Nagahori izakaya, Osaka

Of all the Michelin-starred restaurants we tried in Japan, Nagahori was unique in that it felt like a casual neighborhood spot with regulars enjoying their dinners.  It’s a long, narrow restaurant that’s all counter seating, with a few chefs and a couple of servers distributing plates and pouring sake.

We once again experienced the wonder of Japanese hospitality (omotenashi) as the chef-owner, Nakamura-san, noticed our taxi arriving and rushed out of the restaurant to greet us (I guess it was fairly obvious who we were, since everyone else there was Japanese!).  He welcomed us warmly and seated us in front of his station, which was helpful since he spoke English well and created an omakase tasting for us.

This proved helpful as the menu was a beautifully handwritten mystery to our Google Translate app.

Nakamura-san presented us with a parade of small dishes, accompanied by sake that he chose for us – as usual, it was decanted from the large 1.8L bottles into small carafes, so that courses could be paired with different sakes.

Among his selections:

Chilled marinated eggplant – one of my favorites

Selection of 7 sashimi, including tiny, sweet “white ebi” in the center. Different customers received different sashimi, perhaps according to the chef’s knowledge of their preferences.

Crab croquette – the flavor reminded me of Maryland crab cakes

Salad with Parmesan cheese and chicken – very homey and fresh, not at all what I’ve had expected at an izakaya, but much appreciated after so many restaurant meals

Anago, tofu, and peas layered and fried

Beef, bamboo shoot, and asparagus “shabu shabu”

Nakamura-san inquired whether we were full at this point, and we requested just one last dish.  He chose the chicken “hamburger” made with neck meat and topped with soy sauce and an egg yolk.  It was a tasty example of yoshoku – a Japanese take on a Western dish.