Osaka, Japan - Day 4, sushi trains

Japan is all about the sushi, and you can't say you've had sushi until you've at least been to a sushi train. For Yuye and I, one sushi train experience (consumed on day 2 of our trip here) just wasn't enough to satisfy those unsuppressible sushi cravings so on day 4, we had it again for dinner. Not just one store either, we went sushi train hopping to get more variety out of the night (probably the first time you've heard that one right?) and went to a whopping two sushi trains in one night.

The first one we went to was called Akagakiya Kaitensushi (赤垣屋回転すし) in the Osaka Namba area. All dishes were advertised as 120Yen per plate which is just cheap beyond comprehension, for us Melburnians anyway. The seafood was fresh, vivid and tasty. I absolutely love the intense flavours that wasabi and soy sauce give the otherwise very subtle taste of sea and vinegar-ed rice. Some like it plain where you can enjoy the natural taste of raw fish and other seafood but for me, it's all about the combination of flavours that complement each other so well. I especially like a big fat dab of wasabi that goes straight to my nose and make me teary. Love it. It's especially effective against stuffy noses.

The best thing about sushi trains in Japan is the ability to grab any plate from the conveyor belt without needing to say anything remotely stupid to the waiters. That's why foreigners love these cosy little restaurants. Yes, people might look at you funny anyway but at least you can pretend to know what you're doing. Since we had already been once before, we were able to identify most of what was on offer. Our first plate was the beloved sea urchin sushi (uni) wrapped in seaweed (nori). It was as fresh as fresh can be and didn't need much soy sauce as the uni itself is already salty.

The second plate is one that most sushi eaters in western society will know about - kingfish. If you have sushi or sashimi often, you'll see three types of fish that are always used. They are tuna, salmon and kingfish. They're what I call the 'traffic lights' of the sushi world. Red, orange and uh…white. Well, almost traffic lights. I love the texture of fresh raw fish. This kingfish was just pure indulgence. It's soft enough to almost melt in your mouth and hard enough for there to be some bite. In my opinion, raw fish (as they don't have too much taste on their own) is all about the textures and freshness.

Next plate is our all time favourite negi toro (tuna belly with spring onions). We just can't seem to keep our hands and mouths away from these beauties! The toro is so juicy that it literally melts away in your mouth. Combined with the crunch of the negi and seaweed and their individual flavours, a perfect harmony is created.

Apparently mackerel (saba) is always cured or marinated in some way. This is different to Spanish mackerel (sawara) and horse mackerel (aji) which are usually eaten raw and are sliced just before serving. This I think is because mackerel has a very strong fishy taste which might be overpowering for some people. I always get confused with these three fish. If I was in a Masterchef elimination and I had to identify which was which, I wouldn't be able to do it to save my life. But now at least I know that saba is cured. I must admit, saba's not my favourite type of sushi. Even cured, it still has a very pungent aroma of the sea which can only be described as 'fishy'. However, Yuye seems to love it.

Sweet prawns (ama ebi) is also one of those lovely sushis that highlight the greatness of fresh seafood. You can eat it without dipping any sauce and still have this subtle sweet taste that lingers in your mouth. It's a shame this was the only time we had prawns on the trip.

Just when I started to think that I'm getting better at identifying my sushi, this one comes along. What in the world was it? I can't even tell whether it was fish or some sort of shellfish. If someone can kindly tell me, I'd forever be in your debt.

Osaka, Japan - Day 2

After we arrived in Osaka from Nara, we checked into Hotel Hillarys which is situated right in the middle of Den Den Town. Although quite a walk from JR Namba Station (especially with our heavy luggage…), staying there was well worth the effort. Yuye was in heaven since manga and game stores were just outside our door and a Seven Eleven was right downstairs. Just be wary that the map online was slightly wrong, we were almost guided into a small side street but the hotel was really on the main Den Den Town road.

If you walk into the stairwell you'll find a huge drawn map on the wall with cute little notes stuck on it to mark major landmarks and stores in the area. This might be useful for first timers there.

The hotel had wonderful amenities including free self serve drinks, free manga you can borrow, many cool shampoos to take into your room and even free bicycle rentals. The only thing that other hotels I stayed at did a little bit better was the level of personalised service. I guess they were fairly busy so I didn't really mind.

The room itself was quite small, although this is the case with most business hotels in Japan. The bed was comfortable and the room was clean. The room facilities were minimal, although sufficient for most people's needs. The free amenities downstairs and the location did win me over though and I would have been happy to stay there again during our second visit if only it had cheaper rooms at the time (as it didn't, we ended up booking the famous Dotonbori Hotel instead which was even more fantastic!). We initially didn't plan to return to Osaka a second time but due to all the cancellations in Sendai, Sapporo and Tokyo which took out half of our trip, we thought staying a bit longer in Osaka and complete the trip with some shopping was the next best thing. Anything to stop us from returning to Melbourne earlier.

Yuye had his first taste of the infamous Japanese airplane-like toilets, made of a similar material and oh so very small. I wouldn't like to stay in Japanese hotels if I was claustrophobic.

Hotel Hillarys
Address: 3-4-10 Nihonbashi Naniwa-ku, Osaka, 5560005 Japan
Website
Book via www.hotels.com

Outside the hotel was Den Den Town, where you can buy all the latest electronics, manga and anime goods and anything to do with games and hobbies. It didn't feel as busy as Akihabara in Tokyo and didn't have as many shops, however it definitely didn't lack that otaku spirit. Most shops close at 8pm though so if you want to do a bit of shopping, better to leave the eating till later (like we did nearly every night we were there).

Our two favourite stores were K-Books and Melon Books. K-Books is on the main road across from the hotel and sold all second hand and heavily discounted manga books. we bought most of our manga from there and range from just over 100 Yen each book to around 300 Yen for one (but of course, they're all in Japanese). Mind you, some of these books look brand new. Melon books is in an alley just off the main road and had some good full series on sale although no where near as many selections as K-Books. You'll have to check back often since new things are added nearly every day.

Snacks

Just before dinner, we snacked on our first lot of Osakan takoyaki (octopus balls). Takoyaki was invented in Osaka by a man named Tomekichi Endo in 1935. Its popularity grew so much that it has crept onto restaurant menus all around the world, including Australia. Although there are many flavours of takoyaki, the most common and probably only type available in many countries is the takoyaki and mayonnaise sauce topped with dried bonito. The vendor we purchased ours from had a few different flavours including shoyu (soy sauce), salt and ponzu. We got the ponzu flavour as I love slightly sour and citrusy tastes.

The takoyaki wasn't the best we had on our trip, however 400 Yen for 8 yummy takoyaki was by no means bad, especially when we were hungry.

We also bought two drinks on the way from a vending machine. You'll notice as soon as you get to Japan how many vending machines there are. Not just drinks and snacks, there are tobacco, beer, instant noodles, eggs, umbrellas, flowers and many bizarre products you'd never think of would be sold in a vending machine. Visit this site for some other interesting ones www.photomann.com/japan/machines/. The drinks we got were definitely different to the ones we get in western society. The first one was a hotcake flavoured milkshake and the second one was grape flavoured jelly. I didn't mind the jelly since it was just like sucking slightly melted jelly from a bottle but the hotcake milkshake? I could have done without.

Makoto (sushi train), Sydney

Ever since I went to Makoto (city store) back in 2009 after our trip up to Sydney for the Jay Chou concert, I've been dying to go back. Makoto's one of those beautiful existences that Melbourne lacks. As most Melbournians know, we have NO really good sushi trains here. Just thinking about it makes me cringe with sadness (for my taste buds). Anyway, since I had been preparing to go to Makoto for so long, this trip was like heaven for me and to match, I went to Makoto twice (over a period of only 4 days). :D

Makoto, for those of you who don't know, is a sushi train restaurant under the Masuya Group family where there are 5 Japanese restaurants in total, all in Sydney. I will also be posting about Masuya shortly as we also visited this restaurant twice. :) Makoto doesn't take bookings as space is quite limited and really rarely needs to fill their space (there will constantly be a line outside). So, in order to get a seat, going early to beat the peak hour lines is essential.

Unlike the first time we visited Makoto when we had to wait outside for 45 minutes and everyone were served hot green tea to warm up, this time on both occasions, we were able to get seats fairly quickly. All the staff here are Japanese and work very diligently when they prepare and serve their famous sushi. There is also a great variety of sushi to choose from, including the ones I ordered below.

Out of the sushi I tasted, I especially liked the grilled salmon (below). It just melted in my mouth every time and has a beautifully charred aroma. Coupled with the slightly salty sea flavour of the salmon roe and the subtle sweetness of the mayonnaise, the mixture of flavours and textures are just superb.

The grilled tuna is also quite nice, although for some reason, the fattiness of the salmon makes it taste better when grilled.