisingly good (the super subtle taste of the green tea in the muffin complemented the coffee really well)!

I opted for the BLT (Bacon Lettus Tomato), but they included some egg in there for good measure. One thing I've noticed is that every sandwich place I've peeked into cut off all the crust from the sandwich itself. This one was no different. The lettuce was fresh and crispy... the bacon actually tasted like bacon for a change which was nice.

Here's my Mocha... with a clump of vanilla ice cream in it (could be the new way I ask my coffees to be made going forward LOL).

After breakfast, it was still too early and most of the shops in the main strip were still closed (a majority of them open business from 11am). We walked down the road to the Fuji Daimaru (which was open from 10ish) and blew some time in there. Again everything inside there was made out of 100% unobtainium. When the clock struck 11, we jumped out of Fuji Daimaru and back into the street market strip. This time we came across a store that was closed the previous night. It's called "Highlander" but the shopping bag that they issued had "SPINNS" on it. SPINNS is a chain of budget trendy fashionwear which has a portion of their store dedicated to good second hand garments and accessories. You could pick up a cool vest in there for 390Y (or about $5AUD).

Here's what the store looks like on the inside. There's two very large levels of stuff to go through.

I picked up something different here... A berret made out of denim, inclusive of the jean pocket on the top of the dome :) This Berret is the replacement one for the one I lost about 10 years ago.

Here's another section of that immense shopping strip.

This is the perimeter of the shopping strip... and there's plenty of shops here too. One of these stores specialised in antique artwork/paintings which we wanted to bring home to furnish our place... Unfortunately they cost a bomb (starting from $50AUD and going up to the thousands) and we didn't have any way of getting it home without damaging it in our luggage. We reluctantly had to give it a pass.

Before we knew it... Lunch time :)

We still had cravings for Omrice that last night's meal didn't satisfy so we were at it again... This time the place is called Rakeru and they are situated in the dead centre of the shopping strip.

You'll need to climb up 3 flights of stairs to access it... but it is definitely worth the effort (you'll need all the stairs you can walk up to burn your upcoming meal off). The fitout was heavily European influenced.

Here's my plate of Omrice with Chicken fillet in herbs. The Chicken was very very salty but wasn't too bad if you ate it with 2-3 mouthfuls of the rice & omlette.

Ee Laine's option included a soft bread roll with a heapload of butter (this appears to be one of their signature food items at this restaurant) as well as the other bits. Eventually during the course of the meal, the bread and the other bits ended up on my plate.. so that there was room for dessert for the person seated opposite me (not mentioning any names).

In comes the Chocolate Brownie Sundae.

We rolled down the stairs of Rakeru after our meal and hobbled around for a few more hours until we started making our way back to Osaka. On the train, we saw a little schoolboy with a cool vintage looking leather back pack. I wanted to rob him of it :)

"Here little boy... let me help you carry that heavy back for you as you get off the train"

- Kid hands me the bag

- I kick him off the train onto the platform

- Doors close

- Kid cries

- I have a cool bag

I didn't go through with it as I didn't have any additional days of annual leave to factor a 3-5 year holiday extension to cater for the jailtime.

Peak hour in Shin-Osaka station... It was very very difficult to get around dragging 30kg bags around the station... It was made even more challenging when 20% of the girls in Japan are incapable of walking in a straight line. These girls in front of us snaked between the bins on the left and the yellow tiles on the right. I wanted to kick them but again jailtime held me back.

Walking up and down the train platform took about 5 minutes... I needed a drink...

Surprisingly it tasted like carbonated Ribena (don't know why I was surprised at all).

In no time, we were back at Noda station (the original stop when we first landed in Japan a week and a bit ago). It was about 8pm and most of the shops in that little market next to our hotel had closed with the exception of a few restaurants. Dinner was now calling.

We walked into this hole in the wall restaurant with a small window displaying plastic versions of the food that they served. It didn't look like much but we were starving and so we settled on dining here tonight. I don't even know what this restaurant is called as there were no signs anywhere in the front of this restaurant (aside from the plastic food).

The restaurant was run by an old Japanese couple (I'm guessing they're in their sixties or seventies)

The decor was very snug and traditional with lanterns and paper everywhere.

Speaking of lanterns... these ones caught our eye. They were so simple yet so beautiful... These lanterns did a good job of creating a warm ambience in this tiny restaurant.

When Ee Laine got her Soba with Tempura Prawns and Vegetables... We both cheered... The serving size as well as the quality of the food was amazing. Ee Laine's dinner below was 1030Y (or about $14AUD) We have never tasted tempura that had a batter that was this crispy/crunch and tasty... I needed ear plugs to drown out the crunching from the other side of the table.

I laughed hard when I received my Katsudon... I'm used to a katsudon (the egg and pork cutlet) being on top of the rice and being served in a single bowl. This is ridiculous...

All the katsudon's I've ever experienced in Australia basically has white rice covered with soft fried eggs and a soggy pork cutlet on top. There is a brown "Katsu sauce" which is savoury and sweet (kind of like BBQ sauce) drabbed over the top of it. In tonight's version, there was no sauce. Instead, there was a different kind of concentrated soup (yes that's right.. they replaced the katsu sauce with a soup!) The soup itself was concentrated sweet and savoury... it acted as the flavour catalyst for the egg and pork. The soup penetrated the crispy skin of the pork cutlet and into the pork itself. Every bite of the pork is completely infused with flavour.

This was one of the finest Japanese meals I've ever had (this includes Tetsuyas BTW)... and all the above only set me back 980Y (or about $13.50AUD)

This is what I absolutely love about Japan... there are little surprises around almost every single corner which fill you with delight. Getting lost and having circumstances working against you to force you to try something different is just Japan's way of getting you to uncover treasures like this restaurant we found tonight.

The food filled our table as well as our growing waistlines tonight... I don't think I'll be eating breakfast tomorrow (but I may be wrong :) )

Another plus... The green tea was served in a cup which required TWO gulps to drink :)