Second stop on my Kōrien exploration, doing a bit of pub crawling ☺️✨ Walking inside, it was lively with regulars, so first-timers might find it a little intimidating to enter (๑•̀ ₃ •́๑)‼ Well, I'm the type who doesn't mind that sort of thing, so I sat at the counter, started by ordering a 380 yen lemon chuhai, looked at the menu and thought it was a bit pricey??, and just as I was pondering that, the otoshi (appetizer) arrived, so I ordered while nibbling on that ✨ *For reference ✨ ●Tabelog Rating● Unrated (1 review) *As of 2024/10/21 Ordered Menu ■Nikudaikon (Meat & Daikon): Price unknown ■Tsukimi Tororo: Price unknown I was going to order the nikujaga from the large banbanzai platter right in front of me, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't potatoes—it was daikon ✨ Brushing off the mama-san's joke, "Everyone mistook it for that today~", I decided to order it anyway since I was there ✨ Hmm, it has the seasoning of nikujaga, but since it's daikon... it's light ✨ I guess I was still craving that comforting texture and sweetness of potatoes after all ✨✨✨ That said, it had a good volume and was quite filling ✨ And for the tsukimi tororo, you could choose between just the egg yolk or the whole egg, and I had them top it with just the yolk ✨✨ This also had an incredible volume ₍₍ ◝(●˙꒳˙●)◜ ₎₎ It comes seasoned, but feel free to add soy sauce to your liking ✨ So I ate it with that mindset... but hmm, something felt off ✨ Even after adding soy sauce, something was still off... kind of a heavy feeling? I can't quite put my word on it, but it just wasn't quite to my taste... I came in alone, but regulars kept arriving one after another, and by the later hours, it was fully packed ✨ I saw another customer order the "yakisoba" and I was truly shocked by the staggering portion size wwww The pricing is a bit on the higher side, but the portions are massive, so visiting when you're hungry is recommended ✨

Had a drinking party in Kōrien with a local friend for the first time in a while 🍶 It seems many new places have opened up, so we walked all the way around. Many of the places had a closed-off storefront, and in some spots, you couldn't even tell what kind of shop it was. Though we walked around looking to discover something new, nothing really caught our eye 😅 We walked past a place my friend was curious about, but the sign's light was off. Wondering if they were closed, we saw a customer coming out from inside, so we asked what the food was like, and they said, "It's good." Well, figured we wouldn't know unless we went in, so we decided to enter. It's run by a single person, so the food preparation speed is a bit slow, but knowing that in advance, you can just order early so it's not a problem at all! I love sake, so I was curious about their selection, but they mainly focus on Junmai sake with quite a good lineup of brands from Niigata, Akita, Hyogo, and Osaka, making it recommended for sake lovers. (For reference, the Moyorishi in front of the station ticket gates sells "Banshu" and "Zaku", which surprised me with the buyer's choice ❣️) What we had: the 5 items pictured, 4 beers, and 2 sakes for 9,400 yen. Is that standard around here? Whether it's expensive or cheap, I'll leave it up to you to judge after visiting 😁 Drinking in Umeda usually makes it feel expensive, but since the alcohol lineup is good and the food is delicious, I'll definitely drop by again if I get the chance.

+3

Delicious food and a fun mama-san. A place that's easy to visit even alone.