Much as I love to devour anything Japanese (as readers of my blog, all three of you, might remember),
I’m sad to say that most of the Japanese fare I get, especially those in the town areas, have been underwhelming, to say the least. Priced higher than the fare you get in neighbourhood malls but not as exhorbitantly as the authentic fine-dining Japanese restaurants, the quality of the foods have also been somewhat middling.
Osaka Town, located at the basement of Raffles City Shopping Centre at City Hall MRT
station, is one of them.
I had the Hayashi Omu Rice, which was an omelette wrapping fried rice and beef
and topped with onion gravy. The initial tasting of the dish was delightful. The omelette
was fragrant, the rice was well-done with just the right texture, the beef was soft and chewy
and the gravy was thick and intense. After a while, though, the general gastronomic oomph
of the combination started to become overwhelming and the gravy left a distinctly
salty (and cheap-tasting) aftertaste.
A friend of mine had the chicken cutlet curry omu rice (which the main ingredients
for should be apparent) and it was a mixed bag of reactions. The curry had a
disconcerting sour tinge but the taste was surprisingly still strong and delicious.
The chicken was on the bland side and oily but the batter was light and crispy.
The bowls of soup that came along with our meals were so nondescript
and lacking in a single strong flavour (although it has a strong Campbell feel)
that we had to ask the waitress what they were and, even after being informed that
we were drinking mushroom soup, we still had trouble confirming it.
Another friend who went with me had the butter scallops, miso soup and
a bowl of rice. The butter scallops were a tad hard but tasted decent
(perhaps by virtue of the butter?) and the black fungus that garnished it
went very well with the sauce that drenched the dish. The miso soup,
like most of the gravies for the other dishes, were too salty for our tastes.
Still, despite the fluctuating standards of the food, the service at the outlet
was top-par and all the personnel who served us were friendly and knowledgeable
about their products. While the food might be slightly hit-or-miss, the portions
were definitely filling (so much so that none of us could finish our meals) and, for
the price that each of us paid (slightly over $12), it was pretty worth it.
Osaka Town definitely won’t set the Japanese cuisine world on fire but it’s
a decent outing for those looking for some grub in expensive City Hall.
Osaka Castle
