Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: Teppanyaki

Showing posts with label Teppanyaki. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

YummY! - Teppanyaki @ Mihara, Osaka

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YummY! Jotaro's Food Review
TEPPANYAKI @ MIHARA

Dotonbori, Osaka, Japan

While exploring the the roads and alleys branching away from Dotonbori Street during a holiday tour in Osaka, we stumbled upon Mihara's Steakhouse.The four of us (two couples) were just looking for a place to dine. Mihara's exterior was humble and not too appealing, but the sign did say "Established Since 1978". Any place operating for close to 35yrs. couldn't be wrong.

When we entered, we were greeted by no other than Mihara-san himself. He was a cheerful and chirpy gentleman who had work for a few years in New York City before returning home to his native Osaka. He still kindles fond memories of the Big Apple judging by the big poster of its skyline behind him.

We sat down in front of the teppan grille and orderded his recommended cold cuts for starters. The main course was Wagyu Steak, assorted seafood, vegetables & fried rice for the main course, all done teppan-yaki style. Dessert fruits were complimentary. For drinks, it was warm sake to go well with the teppan.

The cold cuts, consisting of beef, pork, fish, sea-weed, came first. The meat were tender and with a hint of lime. It was minimally spiced. Which was good as the natural tastes came through nicely.

While we were slowly enjoying his cold cuts, the man went to work on his teppan cooking. But he was unlike the normal sober teppan chefs we normally encounter. He kept the teppan knife antics to the minimum and smilingly talked to us more. His cheerfulness warmed up the atmosphere, and perhaps added his heart into the cooking.

The meat were cooked just adequately and maintained their chewiness & juiciness. Whilst the sea-food was so fresh we could smell the sea in them. We ate them heartily, all the while being entertained by Mihara's stories, jokes and his charming smile.

He next fried the eggs & chopped vegetables together with some garlic, and then added the rice. The rice were a bit over-fried and dry. It was the only dish we didn't really quite enjoy.

In all, it was a wonderful meal, served by a chef who cooked with love and cheerfulness. It was total dining - one with tasty food and a warm setting, both created by it's chef. Onto Oishin!

Mihara-san, ever the gentleman and good host, sent us off personally. A man and his cooking we will always remember fondly.

Address: 1-14-21, Higashishinsaibashi, Osaka, Japan.

Tel: 06-6241-9378

Hours: 12:00pm - 9:00pm

Cost :

20,000Y - cold cuts, sea-food & meat teppanyaki, fried rice, fresh fruits & sake. And lots of warm smiles.

Click Here For Google Map Link

Location Map of Mihara Steakhouse (click on map for better view)

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Friday, June 22, 2012

Japan : Kyoto/Osaka - Day 6

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / Footsteps / Kyoto Day 1& 2 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06 | Jump To - Day 07
Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels
Japan (Osaka & Kyoto) May 5th-11th 2012

Green Dragon Ramen

Day 6 - Osaka (10th May 2012)

After the night revelry at Dotonbori, we slept in late again today and decided to have an early lunch at this dragon place. It was ramen (again) - the tonkotsu type. But we find the one served at Satsumakko much better.

Dotonbori at Lunch Time

We decided to walk around and have a feel of the place during day time. Dotonbori and it's adjoining streets were still full of people, but this time more were office workers than tourists.

It was still lively, but didn't have the liveliness of the night crowd. The giant Fugu fish were still there, but fewer shop-assistants were heard shouting to attract passer-bys to their outlets. Anyway we were not so keen on shopping, more on feeling the day-time ambiance of the place.

Dotonbori Theater

We noticed an old theater, that we missed in the previous night's excitement. Although having a stately old architectural style, it seems out of place among the newer commercial shops.

There were a couple of murals hanging on the wall of the theater. Both depicted people of olden days Japan - samurais being entertained by geishas.

It seems that Dotonbori prior to today's commercial scene, it had a different past - as a cultural theater district! Then it was known as Dotonbori Theater Street.

Walking through the off-shoot alleys, we made our way towards Den Den Town, Nipponbashi, a 20mins. walk. It is renown as the 2nd largest electronics area after Tokyo's Akihabara District. Other then, electronics and hardware, it is also gaining fame as an anime center.

Photo from Wikipedia

I noticed different sections of this district, have hanging railings of different colors, perhaps to guide patrons on their location (memories of Kyoto's Cupola rooves). While the others went around looking at electronics, I hung around at the anime shops.

There were all sorts of anime cartoons and dolls, and other toys appealing to the young boy in me. I saw Transformer robots, samurais, ninja girls, etc. Some of the anime girls dolls were surprisingly, attractively revealing. Heh... heh!

Mihara's Seafood & Steakhouse.

In the evening, while exploring the alleys off Dotonbori street, we stumbled upon Mihara's Seafood & Steakhouse.

Mihara-san, a chirpy gentleman, having worked in New York spoke pretty good English. He was a sporting chap. entertaining & posing with us while cooking our teppan-yaki meal.