Jiyuken (自由軒) – 大阪名物 カレライス

大阪名物　自由軒の名物カレー

This is one of Osaka’s famous foods => カレライス (curry rice).

The raw egg looks gross but my hubby loved this dish! The rice is served piping hot so if you stir the egg into the rice quickly, it will be semi-cooked but will still be a little sticky. There are tiny bits of meat in the rice which are not very obvious if you don’t try to look for them between the rice grains so most of the time it feels like you are just eating plain curry rice with a raw egg.

There were sounds of “美味しい!!” (oishii) from the various Japanese customers seated around me but I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as they were. Guess it’s because I’ve eaten better curry rice in the South East Asia region?

Anyway, don’t let me put you off from trying….. if you feel adventurous enough, go ahead and order this dish, then draw your own conclusion.

More information can be found at their website (in Japanese) – http://www.jiyuken.co.jp/curry/index.html

I patronized their outlet at Tenpozan Marketplace.

Address:
〒552-0022
大阪市港区海岸通1
天保山マーケットプレース2F
「なにわ食いしんぼ横丁」内
(2F Tenpozan Marketplace – inside Naniwa Kuishinbo Yokocho, a food theme park)

Opening Hours: 11:00〜20:00
Tel: 06-6576-5821

Access:
地下鉄中央線大阪港駅徒歩5分
Take the Osaka Subway Chuo Line to Osakako station. It’s a 5min walk from there.

Kani Doraku (かに道楽) – Crab Kaiseki meal in Osaka

Whilst walking around the Dotonbori (道頓堀) area, you can’t possibly miss this giant mechanical crab hanging above the Kani Doraku restaurant (かに道楽) and waving its claws at you! This is one of the famous pop icons of Osaka!

There are several branches of this restaurant at Dotonbori (道頓堀) and we decided to dine at the main branch.

Meals are served kaiseki style (my favourite but it’s painful on the wallet too!). Based on the restaurant name and that giant crustacean hanging outside, I guess I don’t need to tell you what this restaurant specializes in! ;p

If you are planning to dine here, it is cheaper to have lunch instead of dinner as the dinner courses can cost 2 to 3 times more than the price of lunch!

This was part of our scrumptious crab kaiseki meal!! (was too engrossed in the meal and didn’t take any other pictures…haha)

From the crab chawanmushi (steamed egg) to the grilled crab claws, every single dish was good!!

You can check out their Menu (in Japanese only) to see what are the lunch/dinner courses available.

Address:
Kani Doraku (かに道楽)
〒542-0071
大阪府大阪市中央区道頓堀1-6-18
電話番号 06-6211-8975
営業時間 11:00～23:00 daily (last order 22:00)

Getting there by train:
地下鉄各線、JR、近鉄難波駅より徒歩5分、戎橋南詰
5min walk from subway and JR Namba station.