Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I'm going to be spending a night in Osaka soon. I'm guessing I'm going to be too tired to stray too far from the airport/my hotel, but I'll probably be hungry when I get there. Anyone know of any places around there that have vegan options clear enough for someone who doesn't read Japanese to understand? Anything I should be sure to see before continuing on? Thanks.

I lived in Kyoto for a few years and went to Osaka regularly. In Namba Parks (shopping center) there is a great all vegetarian and I think mostly vegan (I was just veg at the time) cafe called Brown Rice Cafe that has the best miso soup, which is really hard to find without fish stock. They have other soups, soba, udon, and rotating lunch menu combos, but the miso soup combo with pickles and all you can eat rice was my favorite and super cheap. I was there until 2006, so it may be gone, but that place was great. They also had awesome matcha and an English menu.

You MUST go to Sora no Niwa ("garden in the sky") which is a tofu restaurant. If you only go to one Japanese restaurant in your life it has to be this one. It's not vegan (or even vegetarian as some dashi use fish) but the staff is familiar with dietary restrictions and will help you choose fish-free food.

Address: Osaka-city, Chūō-ku, Minamikyuho 4-5-6 (大阪市、中央区、南久宝4-5-6)
Close to Honmachi subway station.
Tel: 06-6120-0644

Here's a blog post I wrote after eating there, with pics of some of the food:
http://www.aellearoundtheworld.com/2011 ... iwa-osaka/

ZOMFG. that is so beautiful. ^tears of homesickness^

the gluten-on-stick stuff that you mention is probably fu, but i have never seen fu on a stick before. it looks like tori matsukaze, which is basically ground chicken on a stick, with different toppings "painted on" the same colors as your fu, so maybe it's supposed to be an equivalent? whatever the case, so pretty. I miss pretty food. (here, a buffet served on formica would be too pretty, presentation is not a strong point of Brazilian cuisine....)

ETA: I wish I could recommend something for you to do but I am an exclusively east-Japan kind of girl.

Thanks for the name! How do you write it? It's funny that you have never seen it on a stick before, I had it in at least 3 different places (once in Sendai I think, where it was also in 3 different colors, once in a mountain hut at fukuroda no taki (pic)) so I assumed it was a thing.

And I'm 100% with you on pretty food. Makes eating so much better.

Oooo that looks amazing, thanks! It also looks fancy. Do I have to dress nice or can I wear my post-flight clothes? I'll be packing for warmth, not prettiness.

WHAT! tell me that ain't mochi!!
fu is 麩, and i think that in this case you`re talking namafu (as opposed to the dry nasty crouton-looking normal fu), 生麩

i wish i had been vegan in Japan. I get the feeling I missed out on some good eats!

/offtopic, sorry....

Well, I went there for a business dinner so I was in a suit, but I didn't notice that other patrons were dressed particularly fancy. Maybe not sweatpants, but jeans and a cardigan should be fine.

Hurrah! Is there anything of historical or cultural significance I should see if I have time between the airport and the train station?

I think Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle) and the grounds around it are absolutely beautiful. Might be worth checking out!

Thanks!