Travelling to Japan has been a country to visit in my bucket list since I was a child. I was there for two weeks with my husband and friends exploring mainly Osaka and Tokyo then a bit of Kobe, Kyoto, and Kanazawa. Other than going there for sightseeing, we came to Japan to EAT. Since we took a lot of photos, I'll let the photos do most of the talking!
1) During our first week in Japan, we stayed in the Jūsō area of Osaka. There was food everywhere! Literally every turn we made, there was a restaurant, food shop, or a mini market. The first place we ate at was an izakaya. There were no menus (say what?), instead, we had to choose the foods we wanted that were displayed on a counter and it would be brought to us. Some of the foods we had were chicken karaage, nikujaga (meat and potatoes), and a simple omelette. The maguro (tuna) sashimi was given to us by a local as a welcoming present to Japan (how nice of him!):
2) At every department store we went to had food marketplaces located at the basement floors called the depachika. Walking into one was like a food wonderland to me because there was an array of bento boxes, sushi, tempura, unagi (eel), noodles, salads, rice balls, delicatessen style items, sweets, and the list goes on. I wish there were chairs and tables at these places so I could hang out and eat all day!
3) We ended up at Tendon Tenya one day for lunch. Topping our tempura dishes with an egg hit the spot:
4) En route to Osaka Castle, we encountered a lot of food stands. We snacked on some chicken karaage on a stick and takoyaki- cooked ball shaped flour based-batter with bits of octopus, pickled ginger, and tempura scraps inside brushed with takoyaki sauce and garnished with bonito flakes, green onion, and corn:
5) Here are some street food we had while at Nara (east of Osaka) - Sakura (cherry blossom) flavored Pepsi, Yakisoba Pan (bread), and Dango. There is deer free-roaming at Nara Park. You may feed them deer crackers if you want! After sightseeing in Nara, we ate at Cafe i-lunga. Their Chicken Curry with Red Rice is a must have:
6) Dōtonbori is a popular tourist destination in Osaka. I loved seeing the huge signs of food everywhere:
7) We dined at Taste of Osaka because we were craving Okonomiyaki (Japanese-style pancake/omlette). We also had Monjayaki, Akashiyaki, and Chicken Kushikatsu:
8) Top- Monjayaki being cooked | Bottom- Okonomiyaki being cooked:
9) On our last day in Osaka, we ate at Pomme no Ki to try some Omurice - an omelette with fried rice inside. This restaurant had 30+ varieties! The Omurice on the left was topped with creamy teriyaki sauce, chicken, and spinach with Japanese fried rice inside. The Omurice I had on the right was topped with a creamy sauce, potatoes, and salmon roe with butter rice inside:
1) During our first week in Japan, we stayed in the Jūsō area of Osaka. There was food everywhere! Literally every turn we made, there was a restaurant, food shop, or a mini market. The first place we ate at was an izakaya. There were no menus (say what?), instead, we had to choose the foods we wanted that were displayed on a counter and it would be brought to us. Some of the foods we had were chicken karaage, nikujaga (meat and potatoes), and a simple omelette. The maguro (tuna) sashimi was given to us by a local as a welcoming present to Japan (how nice of him!):
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2) At every department store we went to had food marketplaces located at the basement floors called the depachika. Walking into one was like a food wonderland to me because there was an array of bento boxes, sushi, tempura, unagi (eel), noodles, salads, rice balls, delicatessen style items, sweets, and the list goes on. I wish there were chairs and tables at these places so I could hang out and eat all day!
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3) We ended up at Tendon Tenya one day for lunch. Topping our tempura dishes with an egg hit the spot:
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 |
 |
 |
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4) En route to Osaka Castle, we encountered a lot of food stands. We snacked on some chicken karaage on a stick and takoyaki- cooked ball shaped flour based-batter with bits of octopus, pickled ginger, and tempura scraps inside brushed with takoyaki sauce and garnished with bonito flakes, green onion, and corn:
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5) Here are some street food we had while at Nara (east of Osaka) - Sakura (cherry blossom) flavored Pepsi, Yakisoba Pan (bread), and Dango. There is deer free-roaming at Nara Park. You may feed them deer crackers if you want! After sightseeing in Nara, we ate at Cafe i-lunga. Their Chicken Curry with Red Rice is a must have:
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 |
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6) Dōtonbori is a popular tourist destination in Osaka. I loved seeing the huge signs of food everywhere:
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 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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7) We dined at Taste of Osaka because we were craving Okonomiyaki (Japanese-style pancake/omlette). We also had Monjayaki, Akashiyaki, and Chicken Kushikatsu:
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 |
 |
 |
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8) Top- Monjayaki being cooked | Bottom- Okonomiyaki being cooked:
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9) On our last day in Osaka, we ate at Pomme no Ki to try some Omurice - an omelette with fried rice inside. This restaurant had 30+ varieties! The Omurice on the left was topped with creamy teriyaki sauce, chicken, and spinach with Japanese fried rice inside. The Omurice I had on the right was topped with a creamy sauce, potatoes, and salmon roe with butter rice inside:
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To be continued!