loaf (dinner)

Saturday night we went to check out the Loaf's dinner menu.

There were some customers but not totally busy.

Dinner started off with their antipasto which comes with some salad.

I liked the carrot salad with a hint of orange in it.

And the frittata was served warm.

Between this and our main dishes there was such a long wait...

My main dish was grilled chicken with BBQ sauce.

I really liked how tender the chicken was and the roasted veggies served along side was good.

Satoshi had their steak which he said was very tender.

Despite the wait for our main dishes it was a nice meal.

Total with drinks was about 5600 yen (tax included)

I think the next time we come for dinner, we'll order different pupus...we'll be back.

loaf bakery

Recently discovered the cookies at Loaf Bakery.

Apparently they have 3 types and I tried their assortment...cheese, coconut & cocoa.

I think the cheese cookie would be nice with wine.

I hope they have these the next time I visit.

cafe jiji

After lunch, Hiromi and I went to Cafe Jiji.

We both had their chocolate parfait...super chocolatey and I loved that semi-dried orange that was dipped in chocolate (hidden behind the parfait).

I ordered coffee while Hiromi had tea.

This tiny cafe was super quiet.

I'm glad Hiromi invited me to lunch with her. It was nice chatting, laughing and eating.

I definitely want to come back to try their lunch menu.

I'll be back.

Cafe Jiji
2-17-10 Ishibashi
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 090.8829.5816
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 9:00-18:30

ambiente

My friend Hiromi had some time off so she asked if I would join her for lunch at Ambiente.

They have many different lunch choices, but the most popular are their raclette & fondue lunches.

So that is what we ordered.

The lunch comes with appetizers...quiche, smoked duck and ratatouille.

Some salad. Some foccacia.

The raclette cheese is "poured" over chicken and veggies. The skin of the chicken was so crisp!

The fondue comes with many veggies (even hard boiled quail eggs) and some pieces of ham to dip.

To end, you can have coffee or tea.

It was a great lunch. I'm glad Hiromi asked me to join her. (Thank you!)

I want to go back to try other items on their menu...I'll be back.

Ambiente
1-10-5 Ishibashi, Tsuda Building 2F
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.762.1328
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11:30-23:00, Friday-Saturday 11:30-2:00

katsuretsu-tei

Saturday, we reconnected with Katsuretsu-tei.

This tiny katsu (cutlet) shop was one of the first places we tried when we moved to Ishibashi in 2001 (pre-blog).

Yup, it's been THAT long since we went back...

Satoshi ordered their mix fry (an assortment of fried items...fish, shrimp & pork).

This came with a salad, miso soup and rice.

When the weather is warm, I don't really like soup, so I ordered the chicken katsu curry with cheese and a mini salad.

Man, that salad was huge! a whole cucumber and tons of cabbage.

The curry was huge too.

I don't remember the servings being that huge...I do have a feeling that it is due to the fact that we live near the Osaka University.

Most eateries like to cater to the students by giving a lot of food for a reasonable price.

While this was delicious, the katsu cooked perfectly and the cheese oozy. I realize that I enjoy a lighter batter coating.

Satoshi helped me eat most of this...we'll be back, but next time we're sharing...

Katsuretsu-tei
1-1-11 Ishibashi
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.762.5751
Closed Sundays
Hours: 11:00-22:00

lion curry

A new curry place opened up in our shopping arcade, Lion Curry.

From the outside it looks like a small shop, but inside there are several booth type seating as well as seats at their counter.

Their menu is rather extensive with grilled items and fried items.

I chose their grilled harami (skirt steak)...890 yen (tax included).

The steak is marinated in a shoyu, garlic sauce, which is a little sweet. Then grilled after you order.

Talk about melt in your mouth!

I got half portion rice and half portion roux so they minused off 100 yen.

The curry had just enough spices, but didn't overpower the harami.

Satoshi went with their ro-su katsu (pork loin)...850 yen (tax included).

This is also fried after ordering.

He got the regular portion of rice and roux.

There are other items on their menu that we want to try...we'll be back.

Lion Curry
Hankyu Ishibashi Shopping Arcade
no phone number or hours available

gyoza ou

A gyoza shop opened up near our station on Monday.

Don't think anyone was too excited about it because there wasn't a line to try the place.

Yesterday, I bought 2 servings for us to try...560 yen (tax included).

I liked the crisp bottoms and the flavor of the gyoza was nice and garlicky.

Didn't appreciate the "tude" of the guy working there though.

No "irrashaimase" (welcome) or "arigato" thank you, just a rude "laser beam" look...

Though I will give points to the girl working at the take-out window for friendliness.

We may be back...will see what Satoshi has to say about these gyoza (he's super picky).

*will update info on this shop when I find out more

udon kichi

Two Sundays ago, after doing our o-soji (New Years cleaning), we had lunch at Udon Kichi.

I had their niku kasu udon while Satoshi had their curry udon with a side order of rice.

While we were waiting for their food, I noticed that they had a new item on their menu...mazemen (mah-zay-men).

"Maze" means to stir and "Men" is noodle.

I have seen mazemen around on the web, and most look quite spicy.

So, on Wednesday, which was a holiday, Satoshi and I went back for lunch.

I ordered the mazemen...800 yen and he ordered the curry udon with a side order of rice.

Atop the udon is the spicy meat topping, a dollop of what I think was kochujang, a raw egg yolk, some chives, green onion, strips of nori, as well as thin chili strips.

I don't think anyone has ever instructed me to "stir everything until the noodles turn red"...whoa?!

So I did...

And it did turn reddish...This was so good!

Sweet, salty and spicy...super addicting!

As I was eating, I realized that I would have leftover meat topping...so I asked for a "shime-gohan" this is a bowl of rice to end the meal, usually when you have soup or something like that...plus 50 yen.

On the piping hot rice was a little more meat topping and green onions.

And then I was instructed to "dump it in and mix it well"

So I mixed...

I was (super full) but so glad I ordered the extra rice.

It would've been a shame to waste all that good topping...

I think this is going to be my new fave here.

gyoza tenshin

We tried Gyoza Tenshin the other week. Their menu is quite extensive but their specialty is gyoza (pot stickers).

We ordered 4 different types (from left to right)...kujo negi (a type of green onion), yuzu kosho (a type of chili paste made from yuzu, chili & salt), shiso (perilla) and chamiton (a brand of pork from Kagoshima).

We also tried some deep fried tako (octopus) as well as some edamame (soy beans).

There wasn't anything too spectacular about the chamiton or negi, but we did like the yuzu kosho & shiso gyozas.

They also have salads and nabe (hot pot) on their menu.

Everything is reasonably priced, our dinner with drinks was under 4000 yen...we'll be back.

Gyoza Tenshin
1-12-5 Ishibashi
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 050.5785.6703
Hours: Monday-Saturday 12:00-26:00
Sunday-Holidays 18:00-23:00

kujaku curry

Went to try Kujaku Curry's chicken katsu sandwich, which came out recently.

The piece of chicken katsu was huge!

Unfortunately, this was a bit dry.

The tartar sauce was too chunky for my liking and it didn't really match the sandwich.

I again ate this with a knife and fork.

I'm glad I tried this though but will stick with the tonkatsu sandwich here.

kujaku curry

I'd been trying to get back to Kujaku Curry, so that I could try their katsu sandwich.

It was kind of inconvenient that they only served it on Thursdays and they had a limit of 12 servings.

I would almost always remember about it on Fridays...sigh.

Well, I finally tried it yesterday...wow!

A boneless pork chop cooked to perfection, crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside.

A spicy curry sauce.

Onions that are sautéed to caramelize a bit, and some rakkyo (pickled onions) for crunch.

A little mayo on a thick toasted piece of bread.

The owner suggested to eat it with the surrounding wax paper as "things will drip"...

I chose to go the fork and knife route. And used the bread to mop up all the sauce.

oh em gee...this was definitely worth 700 yen (tax included).

I noticed that the sandwich is available on Fridays too now...I'll be back.

Have a nice weekend.

kujaku curry

Tucked at the end of a little hallway located in our shopping arcade is Kujaku Curry.

We've walked past their signs that advertise their shop many times.

Yesterday, we got a chance to try them.

They have 3 types of curries...katsu (pork cutlet), gyusuji (beef tendon) and half and half (a little of both).

Satoshi ordered the katsu while I went with the gyusuji...each 700 yen (tax included)

Satoshi's katsu looked crisp on the outside without being oily. The gyusuji in my curry was melt in your mouth tender.

I liked how the curry's spices kick in afterwards.

This place doesn't have a lot of seats, maybe 10?

They also have a katsu sandwich but only on Thursdays and only 12 servings...I want to try this.

I'll be back.

Kujaku Curry
1-4-8 Ishibashi
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 080.3811.6320
Closed Mondays
Hours: 11:30-15:00, 17:00-19:30

udon kichi

The weather is weird...humid switching to cool, rainy then sunny.

Talk about the body having a hard time keeping up.

Lunch on Sunday was at Udon Kichi but at their other shop on the other side of our train station.

I ordered the same thing, tori ten bukkake udon.

But the one that came out this time was "true" chicken tempura.

I have feeling the other shop topped my udon with karaage (a fried chicken).

The chicken tempura was super light and crisp, the meat was still very tender and moist.

We like this shop because it is larger.

We'll be back to both!

Udon Kichi (East Exit Shop)
2-4-2 Ishibashi
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.761.3433
Closed Mondays

yakiniku waou

Yesterday, my friend, Hiromi had an unexpected day off, so she contacted me to see if I was free for lunch.

After some walking (and talking), we checked out Yakiniku Waou.

Satoshi and I had dinner here which I wrote about here.

Yakiniku Waou also has a lunch menu, but it is only served during the week.

Hiromi chose the hamburger lunch, this was served with a oroshi-ponzu (grated daikon with citrus soy) or demi-glace sauce. She chose the ponzu sauce.

She liked that the hamburger is 100% wagyu, no fillers...980 yen (tax included). Her lunch came with a salad, rice and a clear soup.

I chose the yakiniku donburi...850 yen (tax included).

This came with a clear soup. The meat was a bit gristly but I liked the flavor overall. There was way too much rice for me to finish.

Pretty laid back during lunch hour, I don't think many people know about this place, yet.

They also have other items on their menu that I want to try...I'll be back.

It was a great day of chatting and eating...thanks Hiromi!

chaina

It has been a couple of months since we've been to Chaina, the tiny Chinese restaurant in our area.

We try to make sure we get there when the place opens because the guy that's cooking usually takes a while before the food starts coming out.

Plus, there aren't many seats so it fills up fast!

I ordered the daily special, which was a bowl of mabo tofu, some steamed dumplings, a spring roll, some salad, rice & egg drop soup...850 yen (tax included).

So filling! and the mabo tofu had a nice amount of ground szechuan pepper on it.

It was my first time trying the mabo tofu but I liked this.

Super spicy but addicting. I couldn't believe I ate everything!

Satoshi ate his usual, stamina set...900 yen (tax included) this is stir fried beef with garlic shoots. It also comes with karaage (fried chicken), gyoza, egg drop soup, some salad and rice.

We love this place, even if it takes some time for the food to come out!

It's still fahreezing here, hope you have a great week!

yakiniku waou

A relatively new yakiniku place opened up near our station called Yakiniku Waou.

It's up above Family Mart (a convenience store), so you can't really see into the restaurant, making it kinda hard to see if it is popular or not.

We took a chance and had dinner there this past Saturday.

They have a large menu and we decided to try the small portion course which you need to have at least 2 people to order...4000 yen plus tax each.

Dunno why Japan likes to make these constrictive rules on course menus...kind of hampers us trying two different course menus...

Anyway, our dinner started off with a large salad, nothing quite out of the ordinary here though I loved the crunchy sweet potato chips on top!

There was also 3 different banchan (fern shoots, soy bean sprouts and spinach), delicious!

And then came the beef tongue...cooked for just a little bit and then a little squeeze of lemon...so good! Melt in your mouth.

Chateaubriand and Sirloin Steak...

When Satoshi and I put the cooked piece of chateaubriand into our mouths we looked at each other because the meat just melted!

The sirloin was just as tender too.

And then some ribeye roast...this wasn't as melt in your mouth as the others but still very tasty.

They had also given us three different sauces but we didn't really use them, just the salt and pepper that most of the meats were seasoned with were enough.

Reimen (cold noodles) the salty broth reminded me of saimin broth and the noodles had a nice chew to them.

It was my first time to have these cold noodles with a slice of apple in it. It gave the whole dish a sweet-salty combination which I enjoyed.

To end we had a choice of vanilla, strawberry or matcha ice cream...I chose strawberry while Satoshi had matcha.

We agreed the quality of the meat here was way better than Mooh! and when we come back, we'll order a la carte instead of their course menu.

We'll be back.

Yakiniku Waou
2-2-14 Ishibashi 2F
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.761.2011
Lunch : weekdays only 11:00-14:00
Dinner: 17:30-24:00
Closed Mondays

niku bar mooh

There is a bar that opened rather recently near our train station called Niku Bar Mooh (which literally translates to Meat Bar Moo)

Most of the items on their menu starts from 500 yen.

They don't have a large beer selection, mostly cocktails.

Meals start off with their tsukidashi (amuse bouche) which on this day was a sliced duck and thinly sliced onion with a vinaigrette...648 for two servings.

We ordered their caesar salad, this comes with a poached egg on top...626 yen.

Ratatouille, this also comes with a poached egg...626 yen.

Shrimp and button mushroom ajillo. Shrimp and button mushrooms come out boiling in this garlic olive oil "soup"...842 yen.

They serve it with 4 slices of baguette...up the bread slices please!

Sausages with the bone in.

Must've been chicken because that was what bone was used...626 yen

Steak...um, you need to rest the steak before cutting and also, maybe not serve it so rare.

Turned all the fries underneath an unappetizing red. 150 grams for 1620 yen.

With drinks, our total was 6554 yen (tax included). Not bad with drinks, but the steak really turned me off.

Would I go back here? Probably not.

Still, I'm glad we tried them.

Niku Bar Mooh
2-1-10 Ishibashi
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.760.5539
Hours: 17:30-24:30
Closed Mondays