Cat-Themed Cafe in Osaka (Nakazakicho)

Ah, cats. If you can’t tell how much I’ve written about them on this blog already, then let me tell you that this girl loves them. (They don’t exactly love me back though, but story of my life, right?) And I can tell that a lot of you love them as well!

I wrote about this cafe eons back, but I want to make sure I properly archive it here on this blog for the future. Because who knows? This is definitely my dream cafe, and definitely a concept I would love to be an owner of someday. If only I had the cash… sigh.

Anyway, I came across this cafe while randomly strolling and looking for a place to rest.

It is tucked into a neighborhood just northeast of Umeda Station. It’s completely walkable from that area if you are able, and many young folks who visit this neighborhood filled with cafes and artisan craft stores actually do take the leisurely stroll. Otherwise, many people also take the Tanimachi Line towards Dainichi Station just one stop to “Nakazakicho Station”.

It doesn’t really matter what exit you take, but most of the cafes are lined north of the station.

Though I believe the scenic route is around exit 1 & 2. One of them takes you south down a shopping street - the wrong side, but also the correct side if you are looking for a delicious Malaysian noodle restaurant and a few other cheap & popular eats in the area. There’s also a place that sells deer curry rice very close to the exit, if that fancies you. Definitely worth exploring, and I definitely will write about that Malay restaurant someday - but that’s not our destination today.

Today I want to take you to Tea Room Uriel, a cat-themed cafe with all things cats… but has no cats.

If you love cats and love being in a space that feels like your grandma’s living room, but is highly allergic to cats - this might be the place just for you!

And also great for people who love tea with dry fruits, tea snacks or maybe need a place for lunch - this place is amazing for that too.

Look at that exterior with the cats! I guess I lied when I said there were no cats. Just… you know, no fluffy ones. Ones that make people allergic. Let’s head inside!

I don’t know about you, but this definitely looks (it absolutely was) cosy!

There is a second floor sitting area if the first floor is full, though it really isn’t a very big cafe. I’m not sure how popular it is as it is tucked away from the main streets of the neighborhood where most people are, but when I was there around 2pm on a weekday, most of the seats were occupied (with social distancing in mind, so not all the seats were packed). But seeing how this neighborhood is generally a popular hangout spot, I wouldn’t bet on it being without a queue on weekends.

But if you are in the area, definitely see if you can snag a spot to relax!

Of Fruit Teas & Cookies

Well now of course, let’s talk food. As I briefly mentioned before, this cafe serves lunch sets and tea sets.

I didn’t partake in the lunch set, but the gentleman enjoying the cafe by himself next to me did. His order looked like a set with a few selected small dishes accompanied by rice, like a bento. It looked pretty delightful and healthy. I also saw some ladies order omelet rice. I wouldn’t say the selections are vast, but if you do want to fill your tummy, it is possible.

Otherwise, if you are looking for an afternoon tea snack or just some drinks, the cafe offers some ordinary cafe drinks like coffee and lattes. But I think the selling point here is their fruits tea.

Choose a base tea when you order (mostly black & green teas), and add a selection of 3 fruits/herbs into the tea.

Each box below tells you how much many pieces of each item you can take to put in your teas. As you can see, they have a pretty good selection of fruits, and even floral notes too!

If you fancy a snack, you can also order your drink with some cookies:

Once you finish your order at the counter and made your selection, give the cookies and fruits back to the servers. Take a seat anywhere in the cafe and wait. They will delivery your tea to you and instruct you on how best to prepare your tea.

The cat cover underneath is your teapot. You have to fill the water yourself, and the water station is nearby. I really like this system, because even though they don’t mention it as the most ideal way to enjoy your tea, I personally like to refill my pot. The dry fruits and base tea had so much flavour that it would have been a waste not to go for seconds!

So now, just enjoy your tea, the atmosphere and your company (if any).

Here’s a couple more photos of the decor before we go:

I absolutely adore this angel wings cup. It’s so beautiful.

I love this hanging light too. The vibe is perfect for this kind of thing.

Anyway, let me know if you’ve been to this cafe and tell me your experience with it in the comments below! Until next time!

Hong Kong Style Cafe Food in Osaka (港式茶餐廳 - 大阪)

If you know me, then you know that I am Cantonese and I am always hunting for a taste of home in the land of the rising sun. I’ve done mini rants about how “bad” Chinese food here in Japan, but I think recently there has been a bit of a surge in Cantonese food filling the void.

In Namba, Sweets Dynasty has made it into the department store of Takashimaya. I tried this restaurant when I was in Tokyo when they had the Pokémon bubble tea (just before the height of the bubble tea phase). It has some decent small bites, drinks and congee to satisfy a craving but still overall lacking.

But to be fair, it is suppose to be a SWEETS shop... so maybe their sweets are better?

Anyway, today I just want to talk about Hong Kong Style Cafes in Osaka! I actually have talked about this place before in a previous blog ranting about the lack of Cantonese food, but I want to do a proper review of one particular place...

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香港軽食 Hong Kong Keshyoku

These photos I have are of their old location by Kujo, but they have now since moved to their new location in Nipponbashi, very close to the Sakaisuji subway exit! It's much more convenient now!!!

The restaurant in the back. Take the tiny little entryway on the right of the picture to head inside.

Order your food at the cash register, pay and then take a seat. The food will be delivered to you at your table if you're eating in. Once you're done, just leave your plates & things at the table and leave. Very simple kind of place. Typical HK Style Cafe setup. Haha.

The first time I went, I tried a dim sum dish, milk tea and their egg tarts.

I would pass on the dim sum, but their drinks are very on point. Definitely get a drink there!

Their egg tart uses a cookie crust and not the puff pastry crust, which is actually the more traditional Hong Kong style egg tarts (these days most bakeries use the puff pastry crust)... but they also add sugar crystals on top for added crisp, and I find it a bit unusual. It's not bad though!

My second visit, I decided to try their BBQ Pork with rice. And a milk tea, of course.

Guys, let me tell you... this is the best BBQ Pork I've had in awhile. And I've been looking. I tried a couple of places in Kobe, but a lot of them taste like pork cardboard with some sauce on top. This is probably one of the few BBQ Porks I've had in this country that was juicy, flavourful and tastes remotely like what Hong Kong BBQ Pork should.

I highly recommend this!

Definitely give this place a go, and if you do try - let me know what foods you tried and what you liked & didn't like!

Taking the JLPT Practice Test in Osaka

In March I had signed up to do the JLPT N2. To be fair, I don’t really think I can pass, but I wanted to try my luck and see where it goes. Especially if I wanted to look for new jobs, the least companies look for is an N2.

Anyway, this isn’t me ranting about how I can’t pass, I want to talk about the practice test.

I’m not talking about buying a book and sitting at home doing the test yourself. This is a legitimate practice test, held by people behind JLPT.

It’s suppose to mimic the real test situation, and it certain did feel like the real deal. This is my first experience with JLPT. The catch is that it seems to be only offered to those living in the big cities in Japan? I’m talking like Tokyo, and Osaka. And perhaps not everyone who signs up gets picked to go.

I received a thick, envelop-sized pamphlet in the mail in early June with details about the practice test. It was written in multiple language, and had a mail back card stating your intent to join this practice test. It’s completely optional, of course. If you do attend though, and go through the test, you are promised to receive ¥2000 on the day. With caveat, of course. In the case of too many people signing up, there will be a lottery system and those who get to attend will receive a JLPT Practice Test voucher by June 16 (as of writing, in year 2021).

If you do not have a practice test voucher, you cannot attend. Even if you signed up.

Your name and an examinee number attached to your name on the voucher will be checked rigorously throughout the practice test, so as much as you would like to participate or think that you can just show up and take the seat of someone absent - you can’t. I’m 100% sure they won’t let you in.

The practice test voucher looks almost identical to the real JLPT voucher. The difference would be:

1) the color of the voucher,

2) it will say practice test voucher, and

3) your REAL test voucher will probably arrive after you receive the practice voucher.

As of writing this, the practice test voucher was green And arrived as promised - on June 15th, just one day before they promised to send all the practice test vouchers out. My actual test voucher was purple.

One thing to be careful of is that your real JLPT and practice JLPT will be in different locations, so make sure to read both and don’t assume otherwise. They will also remind you of this during the practice test.

The practice test happens 2 weeks BEFORE the actual test.

I won’t talk much about the actual test, because I have nothing to compare it to… but it seems like it’s almost the same if not exactly the same as the JLPT. So if you want to get a feel of the test in the actual test environment, I do highly recommend signing up for it.

Now, like I said, you do get ¥2000 for participating.

But only if you follow the rules. Unfortunately, it did occur to one person where his phone’s alarm went off despite it being turned off (don’t set alarms even with phone off!). He was not able to receive the honorarium even though he had already spent most of his time at the test.

An unfortunate case, honestly.

But yeah, that’s about the gist of the practice test. Let me know in the comments if you have questions about it. Good luck to all my fellow JLPT test takers!