Japan 123 - Shinsaibashi (心斎橋) , Dotonbori (道頓堀) and Gyu-Kaku (牛角) @ Osaka • Sassy Urbanite's Diary

Our 6th day in Japan continued with shopping at Shinsaibashi (心斎橋), walking around Dotonbori (道頓堀) and dinner at Gyu-Kaku (牛角).

S started off shopping at LV even before we reached Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade. Well, the 600 m long Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade and the surrounding Shinsaibashi area is Osaka’s premiere shopping center so the temptations were greatly dangerous. This shopping area is expansive as it combines the many well known chain retail stores and trendy boutiques with expensive department stores and top designer fashion labels.

Meanwhile, Dontonbori is Osaka’s must go place for food as this street is filled with many restaurants which some even open 24/7. Dontonbori runs parallel to the Dotonbori canal and when the night comes, it is lit by hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signages, including the very famous Glico Running Man sign and Kani Doraku crab sign.

Dotonbori with its famous Glico Running Man

The famous Glico Running Man in Osaka

One of the many ramen shops in Dotonbori

Don Qoijote Store – Open 24 hours

The famous Pablo cheesecake

Don Qoijote Store – Open 24 hours

We couldn’t decide on what to eat for dinner until we stumbled upon Gyu-Kaku (牛角), which is an all you can eat Japanese BBQ restaurant all over the world. I think we were a little tired of typical Japanese food and wanted something meaty and simple no fuss. We chose the standard course course for ¥2,980++ with the option for all you can drink soft drinks for additional ¥380++. I could have chosen the all you can drink alcohol package for another ¥1,380++, but I’m never a beer person. Gyu-Kaku is an ala-carte buffet style with premium cooked meats cook over a flaming charcoal grill, so we kept ordering the beef and and pork until we were so full. We had some side dishes too but the main focus of the night was still the meat. Overall it was an okay dinner, nothing too special but BBQ was a welcomed change to the sushi and sashimi and udon that we’d been having. I still think buffet is quite a bad way of dining because we will always tend to eat more than what we should have. Perhaps more walking and shopping to burn all the excess calories off tomorrow?