Jusohigashi

We started our day going to visit the Osaka Castle. The castle, built originally in 1583, is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan. The grounds are quite large with multiple shrines and gardens. We went up 8 stories to the top and, since it is already built on the highest point in the area, you get magnificent views. We worked our way down slowly as each floor is themed with history, architecture, artifacts, and other information.

From the castle, we made our way to Kuromon Ichiba, a long shopping street (basically a covered arcade) focused on seafood. There were lots of stalls offering seafood on the spot like oysters, whole small octopus and others. We opted for a small restaurant offering two Osaka originals, okonomiyaki (batter and cabbage fried together with toppings of your choice finished with a Worcestershire-like sauce) and yakisoba (stir-fried noodle dish that’s seasoned with a sweet and savory sauce similar to the one used on okonomiyaki). Both were delicious! Next stop was the Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping Street which is lined with specialty stores of all kinds of cooking utensils and kitchen items. I'd long coveted Japanese knives and found some I wanted here. Laura also found some pottery and other gifts.

Weary, we returned to our hotel to rest a bit before going out to join an Osaka food tour we booked. This was set for the Shinsekai (“New World") area, a district in Osaka that was developed before WWII and supposedly modeled on Coney Island. There were a ton of food stalls, restaurants, and carnival games like throwing ninja stars and archery. We met our guide, a friendly Aussie named Adam Smith (really) and 7 other folks and headed out. We were stopping at 5 places to try Osaka's famous foods. Often referred to as 'the Kitchen of Japan', Osaka is the birthplace of some of the nation's most beloved dishes like okonomiyaki, takoyaki (fried dough balls with octopus inside and topped with mayo and savory sauce), and many others. The tour had many highlights but my favorite was a stand-up udon noodle shop. Seinfeld's soup nazi character was rumored to be based on the owner of this place where you stand at a counter with 7 others, at most. Talking is discouraged and he has been known to throw people out for doing so. You walk in and a bowl appears in front of you with broth, noodles, scallions and topped with this amazing piece of tofu. It is a long thin slab of tofu marinated in soy, Worcestershire, and brown sugar. It is then fried, marinated and then fried again leaving it with a silky texture and amazing flavor.Read more