A surprise discovery upon our arrival in Osaka, Imaiya restaurant turned out to be a wonderful accident, and a great start to our adventures. Learning that none of the staff could converse in english, and that there was only a single english menu only reaffirmed that it wasn't a tourist trap. And the rest of the patrons, no doubt locals, must also be in love with the
special liver (
above) like us! Imagine the largest chicken livers, charcoal grilled lovingly into a rich foie gras-like texture & flavour...
Located in a side lane near Shinsaibashi shopping lane, perhaps it was the inviting frontage that caught us. Inside, some patrons were just smoking at their tables, which may not be noticeable considering the grilled menu in an air-con environment.
This dish,
miso-flavoured ground chicken meat on rice, was served with a raw egg yolk on the side. Meant to be mixed into the rice, the size & voluptuousness of the egg was another clue that the particular type of chicken specially used in this restaurant was some super Japanese breed. The bottom half of the image was (
if I remember correctly) a
sake marinated chicken salad, done medium to medium rare. This meal really changed the way we viewed chicken in cuisines.
One would never guess that this dish was called
meatball! & again with the super egg yolk! The yolk was almost 6cm wide, with a firmness of the freshest eggs.
Talk about saving the best for last, you can't see any pics of chicken wings here cos it seduced our palates before we could take any photos.. even though this image was our 2nd meal there! Poetic perhaps that we had our 1st & last dinners in Japan at the same restaurant.
The
chicken wing had an amazing tightness/crunchiness, yet was in no way overcooked. Seemed like a whole new breed of poultry! From the first bite the sweetest
juice bursts forth, escaping from the crisped, & really thin golden skin. Seriously savoured by 5pf, only expertly
cleaned bones were left. On our 2nd visit, we tried their version of the Italian
chicken risotto. What I can say is that it simply lives up to the finesse of Japanese cuisines.
Imaiya, highly recommended!
So how does one choose among famous ramen restaurants (with considerable heritage) placed side-by-side? Well, since all of their interiors had similar seating capacity, we chose the one with the most seats placed outside for the queue, and with the fewest types of ramen offered on the menu.
The casual dining, bright interiors and youthful atmosphere creates an unlikely ambience for a gourmand's epiphany. Because that's what the soyu ramen meant to us. It totally threw out our past definitions of that dish, or any definitions that our imagination could ever conjure! The fragrance and deliciousness was addictive, complete with a tasty soft-centred egg done perfectly. The noodle itself had a distinctive character, evidently a reflection of the artisanal hands behind its creation. It was pure delight, pure umami!
