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:

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!

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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!