shisen ramen

Did you get to see the lunar eclipse the other night? We were lucky.

At first we thought it was gonna be a bust because there were lots of clouds, but by the time the eclipse started, it cleared up and we could see it right overhead from our lanai...

If I thought Friday's temps were cool, Saturday's were closer to freezing.

Since Satoshi had his language class in the afternoon, we headed to Umeda for lunch.

I had spicy on my mind.

We decided to try Shisen Ramen. Shisen is the word in Japanese for Szechuan.

Satoshi tried their curry tan tan men, I didn't try their broth but it looked and smelled wonderful with some star anise.

To cool off your mouth, a frozen lychee. Satoshi said this was good (he didn't share).

Satoshi also liked their gyoza.

I went with their Mabo Tofu. When the lady brought out my dish, she walked very gingerly with it. My first thought was, "couldn't you have put it in a bigger bowl?!"...the spices hit you immediately, make you cough a little but it's hard to put your spoon down.

The tofu was on the firm side and the sauce thick and rich. Even if it may look like there wasn't enough rice, there was a lot underneath.

Check out all the condiments and spices on the table... among them there was lychee vinegar, tsatsai, garlic chips, chili powder, szechuan pepper.

I was impressed with their ra-yu (chili oil) stock...shelves and shelves of the stuff in different stages.

A great way to warm up on a cold day...we'll be back.

Shisen Ramen
Sanbangai (North area) B2
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6485.0132