oxymoron

After my second dental appointment, I was lucky to be able to eat, so I went to Oxymoron.

They are a curry shop and have several shops mostly in the East Japan area, this is the first shop in Kansai.

When I got there most seats were filled, luckily I was able to grab their last seat at the counter.

After ordering they told me that I may have to wait 30 minutes for my meal because they serve each customer in the order that they receive the orders.

Luckily I had a book with me.

The butter chicken curry was delicious and especially hit the spot on this rainy Friday.

They also give you some caramelized walnuts as a palate cleanser.

I have a couple more appointments before this root canal is done with, I am glad I got to try this place and hope to be back.

Oxymoron
1-1-22 Kitahama
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6227.8544
Closed Wednesdays
Lunch: 11:30-15:00, Dinner: 17:00-21:00 (weekdays)
(weekends) 11:00-19:00

mjb coffee

In business since 1946, MJB coffee is a kissaten (traditional coffee shop).

The dark wood interior sends you back in time and the food interesting.

Satoshi had their omu stroganoff...rice topped with and omelette then covered with beef stroganoff...1000 yen with coffee.

I tried their taco rice...though the portion looked way smaller than Satoshi's plate, this was just the right amount for me and boy, was that taco meat spicy! 980 yen with iced coffee.

Though I wasn't quite sure what fukujinzuke (the type of pickles you see with curry) were doing on my plate...

I was super happy that the customers there weren't smokers...traditional coffee shops usually allow smoking.

I'm glad we got to try this place, I'm sure we'll be back when we are in the area.

MJB Coffee
4-1-1 Kitahama, Ishihara Building B1F
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6203.0078
Closed Sundays
Hours: Monday-Friday 7:00-22:00, Saturday 8:00-18:00, Holidays 9:00-18:00

this and that

Sorry it has been quiet here.

For a couple of days now, I have been trying to view a blu-ray DVD that my friend gave me. At first, I thought I could use the public library's player...nope they only allow you to view DVDs that are at the library, you cannot bring in your own...boo!

Then, I rented a player from Tsutaya, a CD/DVD shop...after getting the player set up, I still couldn't view it!

I called the maker of the player as well as Tsutaya....turns out the disc was bad...something about it not being finalized...have spoken to my friend and she said I could watch the shows at her house...whoo!

Fast forward to today, I had an appointment to fix my crown (this has also been ongoing). Today was putting the crown on...took all of 10 minutes and I have to go back next week for cleaning...boy, do these dentists like to drag stuff out!

While sitting in the waiting room, I noticed their flower arrangements...kind of harvest-y, autumn-y, foodie.

After my appointment, I walked over to Nakanoshima Park.

The rubber duck is back.

Mona received the giveaway box, so now I can show you what was inside...a Uni-Qlo Star Wars T-shirt (this won an award or something), Kabuki Face Masks, a Hello Kitty Moleskine notebook, a musubi holder, green tea, Japanese-y post-its, colorful furikake, oil blotting paper, masking tapes, and some candies and cookies (not shown).

Another 3-day weekend coming up, hope your week is going well.

le bois

Yesterday I had an errand to run so I was in the Kitahama area. I stopped into Le Bois for lunch.

It had been nearly a year since my last visit.

I really like this cafe, super quiet. (well, until a group of chatty women came in...)

I ordered their pâté lunch...1080 yen (tax included).

This came with a piece of their cake salé (savory cake) with olives, hazelnuts and a little ham.

The plate came filled with a tiny cup of their cream soup, some pickles, their potato salad, three large slices of sourdough bread and two slabs of their pâté.

I was quite full after the first slab of pâté, so I asked the waitress if I could take the rest home. She wrapped up my leftover pâté, a slice of bread and the potato salad.

To end the meal they gave me a hazelnut cookie with my espresso.

I froze the pâté and will use it in bánh mì another day.

This place definitely doesn't disappoint.

le bois

Friday I had several errands to run, including an appointment with my dentist.

Lunch was at Le Bois.

A cute cafe. I liked how the windows let in lots of light.

Things started off with some cake salé. This had some ham, green olives as well as some hazelnuts in it.

I ordered the metzgerei kusuda's bacon salad lyonnaise...1300 yen.

Metzgerei means butcher in German. There is a deli in Ashiya called Metzgerei Kusuda. I wouldn't mind checking this place out sometime.

Topping the salad, two generous slices of bacon. Fried up...not crispy but still delicious! (Doesn't my photo look like someone smiling?!)

Also with the salad came a cold pumpkin potage, some pickled veggies (cauliflower, myoga (Japanese ginger), onion & red bell pepper), a cold potato salad (I think this was the Lyonnaise part of the dish) and a soft cooked egg.

There was also a generous piece of warm baguette.

It was nice tearing off pieces and dipping them into the potage and into the soft cooked egg.

Ending the meal was a nice taste of their chocolate & ginger cake with some iced coffee.

Super full, I wished they had told me I could take home any leftover baguette earlier, so I didn't try to finish it all off.

I wouldn't mind bringing Satoshi here, I'll be back.

Le Bois
1-5-22 Koraibashi 2F
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.4706.2200
Closed Mondays, Hours: 11:00-23:00

brooklyn roasting company

Not too sure how I heard about Brooklyn Roasting Company, but I do remember wanting to check them out.

Since they were near my dentist, I went after getting my teeth cleaned.

Although the weather was a bit too hot for cappuccino, I was still interested in trying theirs....400 yen.

I enjoyed this cup.

I also tried their orange muffin, which I found out is made by West Wood Bakers. A shop in Nishi-ohashi.

I liked how there were lots of candied orange pieces on the bottom half of the muffin...280 yen.

The cafe faces the Tosabori-gawa (Tosabori-river), and they have many seats on their terrace too.

I'll be back.

Brooklyn Roasting Company
2-1-16 Kitahama
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6125.5740
Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00-20:00, Saturday-Sunday & Holidays 10:00-19:00

gokan

Last Sunday, Satoshi asked me what kind of dessert he should bring home after work. I asked him to get the pudding from Gokan. I've written about Gokan in the past and we've eaten at their cafe in Kitahama too.

In the Hankyu Department store, I've also walked past the Gokan counter many times and this pudding had caught my eye.

Not just because it looks delicious...but because they are served in these beautiful ceramic tea cups.

The custard pudding is marbled with green tea pudding. And instead of the usual liquid caramel on the bottom, I think the caramel was made with kokuto (literally black sugar or raw sugar).

The pudding is then topped with some sweetened adzuki beans, some shiratama (rice flour dumplings) and some matcha (green tea) gelatin cubes...oh, and a whole strawberry.

We really liked this, it wasn't too sweet and the portion was just right.

elmer's green cafe

Saturday we headed out to Umeda to have some lunch before Satoshi's German language class in the afternoon.

I wanted to check out Elmer's Green Cafe in Kitahama.

It is a small cafe, they say they have 40 seats, but I don't think so, maybe half of that.

They have this long (butcher paper) menu by the cash register and it says "order here", but they actually come to your table to take your order.

We ordered the green salad 200 yen (about US$2)...the lettuce was in big pieces and piled quite high. I wished they had made the pieces more bite-sized, it was quite hard to eat.

What looks like a pecan pie in the photo, is actually a tart made of gobo (burdock) and beans...600 yen (about US$6) While it tasted really good, nice and cheesy, the size and texture of the gobo pieces at times made me feel like I was eating...wood.

Satoshi ordered their croquette sandwich...600 yen (about US$6). This "sandwich" came with two round croquette...Satoshi was surprised and didn't know how to go about eating it.

I was surprised too and suggested he attack it with his knife and fork, instead of trying to eat it like a sandwich. I could just see the croquette rolling away.

He let me taste it and it had lots of potato. I also liked their sauce which tasted like a tonkatsu (pork cutlet) sauce.
Dessert was their granola cheesecake 500 yen (about US$5), this was a baked cheesecake, dense and rich.

The crust was made from granola and served with a dollop of cream and poached pears. I liked the hints of different spices in the granola crust.

We also ordered coffee and a cafe au lait. These drinks were discounted 200 yen each because we had ordered from their savory menu....total for the two drink 450 yen (about US$4.50).

Aside from the huge pieces in the salad and tart, their food is delicious. Service is kind of slow and since the owner is finicky about coffee, their coffee takes some time to come out (they actually roast some of the beans before brewing).

All in all, it is a great place to sit and people watch, though I think if all the seats were filled it would be a bit noisy.

I would definitely go back when I'm in the area. (the other 2 photos in the mosaic are of things I saw on my walk back to Umeda, a building that is actually a French restaurant and a pretty rose I saw blooming near Nakanoshima).

Elmer's Green Cafe
1-7-3 Koraibashi, Kitahama Plaza 1F
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6223.5560
Open: 10:00-20:00

kitahama retro

I had been wanting to check out Kitahama Retro for some time now. This past Saturday, we got the chance.

This building built in 1912, was originally bought by a businessman who fell in love with the building. He quit his original job and sold his house in order to finance the upkeep of the building. (or something like that)

In 1997, the building was refurbished into a cafe. Though very small, it has a very homey atmosphere.

In this business area, this building is very "short" in comparison to the skyscrapers and office buildings around it, and has a flavor all its own.

Satoshi and I got there just as they were opening and ordered two sandwich sets 1600 yen (about US$16) each for lunch.

The set comes with the sandwich of your choice and tea of your choice.

Satoshi chose the mixed sandwich, this came with an omlette, some ham, cucumber, potato salad and lettuce layered into a sandwich.

For his tea, he chose a fragrant apple tea.
For my sandwich set, I chose the BLT. I liked the bacon even though it wasn't crispy.

Since the weather was very humid and sunny, I chose a tea with lemon. And with lemon it came! I was quite surprised that they gave me so many slices. Very puckery but refreshing.

These sandwiches were really filling!

After our orders came, we noticed other tables ordering the Afternoon Tea set 2100 yen (about US$21)...this comes with your choice of cake, 2 scones and some finger sandwiches.

In fact, we saw a table of 4 ladies order 4 AT sets and split their cakes 4 ways (you go ladies!)

We definitely should have ordered something like that! (Next time for sure.)

And as we left, there was already a line waiting for seating.

Kitahama Retro
1-1-26 Kitahama
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6223.5858
Weekdays: 11:00-21:30
Weekends/Holidays: 11:00-19:00