DAY 11 IN OSAKA: MAKING INSTANT RAMEN @ Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum

Considered my last day in Japan already! Since my flight to Singapore is in the morning next day! T.T So missing Japan right now!

Day 11:

• Visit Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum @ Ikeda

• Go to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (decided to do some last minute shopping instead!)

• Purikura at HEP FIVE (Read about my Purikura experience >>here<<)

To Instant Ramen Musuem today!~~~

We have signed up for the instant ramen workshop in advance to make our own ramen! It costs 500yen per pax. You can read about my reservation onine >>here<< The class is conducted in Japanese, however there are a lot of staffs inside to help us. They also have an instruction sheet in English to guide us on the steps!

Kneading the dough

Flattening the dough

Flattening the dough somemore before cutting into stands

Staff preparing our ramen to fry!

Fry fry~

DONE!!

We decorated our ramen packaging!

You can also decorate your own cup noodle for 300yen per cup! They provide markers for you to draw and colour your cup noodle~

 After you are done decorating, you proceed to queue up to let the staff put in the noodle and ingredients for you!

Ramen!~

The types of toppings!

Cute chicky!!

Think you can choose 4 toppings? (can't rmb) and 1 flavour you want

Turn the wheel to put the ramen into your cup~

Then the machine seals the cup

Vacuumed pack with plastic!

Once our ramen is done, we walked around the museum for a bit. They have this rows of instant ramen on display.

 There is a shed where perhaps that is how ramen is made in the old times..

We also went to their store to buy more of their ramen back! They were all delicious by the way!! Satisfied with our goods bought, we head back to Namba & Dotonburi for more last day of shopping! We managed to go to Alice on Wednesday this time!! This is located somewhere along this building!

Address: 朝日プラザ心斎橋
Japan
〒542-0086 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, Nishishinsaibashi, 2 Chome−12−22

Basically, it is a shop that sell Alice-themed items! From accessories to snacks and books~~

Entrance to Alice on Wednesday

 We went to chill in a cafe. Googled on the spot to see if there are any nice cafes near us and we went to Brooklyn Parlor. For directions and store details, click >>here<<

Store front

You need to go down a flight of stairs..

Apple pie, i think

Coffee

Teriyaki burger with fries and salad

We bought takoyaki from  Kougaryu (甲賀流) again! Too delicious! We need to eat it again before we return to Singapore! We tried the black pepper one this time! :D For directions and store details, click >>here<<

Black pepper!

After finishing our shopping at Dotonburi and snapping our last round of Purikura at HEP FIVE, we head back to Fukushima Station and ate the ramen near our apartment again! For directions and store details, click >>here<< (it is named as Ramen shop @ Fukushima)

Kaarage

Gygoza

Ramen

Additionally egg!

We had our last ice cream in Japan for dessert!

And... that's the end of my Osaka posts! I can't wait to go back to Japan next year!!!

12D11N Japan Food Reviews (Osaka)!

A post on all the food reviews for the cafes and restaurants we been to in Osaka! 

P.S. I don't think I am a very good food reviewer but the directions to get there will surely help you!

Negiyaki Yamamoto @ Fukushima  (ねぎ焼やまもと福島ほたるまち店)
*English menu available*
Negikayi is basically a variation of okonomiyaki, where green leeks(negi) replaces the cabbage. Their main outlet is near Juso station. They have outlets at Umeda and Shin-osaka as well.

Store front

Yaki-soba

Beef negiyaki

Review: 
Food: Yaki-soba was great! The negiyaki's flavour is good but I don't really like the mushy texture; might be just me though! 

Service: The staffs were very friendly, We forgot to take our umbrellas when we left the store and a few steps later, we remembered and were walking back to the store. We saw that the staff had saw our umbrellas and was running out to find us! We quickly walked to him and thanked him! I don't think you often see this in Singapore.

Price: Their new website shows the menu and price! The link to Fukushima's branch menu and price is >>here<< It is reasonable priced!

Recommended?
YES! I would still recommend you to try it! 

Address: You can paste this ねぎ焼やまもと福島ほたるまち店 to google maps. OR the exact address is Japan, 〒553-0003 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Fukushima Ward, Fukushima, 1 Chome−1−51 堂島クロスウォーク

Opening hours: 11.30am to 10pm daily

Endo Sushi (中央市場 ゑんどう寿司)
*English menu available*
Fresh and tasty sushi!

Store front

English menu

Plate 1

Plate 3

Plate 4

Review: 
Food: The sushi are all very fresh and yummy! You can request for no wasabi in your sushi if you don't eat wasabi like me! The wasabi amount put is not a lot though! I shared Plate 3 with my friend and the sushi has wasabi inside, but I was able to accept the taste! The miso soup is one of the best I have tasted in Japan! (where's my photo of the miso soup?? >.<) The soup is filled with clams and seaweed and it doesn't taste too salty! Very flavourful!

Service: It's a small shop but the service was quite fast! The queue moves quite quickly as well.

Recommended?
YES! YES! YES!

Address: Endo Sushi, Japan, 〒553-0005 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, 福島区野田１丁目１−８６. You can also visit their website for more details.

Opening hours: 5am to 2pm

Kani Doraku Honten 
*English menu available*
Famous crab restaurant with branches in other locations! Affordable lunch sets!

Crab meat!!

Chawamushi!

Sweets!

Matcha Ice cream!

Review: 

Food: Can't remember the name of the set we ordered and shared, but it was a satisfying amount for both of us even though we shared 1 set. It was a unique experience as the set consists of food we never ate before. We relied on the staff to teach us how to eat the food ;P Everything was tasty except for the pasta (see picture with cream sauce above). We ate cooked crab and raw crab and they were both very fresh and amazing! 

Service: They limit the number of guests that enter and eat in the restaurant to ensure good service. Even though we waited for 2 hours, when we were seated, the place was not packed and noisy. The service staff were kind enough to tell us how we are supposed to eat the meal. And it is mostly shown through gestures and a few simple English!

Price: Don't really remember the price but their lunch sets are acceptably priced for their quality and quantity.

Recommended?
YES! Try their lunch menu!

Address: Kani Doraku 蟹道樂, Japan, 〒542-0071 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, 中央区道頓堀1−6−18

Opening hours: 11am to 10pm; but you should to go there earlier to ensure you are able to get a seat

551 Horai @ Namba station
Known for their steamed buns!

Review: 

Food: The bun is ok. Meat filling is a tad salty for me. I don't really think it is very special and sometimes the queue get quite long.

Recommended?
If the queue is not long, you can try. Otherwise, don't spend your time queuing!

Address: 3 Chome-6-3 Nanba, Chūō-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 542-0076, Japan

Kougaryu (甲賀流)
It sells takoyaki. From wikipedia, takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus.

Store front

Original flavour!

Black pepper flavour~

Review: 

Food: Light and hot, you don't get sick of eating it! It doesn't taste thick and 'flour-y'. We tried both the original flavour and black pepper one, and they were both GOOD! 

Service: The queue was not long when we were there and it was served to us quickly!

Recommended?
YES! It's our favourite takoyaki store among those we tried!

Address: 2 Chome-18-4 Nishishinsaibashi, Chūō-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 542-0086, Japan

Opening hours: 11am to 8pm daily

Pound House Osaka
Desserts anyone?

Review: 

Food: Sorry! Can't remember the names of the cakes we had already! The strawberry one is quite normal but the cake on the left side is not bad! Need to buy one cake each! 

Recommended?
If you are looking for some cakes and a place to chill, why not?

Address: パウンドハウス, 1 Chome-18-17 Higashishinsaibashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, 542-0083, Japan

Itamae Yakiniku Itto (板前焼肉一斗東心斎橋店)
*Chinese menu available*
They served grilled meat!

 Store front

Grill meat and orange juice!

Grilling meat!

Review: 

Food: Meat were very nice and tender. The sauces add more flavour to the grilled meat. 

Notes: You need to take off your shoes before entering the seating area. Seats are elevated so you can place your legs down (not traditional Japanese seating). This restaurant is not too smoky for a Yakiniku restaurant. However, other patrons can smoke inside. I didn't smell their cigarette smoke though. 

Recommended?
Yes! After all, you should try at least one yakiniku place in Japan!

Address: 板前焼肉一斗東心斎橋店, 1 Chome-7-20 Higashishinsaibashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, 542-0083, Japan

Opening hours: 5pm to 1am daily

牛角福島浄正橋店 (no idea what it is called >.<)
*I don't think they have English menu*
They served grilled meat!

Store front

Meat!!

Salad

Review: 

Food: The salad is nice! I don't really eat raw cucumbers, but after coming to Japan, I started to eat them! We ordered a set that comes with a few types of meat parts. If I didn't remember wrongly, I do not like the chicken only.

Service: Limited English here, we ordered using pictures in the menu.The downside of this restaurant is that the ventilation is quite poor; it is very smokey in the restaurant.

Recommended?
Sure, if you don't mind the smoke, the food is nice!

Address: 〒553-0003 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Fukushima-ku, Fukushima, 5 Chome−9−11, 牛角福島浄正橋店


Opening hours: 5pm to 11.30pm daily

Ramen shop @ Fukushima (sorry, can't find the name! Refer to picture below!)
*English menu available*
Ramen & Gyoza!

Signboard

Store front

Interior

Ramen

Gyoza

More ramen!

Kaarage

Additional tamago!

Review: 

Food: Delicious ramen & gyoza! The ramen soup is flavourful and tasty, the egg is cooked to perfection, the pork slices were tender, flavourful & literally melts in your mouth! The gyoza skin is thin and crispy, filling was tasty and hot!
However, when we went on our last day to this shop, the gyoza was not hot enough! Hopefully, that's just a once-off carelessness of the cook!
On another note, this is a small shop. There weren't any queue or crowd when we went there. So it's a nice and peaceful place with good ramen!

Recommended?
YES!!

Address: I don't have the exact address, but this shop is beside 太陽のトマト麺. So I shall put the address for that 太陽のトマト麺, 5 Chome-13-18 Fukushima, Fukushima Ward, Osaka, Osaka, Prefecture 553-0003, Japan

Kushikatsu-janjan (串かつじゃんじゃん　新世界本店)
*English menu available*
Fried skewered food!

Store front

Melon soda

Fried kushikatsu set

Fried ice cream

Fried strawberry and pudding

Review: 

Food: The beef in the first picture was a bit salty, as with some of the food we ate in Japan. The set is a good thing to order if you want to try more variety of kushikatsu. It taste good! Hot food on a cold day! When we saw the fried desserts on the menu, we wanted to try all of them! :P But limited space in the stomach.. so we each had a fried ice cream; hot and crispy on the outside, cold and sweet inside, and another fried dessert each. I had the strawberry which was coated with condensed milk or something. The pudding one was good too!

Recommended?
Yes! Remember to try the fried desserts!! :D

Address: 串かつじゃんじゃん 新世界本店, 2 Chome-4-16 Ebisuhigashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka,, Osaka Prefecture 556-0002, Japan

Opening hours: 11am to 10.30pm daily

春駒
*English menu available*
Sushi!

Store front

Review: 

Food: The sushi are all fresh, as with all the sushi we had in Japan. The roe one was not bad! I prefer the salmon sushi I had at Endo Sushi. Unagi is good!

Recommended?
If you are in the vicinity and the queue is not too long

Address: 春駒, Japan, 〒530-0041 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, 北区天神橋5丁目5-2

Opening hours: 11am to 10pm daily

Brooklyn Parlor
*English menu available*
Cafe! 

Store front

Down the stairs~

Entrance to store!

Big seating area

If I didn't rmb wrongly, it's some apple pie..

Coffee

Teriyaki burger with fires and salad!

Review: 

Food: The apple pie was good! The sweetness is just right! The burger was quite a big portion; we were lucky we decided to share, otherwise we can't finish one each :/ It was nice~

Recommended?
Good place to relax and the coffee and food are good too!


Address: ブルックリンパーラーオオサカ, Japan, 〒542-0086 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, 中央区西心斎橋２丁目２－３

Opening hours: 11.30am to 11pm