Hakkenden Izakaya, Osaka, Japan
Our 2nd meal of the night at 1am
Kirin on tap
I’m going to try and post everything we ate in chronoligical order. I’m not off to a good start though, as this was our second meal.
By the time we checked into our hostel (J-Hoppers) it was nearly 9pm. We actually had dinner at a chicken yaki tori place famous for it’s chicken, but I’ll post that one later because I am still trying to figure out the name of the izakaya. On the way home to our hostel, I was still hungry despite the feast we had earlier in the night.
Hakkenden would be my first experience of an izakaya in Japan. I walked past Hakkenden initially and didn’t think much of it until I saw a few Japanese business men walk out of it chatting and laughing. Any place with locals in it is a good sign right ?
For those who are unfamiliar with what an izakaya is, it is a type of restaurant which serves small plates of food which is usually consumed with alchoholic beverages. The style of food is similiar to that of tapas and yum cha where the plates are small and shared, but the idea is to order a variety of different dishes.
Complimentary chicken meat balls
Shortly after we sit down we are given a small bowl of marinated chicken meat balls. These were served cold and tasted like the chicken meat balls we can find here in Sydney (or Australia for that matter). Nice and refreshing none the less.
Grilled rice balls (yaki onigiri)
Thick balls of rice are grilled over charcoal until the outside is golden brown and crispy. It’s drizzled with an interesting tasting chilli sauce, it’s almost sour in taste as well. These rice balls were interesting albeit nothing spectacular.
Grilled oysters in butter
Simple but fan-bloody-tastic. Small pieces of oysters were wrapped in foil and grilled in copious amounts of butter and topped with spring onions. The butter was oh so creamy and was the start of many meals where I was beginning to be concerned about my cholesterol levels. My concerns lasted for about 3 seconds when the devil in me suggested that no holiday should have any food restrictions whatsoever. On a side note, I managed do scoff down 6 cheese burgers after a night on the drink in Tokyo.
Grilled mushroom and squid
Can anyone tell me which mushroom this is ? I am having a mind blank at the moment, all I can think of is oyster mushroom. What I love about Japanese grilled food is that the seasoning and marinades can often be quite simple. The squid didn’t have any marinade at all and was just garnished with some chopped spring onion. The mushrooms had a bit of oil or butter smeared across it but that was as much attention it got. Both of these sticks tasted great due retaining it’s natural flavours and juices.
Grilled squid
Plump and juicy with a minor marinade which I can’t to figure out it’s taste or origin. A side of kewpie mayonaise is welcoming, I love the stuff. I go through 2 bottles a month!
Meat balls with egg yolk
The two thick meat balls in a teriyaki-like sauce were stunning. The meat was tender and cooked evenly throughout. The method of eating this was quite common throughout Japan, the egg yolk needs to be mixed together with the meat balls so it acts as a coating and sauce. A bit unusual at first, but now I can’t imagine eating them without the egg yolk.
I Hakkenden felt like a franchise (maybe it is ?) but the food was great. The ambience inside was nice also, with some dim lighting and a small plasma tv playing women’s volleyball that night. My first experience of an izakaya was small in quantity, but it left me wanting more. I have a few more posts with similiar style food in the pipe line, so stay tuned.
Hakkenden Izakaya
(Post-code 553-0003)
Fukushima 7-chome, Fukushima-ku, Osaka-City
Directions :
- Exit Fukushima station and turn left on the colored narrow street before Mister Donuts.
- Continue along on the street for a couple of minutes.
- You will see Hakkenden on your right.
Author
By Howard
We started eatshowandtell in 2008, it was meant to be just a journal of where we ate. The first thing I usually do when I'm looking for a restaurant is check out eatability and the restaurant website. But what is usually missing is pictures of the food, how do I know I'm getting what I expect? This blog hopefully plugs that gap.
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This article was written on 23 Feb 2009, and is filed under Dinner, Japan, Japanese.
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ooh, the meat balls & egg yolk looks really interesting. does the egg cook at all when it’s mixed through? or does it stay runny and yellow?
shez’s last blog post..king crab village
Nice way to have a late night snack. I love the Japanese ceramics.
Arwen from Hoglet K’s last blog post..Plant based diet? Patatas bravas anyone?
Those look like eringi mushrooms (エリンギ), or king oyster mushrooms. They don’t have a very strong flavour, so grilling them is one of the better ways to cook them.
Those oysters look absolutely heavenly, as does the grilled squid.
The grill octopus and mushrooms looks yummy and I wouldn’t mind giving the meatballs and egg yolk a try either
foodie-central’s last blog post..Gozleme @ Birkenhead Point
OOHh soo luuckkyy mmmm they all look soo goodd! Those shrooms look like king brown ones (good old google just informed me they are aka king oyster)
and gw with the 6 cheeseburgers even though they are Jap ones which are tiny hee hee
FFichiban’s last blog post..Boon The Chocolate Experience – Darlinghurst, Sydney
Shez : It stays runny and yellow, it’s kinda slimy in a nice way!
Arwen : Best midnight snack ever. And yes, I found the ceramics to be quite nice everywhere. They don’t cut corners with that stuff.
Janelle : Thanks for the clarification, they indeed were nice when grilled. Might have to try it myself at home.
foodie-central : If/When I found somewhere which serves the meatballs here in Syd I will let you know! I got a feeling Wagaya might or one of the other Izakayas in Syd.
FFichiban : heh the cheese burgers were awesome, a bit smaller than ours but they were fresh.
awesome howie
im hungry
Oh yeah did u go to maccas for the burgers? Cos you should have gotten the teriyaki beef burgers zommgg I want 6 of them right now… mmmm
FFichiban’s last blog post..Pancake Day: Pancakes on the Rocks – Darling Harbour, Sydney (2)
omg! I think I’ve seen that place before. Had a sense of deja vu when I saw the photo of the store front.
The izakaya food looks really good. How was the alcohol?
Also, as with FFichiban, I’d like to know what where you’d gotten the cheese burgers. Had some great ones as Mos and Freshness.
Simon’s last blog post..Paesanella – Gourmet Hamper [2 of 4]
FFichiban & Simon : For the cheese burgers, I went to Maccas. They had the ‘mc value’ range equivalent to here for 120 yen. I also tried the microwave cheeseburgers at the convenience stores and they were pretty good as well! I think mainly because they have a use by date of 2 or 3 days from the time it’s made and packaged.
As with the alchohol, Hakkenden had a limited range of sake and beers. It wasn’t until I hit the izakayas in Tokyo where things got messy with alcohol consumption!
I’m absolutely crazy for Izakaya food. I think it’s impossible to have a dud dish-I’ve sampled so many and never disliked anything!
Sounds like a great place to have a meal at 1am! I kind of a big fan of grilled rice balls, especially when they’re slightly salty on the exterior, and have a surprise filling in the middle.. yum!
Y’s last blog post..Daring Bakers Challenge : Chocolate Valentino Cake
wow, can’t wait to see more food from Japan! has anyone been to a good izakaya in sydney?
Jen’s last blog post..Rockpool Bar & Grill, Melbourne
Lorraine : Agreed, there are so many options for all taste buds you can’t go wrong!
Y : Love the rice balls too. We found alot in convenience stores as well, the non grilled version though.
Jen : I’ve got so many jap posts, I need to stagger them incase people get bored. Apparently Wagaya looks like a pretty popular Izakaya in Haymarket.