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January 12, 2018

Kobe

FEAST

This place really looked like a diner with its long counter and bar stools; the front of the store had a station for making and selling steamed buns and dumplings.

Diner in Chinatown

Yeah, so I'm not a big fan of steamed pork buns because I usually find the bun is dry and really filling.  And unfortunately, that's how I felt about this one.  The filling was also kind of bland, the bitter mustard helping only a little bit.

Pork bun:

Whole Sauteed Prawns

Next up was an order of ham fried rice served with egg drop soup.  Like the pork bun, unfortunately, this dish was bland and rather nondescript.  I guess the soup was OK.  The rice tasted old and didn't separate nicely when you picked through it.

Ham fried rice w/egg drop soup:

Whole Sauteed Prawns

This place batted three for three as the shumai I ordered, and I did so because of the front of the store selling them to walkers by, were on the tasteless side.  Hey, I figure I need to hit a joint like this every now and again to keep everything else in perspective.

Shrimp, chicken, pork shumai:

Whole Sauteed Prawns

Osaka

January 12, 2018

Once I got back to Osaka, I headed to the popular Namba district in Downtown.  The place is full of shopping and restaurants, so I thought I'd check it out.  And I ended up in my very first "conveyor belt" sushi joint.  There might be an official name for them, but I don't know what it is.

Three chefs were in the middle of the track prepping and serving the sushi.  Even with the items not prepared to order, at just over a dollar per piece for most of the items, it's difficult not to like a place like this for a quick lunch or dinner.  Of course, I wonder "how fatty can fatty tuna be when you only charge a dollar per piece?"

Sushi conveyor belt

Various sushi:

Whole Sauteed Prawns
Whole Sauteed Prawns
Whole Sauteed Prawns
Whole Sauteed Prawns

Unagi (fresh water eel)

Broiled fatty salmon

Lean tuna

Raw ebi

Whole Sauteed Prawns
Whole Sauteed Prawns
Whole Sauteed Prawns
Whole Sauteed Prawns

Horse mackerel

Tuna diaphragm

Fatty marlin

Fatty tuna

Steamed rice w/egg & pickled veggies:

Whole Sauteed Prawns

Shitake (portabello) mushrooms & liver:

Whole Sauteed Prawns

Various skewers:

Whole Sauteed Prawns

After the tasty conveyor-belt sushi, I headed back to my hotel for a bit, then took a walk down to the Tenjinbashi Market for dinner at Sumibi Yakitori, or whatever the name of that mom-and-pop joint is from last night.  I told them I'd show up last night, and Kiyotaka, the regular customer whom I met said he'd do the same.

It turned out to be another fun evening, even if Mr. Makoro was sober tonight.

Sumibi Yakitori at Tenjinbashi Market

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