16 hours in Osaka: Kanazawa in Osaka

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We have 1 night in Osaka - a city I hadn't been to since 1998 - and need a place to eat. Fergie has promised to buy me dinner, but surprisingly didn't have any suggestions on the venue. Well... the couple of places I've been wanting to hit in Osaka for years are either booked out for the evening or not open. I turned to the ever-trusty Tabelog and did a quick search. Much to my surprise, I was able to book seats at the counter for the four of us with two days' notice at a place with Tabelog Bronze Award and a Michelin star.

The second seating on a Sunday night at Higashichaya Nakamura (東茶屋 なかむら) finds us seated next to three friends of the chef who had brought their own bottles of wine. I had never heard of the place until two days ago, so I didn't have much expectations other than the approval and recognitions it had received. Besides, I wasn't the one paying for the meal, anyway...

Chef Nakamura Manabu (中村学) hails from Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県), known for their great produce around Kanazawa (金沢) and Noto Peninsula (能登半島). Having trained in a number of estasblishments with Michelin stars in Kansai, he is known for bringing most of the seafood ingredients from his home region. Displayed prominently behind him tonight was a bottle collecting charity donations for the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake on January 1st of 2024.

Appetizer: lotus root, Japanese horsehair crab, sea urchin (先付: 蓮根 毛蟹 雲丹) - this was a pretty presentation on a large lotus leaf, which was sprayed with some water to create that look with summer rain drops on the leaves.

Under the lotus flower petal - which we were reminded not to eat - was a slice of lotus root, a pile of meat from Japanese horsehair crab, along with some tongues of Hokkaido sea urchin, and sudachi (酢橘) gelée (煮凝り). We also had a big chunk of myoga (茗荷), some peas, and a bunch of taro stem (芋茎) sections all bringing their crunchy textures. A great combination of textures and a good contrast of sweet seafood with the acidity from the gelée. A chilled first dish makes for a great start on a hot summer night, and honestly... with ingredients like sea urchin and crab, it's kinda tough not to like.

Sashimi: Stonefish (お造り: オコゼ) - this is a fish I've only had once before, I believe... maybe because this devil singer (鬼虎魚) has venomous spines that could kill. Besides the fillet that delivers some nice bite, I also really enjoyed its springy skin, jelly-like liver, the different textures of its stomach, and roe.

Besides the traditional soy sauce, it was also suggested we dip different bits into this sauce.

At this time we saw Nakamura-san start shaving the katsuobushi (鰹節), so we knew a bowl of dashi was coming our way.

Bowl: swordfish largehead hairtail, corn tofu, asparagus (椀物：太刀魚 玉蜀黍豆腐 アスパラガス) - this was introduced as "swordfish" but I think they got it confused with "cutlassfish", which this is sometimes called. Swordfish is an entirely different fish altogether.

Anyway, the ichiban dashi (一番出汁) was very nice and clean, with beautifully shredded myoga adding aromatics. The piece of grilled hairtail was surprisingly well-seasoned for something that features in soup. We've also got some spears of wild asparagus, and slices of tiny green yuzu. I don't think I was supposed to eat the yuzu, but as I didn't know what it was at the time... Very nice and comforting dish.

Fried dish: deep-fried abalone, asparagus, broad beans (揚物：鮑の生揚げ　アスパラガス 一寸豆) - the batter on the abalone was thin but very crunchy, and the abalone itself was very springy. Not surprisingly the abalone was dressed in liver soy sauce (肝醤油), but I was surprised that I didn't taste the horseradish (山わさび) that was shaved on top, but maybe because it had been marinated in white wine. Nakamura-san did say that it was just for the fragrance. We've also got lightly-battered asparagus, and broad beans that come in big size called "one inch beans (一寸豆)".

Palate-cleanser: watershield, okra, scallop, and squid (お口直し: 蓴菜 オクラ 帆立　赤烏賊) - really refreshing palate-cleanser with okra and watershield (蓴菜) from Akita (秋田), and both are slippery on the tongue.

To add more slippery elements into the mix we have strips of raw neon flying squid (赤烏賊) from Kanazawa (金沢) as well as lightly-seared (焼き霜) scallop. The use of nori added a nice amount of umami. So, so nice right now.

Next we see Nakamura-san putting fish on the grill with some bamboo leaves...

Grilled dish: tilefish grilled on bamboo leaves (焼物：白甘鯛の笹焼) - I don't think I can ever get tired of the crispy scales on the tilefish, which stand up thanks to the hot oil being poured on top. The fish was nicely seasoned with miso.

Now we get a bowl with a leaf on top...

Soba with baby sweetfish (稚鮎のお蕎麦) - I was so, sooo happy to be eating deep-fried baby sweetfish. It's soooo fresh in this season. I had to move aside a whole pile of perilla leaf chiffonade and perilla flowers to see the fishies, along with a pile of finely-grated horseradish.

I was so, sooo happy. The horseradish naturally worked well together with the soba sauce (蕎麦つゆ).

We were a little puzzled when Nakamura-san brought out a tray of raw cockles (鳥貝). It's a little late in the meal to have more sashimi, no? As chefs often do, he slapped his hand on top of the cockle to let us see the muscle spasm of the shellfish - a sign of the freshness.

Nevertheless, a plate of cut-up cockle from Nanao (七尾) around the Noto Peninsula was placed in front of us. But this was not the whole story...

(鳥貝のしゃぶしゃぶ) - it's shabu-shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ) with cockles! We've got a few sheets of nori on top with a dab of wasabi, then eggplant and mozuku (モズク) in the pot. We were meant to swish the slices in the bubbling pot for 5 to 10 seconds, and I must say that next to the umami of the seaweed, the cockles tasted extra sweet.

The rice comes next, and we were shown the donabe (土鍋) with the Koshihikari (コシヒカリ) rice from Ishikawa.

We have a full complement of goodies to go with our rice, and this made me think of my dinner at Kiyama (木山) in Kyoto.

Squid with mentaiko (烏賊明太)

Dried sardine fry (縮緬雑魚) - I love, love these dried sardine fry!!!

Grilled eel (鰻蒲焼) - the eel from Kagoshima (鹿児島) was nicely-grilled with plenty of sauce.

TKG - the bowl of rice came with shaved katsuobushi, and Nakamura-san asked which of us wanted the raw egg yolk on top. I would always, always say "YES" to tamago kake gohan (卵掛けご飯), nowadays commonly known as "TKG". And it gets even better when there's sardine fry in the mix, just like it was done at Kiyama.

This was so, sooooo tasty. Even the guy next to me - who loudly proclaimed he was too full to have rice - asked for extra serving just to have TKG.

Dessert (デザート) - yogurt ice cream with mango, pineapple, Shine muscat, cherry, and grape gelée. Really nice and refreshing.

While the three Japanese gentlemen tasted through a large number of bottles of wine with the chef and had serious discussions about them, Fergie and I were cheap and decided to ask for sake. As is the case with many restaurants in Japan, they do not offer a list of Nihonshu for clients to choose from. Rather, it's all based on seasonal recommendations of the house.

The first bottle presented to us was very special. Not because it was the best sake around, but the story behind the sake. It was brewed by the team from Suzuki Brewery (鈴木酒造) whose brewery in Namie-cho (浪江町) in Fukushima Prefecture (福島県) collapsed during the earthquake in 2011. Everyone evacuated and ended up taking over the Toyo Brewery (東洋酒造) of Nagai (長井市) in Yamagata Prefecture (山形県). This sake is brewed by the people who have been displaced and can no longer return home, using a local rice varietal named Sawanohana (さわのはな) long-beloved by locals in Nagai. It is sold each year on March 11, the anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake. And the current release now raises funds for the Noto Peninsula earthquake.

Suzuki Shuzou Nagai Kura Junmai Ginjo Yomigaeru (鈴木酒造 長井蔵 純米吟醸 甦る), R6BY - seimaibuai of 55%. Sweet on the palate, but the finish was long and spicy.

Haneya Junmai Ginjo Hattannishiki Namashu (羽根屋 純米吟醸 八反錦 生酒), 2025 - seimaibuai of 60%. This was much nicer, round on the palate and also a bit sweeter.

Yamakawa Mitsuo Natsu (山川光男 なつ), 2025 - seimaibuai of 50%. There was a lot more character and depth on the palate here, and not as sweet.

Halfway through dinner I jokingly announced that I was patting myself on the back for picking this restaurant. Well... it WAS a very good meal, and the quality of the ingredients was very high. We also noticed that there was no meat featured tonight... AT ALL. I know the chef is fond of the seafood from Kanazawa and Ishikawa in general, but this was a little unusual for me. Anyway, we were stuffed but very happy, and I'd be more than happy to come back on future visits.