tokyo butaman

Awhile back, Satoshi and I were walking through Jiyugaoka and saw this krazy line for Tokyo Butaman

Then I read something online that the grandchild of 551, recreated the 551 butaman (pork bun) and was selling them under the name Tokyo Butaman 

So, I went to check it out...

2 butaman...600 yen (tax included)

6 shumai...680 yen (tax included)

8 amazudango (sweet sour meatballs)...580 yen (tax included)

The shumai was meaty, delicious, though nothing out of the ordinary

The meatballs had a slight char on them and the sauce was goopy but flavorwise delicious, not too sweet

The butaman resembled the one from 551 but there seemed to be butter in the dough making it quite different from the Osaka one.

They also have a black pepper butaman but I felt paying an extra 30 yen for one wasn’t worth it, so I didn’t get it for us to try.

Many people rave that the butaman is exactly the same and that they will no longer need to buy 551 in Osaka.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I'm glad I tried this, but 551 will always be my fave.

Tokyo Butaman

1-31-11 Jiyugaoka

Meguro, Tokyo

Open daily 11:30-20:00

this and that

My foreigner card's expiration date is coming up, so last Friday, we went to get it renewed before we left for Kyoto.

We appreciated that we didn't need to wait in the long queue that was was snaking around out in front of the building, but what a mess it was inside!

No signage as to what needed to be done (probably more so because of the pandemic)...thankfully though we were in and out rather "quickly" (30 minutes give or take)...

These days whenever we go to Kyoto, we always pick up some doughnuts from Kamo Donuts.

They are kitty corner to where MIL lives, so we just run across the street and get our fix.

Since I was cleaning all day with SIL, I totally forgot to wear a mask when I went to get these (though I probably should have worn one with all that dust)...luckily the guy working there let me just cover my mouth with my hand and point at the showcase.

Another thing we eat whenever we are in Kansai is 551...

Since BIL had bought pizza for our lunch on Monday, Satoshi picked up an assortment of items from 551 for our lunch on Tuesday.

I was impressed that Satoshi remembered that MIL loved these anpan from Kokoroniamai Anpanya and picked some up for her.

We placed some on MIL's altar and we also enjoyed some too.

SIL said she has always wanted to try these but was never willing to line up for them, I'm glad she got to try them.

I thought I was pretty good at purging, but my SIL has proved that she is the queen of purging, so I brought back a few dishes from MIL's stash as they may not be there the next time we go to Kyoto for MIL's 49 day service in April...

Itami Airport got a face lift just as we moved to Tokyo in 2018, it was our first time seeing all the changes and we loved how spacious (and new) everything looked.

Tokyo's numbers seem to have plateaued in the 300 case range. 

When we went to Kyoto/Kansai by plane, I was shocked that it was a full flight.

Even if we all wore masks during the funeral and cremation, we did have meals with family (which was totally out of my pandemic comfort zone), so hopefully we all will be okay.

Have a safe weekend.

551 (namba)

We got to try the main store for 551 on our way back from Nara.

The restaurant area is located on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building.

It was after the lunch crowd and there was still a line for seats.

I was actually surprised that the line moved quite quickly.

I ordered their mabo eggplant yakisoba.

A combination of deep fried noodles and sauteed noodles, topped with their spicy mabo sauce, eggplant and veggies.

It was a change of pace to see cucumber and watermelon radish in there...

I tried their char siu man (bun), something only sold at this shop.

I had envisioned it to be similar to the steamed manapua (char siu bao) we have in Hawaii, but it wasn't the canton style char siu and there was lots of shiitake in there.

Still, it was better than the nikuman (meat buns) sold at the convenience stores.

Even though it was blazing hot, Satoshi almost always never fails to order soup noodles of some sort whenever we eat at places like this.

This was their seafood ramen.

And another item he almost never fails to order is gyoza or "gee-why-oh" as he likes to call it...

I'm glad we got to try the main shop's food.

They have more items on their menu than at most other of their restaurant type shops.

I guess whenever I want to get my Cantonese char siu fix, I need to check out Ou-lou or Heichinrou.

551
3-6-3 Namba
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6641.0551
Hours: 11:00-22:00 open everyday

551

Have you tried 551 Horai?

Everyone in Osaka calls them 551(pronounced go-go-itchy) and I only tried them recently.

Silly me...I had thought they were the same as the nikuman (knee-coo-mahn, literally meat buns) sold at the convenience store...gasp!

551's steamed pork bun is a little sweet and thicker on the outside than the ones in the convenience stores, more like the steamed manapua (char siu bao) we have in Hawaii.

The inside filling is like pork hash and it is super juicy.

It comes with a packet of mustard and during the summer a packet of ponzu (citrus soy sauce) (I have only used the ponzu, so don't know what exact type of mustard is given).

Apparently, you can only find 551 in the Kansai area, so there are always lines to get them as omiyage (souvenir).

They hand fill and steam each bun on site, so you know everything is made fresh.

551 calls their pork filled buns, butaman (boo-tah-mahn literally pork buns) NOT nikuman, so try not to make a mistake when ordering...

They also sell shumai (pork hash) as well as other items at their kiosks.

There are many 551 Horai restaurants around the Kansai area too.

I want to try their char siu man (buns filled with sweet red char siu, like manapua), but need to visit their main store in Namba.

If you have tried 551, what items do you enjoy from them?