In Daimaru, which renovated all their floors, there is a Tokyu Hands. Tokyu Hands is an odds & ends shop, you can find almost anything and everything there.
They even opened a cafe which we want to try. Their store is on 3 separate floors, it is really big.
Also in Daimaru is a huge Pokemon Center as well as a cooking school.
They have all these statues of colorfully painted gnu lining the street in front. (I thought it quite weird that they named their building after the animal (gnu)...)
I liked how they are using real plants to create their sign, hope they can keep this up with summer approaching.
I tried their new mini macarons...it came with one green tea and one black sesame. The green tea one had a white chocolate green tea cream, but needed more green tea flavor. The black sesame had a dark chocolate filling, this was good but needed more filling.
There is a huge domed roof and very very long escalators, doesn't it look like you are going up to heaven?!
Actually by going up these escalators, you can go straight into Daimaru. They even have an open cafe on this level.
These places were packed, mostly people riding the escalators to check it all out. (like me!)
I was happy that they have a place to sit on the 11th floor and a roof garden on the 14th. (If there is one thing you'll notice right away in Japan is that places to sit are really rare.)
Satoshi and I tried a tapas restaurant called Rosa Roja for dinner. This restaurant is actually run by the Osaka Granvia Hotel. The food is good. I particularly enjoyed the gyu-tan (beef tongue), it was tender and delicious with the thinly sliced veggies.
The Spanish wine, Volteo Tempranillo we tried was good too.
There are many food places from Tokyo which I'm sure we'll be able to check out in the coming months, but for now, it is best to let the crowds die down.
Rosa Roja
Lucua 10F
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6151.1384
We always stay in Nishi Umeda when we go to Osaka! The train station seems to have been under renovation for a LONG time. I look forward to my next trip, whenever that might be!
ReplyDeleteI like that plant sign too!
ReplyDeleteLove Japanese department stores- but I can't go into a depachika if I'm at all hungry, haha.
ReplyDeleteNice, lots of info to read today. :-) I learned new things from your blog today. Tokyu Hands is a "odds & ends" shop. I didn't know how to explain that kind of store before, so thank you for that. ;-) My husband visited your site today (from my blog) and he said we should go to Murodo next time. Hehehe thank you for great pictures.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a pretty satisfactory shopping day at the new stores (I am eyeing the macaron!). I think the last macaron I saw was at a McCafe, but passed on getting them because they looked "old". Black sesame and chocolate, I gotta make note of that combo for gelato. ^-^
ReplyDeleteI hope you can visit soon Mariko :)
ReplyDeleteI hope they change the plants with the seasons Jalna :)
Glad you enjoyed this Nami, hope you get to see Murodo too :)
I hear the McCafe macarons in Paris are made by Laduree Rowena, now that would be something to try, huh??
Take care everyone.
Kat
I'm sooo jealous that you went to Isetan! I was really hoping it would open before I left, but no such luck! Did they have Henri LeRoux in the depachika? Or Pierre Herme?
ReplyDeletehope you get to visit soon Mariko!
ReplyDeleteI hope they change the plants with the seasons Jalna!
Me too K!
Rona, They have Henri LeRoux, Pierre Herme, Jean-Paul Hevin, Grom, Dominic Saibron, Soup Stock Tokyo, and many others. You gotta come back to Osaka soon!
Take care everyone.
Kat
Yay to Tokyu Hands--my favorite. ;-) Sadly, the black sesame macaron is just not that pretty!
ReplyDeleteTrue not pretty Deb in Hawaii, but tasted better than the green tea one :p
ReplyDeleteRona, p.s. Isetan also has a Laduree.
Take care.
Kat