Marthe Birthday Dinner: Taian ***

We’ve made it a bit of a tradition to go to michelin starrred restaurants on our birthdays. This time, we made reservations for Taian, a three-starred grill restaurant in Osaka. The first time we had three starred dinner (we usually go for lunch), so we were very excited! There was a heavy Typhoon in Japan that evening, but somehow in Osaka it was fantastic weather :)

Taian is a tiny, counter-style grill restaurant in the center of Osaka. The atmosphere is very very Osaka, warm and open, not stiff or fancy at all! Actually, we felt a bit overdressed  haha. The food was amazing, Japanese dishes made on the grill you can see when you peek over the counter:

DSC03182

Here are some impressions of the food!

Beautifully made and very tasty: Potato soup with fish, a grilled fish with kiku flower petals and fresh wasabi, fish eggs, tasty misobeans and mushrooms with roasted pine nuts and seeds. Very fresh and really delicious!

DSC03166

 

Next was a very nice soup of turtle broth and the fantastic matsutake mushrooms (sooo tasty!), with a dumpling floating in the middle.

DSC03167

Then there was the sashimi. The best we’ve eaten in Japan! Especially the grilled bonito. Wow!

DSC03168

The main dish was grilled anago (sea eel) and red wine braised pork ribs. It was as delicious as it looks!

DSC03170

Next was a sweetfish in a deep fried crust, and the fish was filled with eggs :0

DSC03174

Then, a flower petal soup with uni (sea urchin). I’m usually not a fan of sea urchin but this one was delicious.

DSC03176

 

As is tradition in Japan, you end your meal with rice, miso soup and vegetables. The rice was filled with chestnuts, very nice!

DSC03181

But wait! Dessert of fruits, with a little bit of rum.

DSC03185

The best Japanese dishes we’ve eaten in our 3 years in Japan!! It’s always such an experience to go to places where the creativity and skill of the chef are so high. But what struck me the most was the real Osaka atmosphere the restaurant had. If you want to taste really good Japanese food in a very relaxed atmosphere, this is really the place to go. Amazing!