Ah yes, the Japan posts start…now! First stop? About 5 days in Osaka. I love Osaka. I love Osaka more than Tokyo. The flight to Japan is always longer than the one back home and I didn’t get much sleep on this flight. Then, we had to navigate our way to the train to take us into the the city center of Osaka. The train ride was fine, we got good seats but it was like another nearly 2 hours to get there!
Luckily for us, our hotel in Osaka runs a shuttle bus from Osaka Station to the hotel. We were able to find the Shuttle bus stop okay, actually a few hotels run shuttle buses so that was convenient! What I found amusing was that our bus ran constantly and was full of both hotel and non-hotel patrons, jump on and you get a free ride to the hotel or to Osaka Station. Our hotel was not located in a lively area so the bus was nice to take to Osaka Station to begin our daily journeys.
Anyway, we got to the hotel and checked in. Threw down our bags and then were hungry. We decided to take the hotel bus back to Osaka Station, ha! Hakata Ikkousha is located right in front of our bus stop, we did not want to go searching for another place at this point. We were sold.
The ticket machine to order! There was a bit of instructions but we still managed to muck it up. I didn’t realize you had to put your money in first and then order…so we ordered an extra bowl of ramen by accident. Luckily one of the workers came out and clarified everything and refunded us! Whew!
This was my ramen, I saw black oil in the picture of the vending machine and went for it. Figured it was black garlic oil. Was it? I don’t even remember so I can’t tell you. How was the ramen? Good, not great. Hit the spot after long hours of travel.
Gotta always get a shot of the egg. How does this look to you? To me, I prefer the yolk to be softer and creamier so this was a bit overcooked for my taste.
Hmm, this was okay. Pretty salty but what do you expect with mentaiko??
Gyoza was good. I always love gyoza and the did it just fine! Was I itching to return back to this restaurant? Not really, no repeat visits this trip. We had plenty of repeat trips to Ichiran (let’s not go there, unless I post about it).
Yay, since I didn’t get to go to Japan since last February, I just go vicariously.devouring posts!
Yes! My posts may not be detailed but they will be something! Hahaha
great start!
Agree!
Hi Jenny, I love to read about your adventures and love your food posts. Where did you stay when you were in this part of Osaka? The reason I’m asking is because we stayed at the Westin Osaka last summer, and they had a shuttle that dropped off right in front of this ramen shop that you’ve written about. We are going to Osaka again this summer and I’m looking for other places to stay where the hotel has a shuttle to Osaka Station. Thanks!
Aloha Gayle! Thanks for commenting and reading! We stayed at Rihga! Can never get that spelling right…but here’s the link to their website!
https://www.rihga.com/osaka
How is the Westin by the way? Have a great time in Osaka!
Right looks nice! I’m going to research it more. The Westin was nice too – the breakfast was awesome. It’s good to have a shuttle service from the hotel to the train station.
We ate at this ramen shop also. My kids loved the gyoza but the ramen was just ‘ok’. Also, it smelled like sewage in front of the restaurant, don’t you think?
We’re going in August when it’s super hot and muggy.
Oh good! I did like my room at the hotel and the bathroom was crazy spacious! Oh yes you’re right about the sewage smell! We practically ran into the station when we got off the shuttle.
Can’t believe you’re gonna go in August! I always try to avoid Asia in summer cause it’s so hot. I hope it’s not too hot when you’re there! I’ll send good vibes lol.