Minami

All i have to say when you visit Osaka, if you are looking for a great meal with an upscale feel to it, you have to go to the Swissotel in the Namba area of Osaka where they have numerous and amazing places to eat and every year we go to Japan, we always have a friend from Japan who always takes us to the Restaurants here at the Swissotel and we are so fortunate to be invited to eat at their remarkable restaurants.
This time we were invited to a Teppanyaki Restaurant called Minami and there is nothing better than eating Teppanyaki, especially in Japan. I have been to many other Teppanyaki’s throughout Hawaii and nothing even comes close to the caliber of food and taste that Japan has to offer, and at Minami, it was every bit of amazing and then some.
We were treated to a wonderful course menu that gave us an option of having the Sirloin or Filet Mignon part of the amazing Japanese Beef and me and my other half chose the Sirloin and let me tell you, either choice would have been delightful, but i think the Sirloin was my choice because i just love the marbling on Japanese Beef. Just by looking at this cut of piece makes my mouth water and from then on it was time to start off this course menu with a wonderful appetizer of Wagyu Beef Sashimi and other appetizers. All i can say is that this was so delicious and beautifully presented as most place like this never hold back.
The next course was a beautiful salad that was just too pretty to eat. You have to love the greens from Japan. So beautiful and vibrant and always served with a light dressing, never heavy.
The next course was a Japanese Fish called Suzuki or Sea Bass and was prepared by the Teppanyaki Master himself and sauteed it with Garlic and Butter and also came with Japanese Mushrooms. It’s always fun to watch these Teppanyaki Chef’s in Japan. They aren’t as animated as the American Teppanyaki chef’s here in Hawaii but are very serious and professional at what they do and that’s just fine by me. The Sea Bass was moist, flakey, and so good and any Mushrooms sauteed in butter is sinfully delicious as well.
Next was the Kagoshima Wagyu Beef. All i can say is that your jaw just drops by looking at this beautiful and stunning piece of Beef and watching Master cook it a perfect rare for me had my drool sizzling on the Teppanyaki grill as well. What i love about upscaleTeppanyaki places like this is that they serve three kinds of salt from different regions to compliment your Beef with and Master also makes crispy garlic chips right before your very eyes to serve with the Beef as well. All i can say after eating just one bite of this Kagoshima Beef is that i thought i died and went to heaven because if there is something i yearn and look forward to eating every year i go to Japan, it’s eating Wagyu Beef here because there is nothing else like it. I know for a fact it’s something i can’t eat all the time because it’s so rich but i could care less because i can’t eat meat like this in Hawaii, and even if i do, it’s just not the same.
This Kagoshima Wagyu Beef was ridiculous and all i can say is WOW!!!
During the course of our dinner, we had a bottle of Organic White Wine from France called Merveille and it was perfect with our meal.
Next course was some Bean Sprouts sauteed with the fatty parts of the Japanese Beef and once again, i ain’t no vegeterian, but these Bean Sprouts with that Fatty Flavor of the Japanese Beef was just inspiring and oh so good. They don’t waste anything here my friends and put it to good use.
The next course was the Garlic Fried Rice and all i can say is that i saved my Crispy Garlic Chips to put sprinkle my rice with and all i can say is that there were no Vampires in sight at all during this spectacular meal.
The meal ended with a very light dessert and all i can say is that Teppanyaki Master was masterful at what he did and our female server was on it and her English was amazing as well. Just goes to show you that Swissotel is always first class in all that they do.
As for the price tag for this meal, all i can say is that it is definitely not cheap and what do you expect at a place like this. This was a meal for the ages, and we thank the Momotani Family for inviting us to this phenomenal meal that left me in a daze.