In about an hour, we were at Kobe's doorstep, quickly on the move towards the Nunobiki Herb Garden.
Getting there was a huge pain. Constantly walking in and out of buildings, circling around various pathways to head up to the next level and frequent back and forth. Having reached the base of the ropeway/entrance, I realised that there wasn’t enough time to do the full hike. Initially, I wanted to ropeway up and hike down. Now it was going to be ropeway up, hike halfway down and then ropeway again. Yay...
I do regret making our way out, due to the lack of anything worth viewing during this time (genius me at work). Though, it wasn’t all dreariness with some nice sights.
Heading back to the city centre, there was some time to kill before a scheduled lunch at the Royal Moriya. As there are a few branches of the restaurant, it can be a bit difficult discerning them. Especially, when they are all within walking distance of each other or a floor above...
Wandering around, we stumbled into what can be described as the beef block because all I saw were beef restaurants and beef advertising on every imaginable corner. As far as I could see, it was just rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat...
Then you have this Torikara Stick...ing our like a sore thumb.
Heading back, I was eager for some high grade beef. As the doors opened, I was shocked to see how fancy the place was. Greeting the man by the door, I showed him our reservation. He chuckled and pointed out the email provided was for the Cup Noodle Museum...
Only needing my name to confirm, he then took us through. At first, I thought we were to be seated at the bar/bench area. Nope! It was going to be 100% fancy for us. Ushered into this fancy room, the five of us had our coats taken and sat down on the fancy chairs.
Upon my brother’s recommendation, I got the lunch special. For ¥6480, I got 150g of sirloin, soup, rice, veg and a glass of wine... As it was so fancy, I felt needing to be fancy too and pressured myself into getting one. I thought to give it another try; beef commonly pairs well with wine after all. Maybe it'll be fi- ...nope. No palette changes here; stuff was still rancid.
Surprisingly, they were able to cater very well for Carolyn. Her meal was prepared first (you know, cross contamination and all). Considerate and classy. Our iron chef began by making her some garlic fried rice. The fragrance just filled the room and was just 👌. As her salad and side of pickles came, he began to prepare the rest of our meals.
It was no doubt a delicious meal, so much so I cried tears of soy. Starting with a nice creamy pumpkin soup, it tasted lovely but doesn’t beat mum’s. Following the small starter was a salad with the finest leaf selection that was perfectly dressed.
With the “healthy” foods out the way, I tucked in on the grilled items. Having never tried lotus root, I didn’t find it too bad. It had a nice texture and the flavour profile wasn’t anything off putting, unlike mushrooms.
Though the beef wasn’t the highest grade, it was still mouth wateringly delicious. Effortlessly chewing through those pieces of beef was just bliss. Finishing off the meal, our chef prepared some bean sprouts mixed in with some really crispy bits of scrap beef.
Royal Moriya was nothing short of fantastic with their incredibly friendly staff and great selection of food.
Leaving the beef district satisfied, we headed over to the shopping “district” of Motomachi. It was like Rundle Mall but waay bigger and better. The strip’s span was spacious and stretched on for ages.
As time passed, the guys were feeling peckish for some skewers - some cheap eats. With Google Maps in hand, we hunted for just the place. It was a bit of travel but it was going to be well worth it... or so we thought. We arrived during the limbo of too late for lunch and too early for dinner. Instead, we were hustled into this restaurant. And for the life of me, I cannot remember what the place was called. Nor can I find search results or map locations... I just remember it starting with Za...
Cheap eats, remember? Well this wasn’t that. Nor was it going to be a light snack. Nope. This was another full-blown meal. With Carolyn still full, we dined as four. Slowly, food started reaching us one plate at a time. Starting with these yin yang looking spoons full of beef slices – it was aight.
Following that was a creamy soup. One by one, each of us were given a bowl. That included a fifth bowl for Carolyn... oookay... Maybe it was complimentary. As she couldn’t eat it anyway, I finished it for her. Yum.
As we finished our soups, they brought out plates of salad. In comparison to earlier, these weren't as reat. It was heavy on a not-so-nice dressing and their leaf selection was basic. Again, a fifth plate made an appearance... okay... we're getting some special service now. Noice.
Eventually, the beef made its grand entrance. Four plates were given. All right, no more freebies. Eating the beef wasn’t a soft melty experience but rather a tough chewy one. What was up with that? Then it came out... a plate of beef was placed in front of Carolyn.
Okay, now something was definitely wrong. We didn’t order thi-
aaahhhhh...
Like a tonne of beef, it hit me. It was me… Dio I ordered it. Rewind it back to the beginning, when Alex and Wilson were ordering. Initially, they wanted the same thing but Wilson later asked for a larger portion. The thing is, I already informed the waiter to get two of the initial order. Putting two and two together...
To this day, I haven’t needed to see a physio thanks to Alex having my back. Being the best mate he is, he copped half of that plate with me. This said plate was actually my original order - the true beef experience and a true beef experience it was. Soft, melt-in-your-mouth eating from start to finish. More tears of soy were shed. However, finishing this meal only hours after the one just before left me feeling really full and sick fully sick.
Returning to Osaka, we called it an “early” night. Charging our batteries for the long day ahead at Universal Studios Japan. Thanks for reading and join me next time for all the thrills and spills.
Don't want it to end? It doesn't have to. Visit Carolyn's post here to continue the Japanese joy.