One of the best things about staying at the Intercontinental Osaka is the fact that the concierge is very professional and knows the lay of the land a lot! Ms. Buddha and I were wondering what to have for dinner so just thought to approach the concierge. There were a lot of places not opened during Sunday – so options were not that great – but she still managed to recommend Ginpei (which although in Osaka Grand Front – it was still great) – also, so had the cutest friend on her desk.
Ginpei is mainly a fish restaurant, and when we entered, they were quite confused because we didn’t speak Japanese and they didn’t speak English, with a bit of improvised sign language – we managed to order the set menu.
The appetizers were 5 different items using a variety of fish – the highlight was the whitebait that were used to make the sushi. The fish cakes were also very nice – Ms. Buddha quite like the squid, but I’m not the biggest fan of squid, so couldn’t say much of it.
Next that came was sashimi – personally, if you’ve ever had proper sashimi in Japan, nothing else, even in Hong Kong can match – even when you go to the fanciest of places. The fish were delicious and I ended up just having a little bit of wasabi with each piece without the soy. You can taste the freshness in each slice – excellent.
Next was the crab salad with avacado – the crab meat was very sweet and avacado is also something wonderful to have – this is one of those salads where freshness is critical.
Next is a thing that everyone who knows my background of being an Hongkie that grew up in Australia is surprised – I’ve heard “Oh, you eat fish heads” so many times – but the fact of the matter is – I love fish heads – I pretty much dislike most of a cooked fish apart from the fish head – the reason is that the fish head has so many different textures – many love the cheeks – but the area behind the eyes tops it for me. The grilled head was delicious – and even Ms. Buddha loved it – although mainly taking the more generic parts.
To go with they head, there were some clams – the freshness was there and the texture was very nice – taste wise – just wasn’t my kind of thing.
Next was the tempura dish – I am a big fan of proper Japanese tempura because they keep things simple and the focus is adding an additional texture to something where freshness is critical. Add a small amount of salt to pair very nicely with the prawn as well!
Next was the rice dish, which is cooked with fish – I disclose here that I LOVE Japanese rice, I can eat them on it’s own and when it comes with a little bit of flavour – it just makes me smile! The flavour of the fish complimented the rice to perfection – I also always love the fact that Japanese set courses tends to finish with a simple rice dish because it is like a journey of life where at the end of the day – the simpliest things makes you so happy.
They say that dessert is important because it informs your body that you’re suppose to start the digestion process. It was paired with some simple lime gelato and really nice grapes. Perfect end for the dinner and also really good recommendation from the concierge. (Which is apparently quite famous for the Intercontinental chain).
Buddha Explores 