13.353 Crab Bun

Cycle 13 – Item 353

24 (Sat) December 2022

Crab Bun

3.0

at Kani Doraku

-Dotonbori, Chuo, Osaka, Japan-

with the Family

Family Holiday in Japan – Winter 2022 (Day 2)

- Day 1 (13.352 “Rice Bowl with Grilled Chicken & Very Soft Scrambled Eggs”)
- Day 2 (13.353 Crab Bun)
- Day 3 (13.354 Mapo Doufu)
- Day 4 (13.355 Tamago)

In Osaka. Our first overseas vacation together in nearly 3 years, previously UAE in 2019 (see 10.301 Fish Harra). The decision to go and the selection of Osaka, based on the criteria of food and shopping, was made 2 days prior to departure. Staying for 3 nights in Shinsaibashi, with memories of my past trip to Osaka in 2014 (after my very first duty travel for WHO) (see 5.146 Shime Saba Hakozushi).

BREAKFAST

MOS Burger is a western-style fast food restaurant chain. Mostly burgers, Japanized to varying degrees (e.g., with teriyaki sauce). Founded 1972 in Japan, now the 2nd largest chain in Japan (after McDonald’s), with over 1,700 locations, as well as restaurants scattered across Asia (1 in Korea).

MOS Burger Shinsaibashi, located 1.5 blocks from the hotel.

DID YOU KNOW: An acronym takes the first letters of a word sequence and makes a new pronounceable word from them – my personal favorite is “SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).” By contrast, a backronym takes the letters of an existing word and creates a new word sequence from them – my personal favorite is “SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion)” (from the James Bond series), which I thought was corny even as an elementary school reader. This often attributes false etymology for a simple word – examples include “tip (to insure promptness)” or “posh (port out, starboard home);” “SOS” doesn’t actually stand for “save or ship/souls,” but was created because the Morse dot-dash sequence was easy to execute and interpret. Another form of backronym is to replace the original words that made the acronym with other ones – such as MOS, originally from “Merchandising Organizing Systems (the founder’s previous company),” later changed to “Mountain Ocean Sun.”

Meh. The meat was kinda dry. The eggs were overcooked. The bread was cold and stuff. I’d been hoping for a breakfast burger like the one at Lotteria, which I still can’t stop thinking about (see 5.147 Breakfast Burger), but not even close.

Anyway, nobody was really interested. W and DJ didn’t even touch theirs.

LUNCH

We walked down to the area surrounding Nanba Station for lunch.

Packed as ever, masks the only evidence of a pandemic.

Maido is a Japanese restaurant. Specializes in set meals of Japanese standards.

Located in a back alley somewhere in the north east quadrant of Nanba Station (no presence on Google Maps that I could find).

We had wandered around in search of something special, but anything we wanted to eat required a reservation, or had too long of a line, or wasn’t open until dinner. Plenty of sushi joints, but we were still somewhat sushied out from lunch yesterday. After about 30 minutes of futility, we were happy to settle on any quiet place with an open table

Not surprisingly, the food was kinda crappy, but made for a convenient lunch – yet better than anything I can get while I’m at work in Korea.

SNACK

Kani Doraku is a Japanese restaurant chain. Specializes in crab.

Located in Dotonbori, near Nanba Station.

On my prior trip to Osaka, I had raved about the crab leg (see generally 5.146 Shime Saba Hakozushi). I wrote: “Way overpriced at JPY 700 per leg, maybe about 2 tablespoons of meat. I shudder to think how much it would’ve cost me had the family been there.” Now JPY 1,000 per leg, they each ate 2, so it cost me JPY 6,000.

Each JPY 500, which seems cheap compared to the crab leg but still kinda pricy for what it is.

This time, I went for the crab bun. The bun itself was soft and steaming hot, great for a cold December afternoon. Inside, minced crab in a very generous meat-to-filler ratio that made it all about the crab. The seasoning I couldn’t quite place, didn’t remind me of anything that I’ve encountered in Japanese cuisine, not sure if I liked it all that much. The bun came with a packet of wasabi mayo, which balanced out the overall flavor profile. Anyway, it’s all about the fun.

Next time, I look forward to sitting down and eating a full meal there.

DINNER

Memsuke is a Japanese restaurant/pub – i.e., izakaya. Offers a wide range of traditional dishes, in small portions, ideal for pairing with booze.

Walking back and forth along the alley bordering the southern side of the hotel, I’d seen the menu for Memsuke, which seemed a perfect place for dinner.