Food . Fun . Favorites
"Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that's okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind." -- Anthony Bourdain
Harbour City is a mall, but Hiyama doesn’t feel like a mall restaurant. It’s on the third floor of Ocean Terminal. When you enter, you can instantly feel you’re being transported from the mall. Where you end up is the dining area where you have a clear view across the water to Hong Kong Island....
A grilled seafood spot with one difference from what you might not expect — they take the seafood away to a prep station rather than preparing it table side. There are portable stoves at the bar, but I think it’s more for hot pot cooking. Sorta a disappointment. However, we didn’t need to have smoke...
Sushiro Sha Tin (Wo Che) One of the few chains I’m always happy to return to. This may have been my fifth time before deciding to write about it. This place does conveyor belt sushi at a price point that’s hard to argue with, and the quality has been consistent every time I’ve been. The...
When the food gets delivered to your table via a spaceship-shaped capsule on a rail, you’d be forgiven for not taking the place too seriously. I didn’t at first. But once the meat hit the grill I changed my mind pretty quickly. The setup is simple. You order from your phone, the food comes to...
We walked in without a reservation, which I wouldn’t recommend. The host had to check her book pretty carefully before finding us a spot, and I’m glad she did. We ended up in a small room overlooking the interior entrance, not the river view some of the other rooms offer, but it had a quiet,...
We got reservations here and took the train out from Osaka. The place was easy to find. Upon entering, we immediately noticed only 10 counter seats arranged around a single teppan grill. The setup felt immediately familiar — like sitting at a sushi bar, except instead of watching a chef work through fish, you’re watching...
This felt less like a traditional exhibit and more like walking through a park that just happened to come alive at night. You moved through it at your own pace, following paths that opened up into different sections of the garden, each one holding its own installation. It was not a single destination but a...
Hozenji Yokocho was a nice contrast to the Dotonbori crowds just around the corner. Quieter, more traditional feeling. The alley itself has that worn, old Osaka character to it — stone lanterns, moss-covered statues, the kind of narrow path that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back a few decades. Wabi Sabi fit right into...