梅香家常菜

During our Golden Week visit to the in-laws in Osaka one of our many lavish meals was at Meishan Kajousai, a Chinese tofu restaurant in Senri Chuo run by the Ume no Hana chain. I've never been very impressed by the popular Ume no Hana, but this was our second time at Meishan Kajousai and both meals were fantastic.

Hideaki's parents treated us so I'm not exactly sure, but I think we had the Ah Lee course for 3500 yen. There are more expensive courses but this was such a huge amount of good food that I can't imagine wanting more. Unfortunately almost two weeks have passed since then so I may have misremembered some of the details, and the names of dishes and ingredients are an odd mix of Japanese, Chinese and English (how do you properly describe Chinese food eaten in Japan, in English?), but this is what we had:

The course began with an appetizer of tomato, kikurage (jellyfish) and yama-kikurage ("mountain jellyfish", a wild vegetable), and cold tofu topped with pitan (century egg).

Next came spring rolls with shrimp and green beans and a clever take on Thai shrimp toast: fried triangles of bread topped with tofu.

Then, har gow (shrimp dumplings) and tofu shiu mai dumplings.

Next up was a do-it-yourself wrap with savory ground pork and lettuce; it was fun to eat but also the weakest dish.

And then the best dish of all: a savory egg custard with shiro-kikurage (white cloud ear mushroom), very simple but perfectly flavoured.

We really enjoyed the ebi chili (shrimp in chili sauce) on our last visit, and this time it came with beans, nama-fu (chewy wheat gluten), and ginnan (ginkgo nuts) stuffed in little cups of fried bread.

One of the house specialties is mabou doufu (tofu with spicy pork sauce), and they offer three kinds: red, black and white. We chose black and white, with the black being a typical Japanese style mabou doufu, and the white a mild version with soy milk and more ginger than spice. By this time we were stuffed and sadly couldn't finish these.

Normally red rice and soup come at the end, but when we had ordered we were given a choice paying a bit more for fried rice or ramen. Had I known how stuffed I'd be I would have stuck with the regular rice, but I foolishly chose fried rice with takana (pickled greens). From the one bite I tried it was very good, but I just couldn't finish it. Likewise for the very nice egg drop corn soup.

The course was supposed to end with annin doufu (almond jelly) but we begged for mercy and were given a little scoop of ice cream. I wish I could remember what flavour it was and what it was topped with, but I do remember that I managed to finish it (there's always room for ice cream).

Meishan Kajousai
06-6873-8488
Senri Chuo Life Science Centre, 2nd floor
Shin Senri Higashi-machi, Toyonaka-shi, Osaka
Open daily for lunch from 11:00 to 4:00 (last order 3:00) and for dinner from 5:00 to 10:00 (last order 9:00)

Comments

[Amy]

Oh that spoon in the ice cream looks just like a pocky stick to me! From my "extensive" experience with Chinese buffets (I know this is not one) -it's the oily foods that really stuff me up. But you know fried food is irresistible. That fried rice you had at the end beats the typical fried rice you'd find in the Chinatown in NYC. I've had really pathetic fried rice...

[Mel]

Looks delicious! Mmmm, hungry now ;)

[carol agrimson]

Are you back in the swing of things--and feeling better? I'm often looking for your site to see what I can learn. We are looking, coincidently, for spicy Chinese in Hiroshima and have found at least one good place.
By the way, my husband and I are visiting Tokyo next month. Can you suggest a place to get good kalamata olives? I'm a pretty decent home cook, but recently I'm overwhelmed when I hit the market. Without my common foods, I'm a bit lost. I miss: ovens, meat on the bone, cheese and olives and crusty breads. I know that Tokyo has a lot more to offer. And I know that I"m still very new here and there is a lot more to discover. Besides, I just LOVE Japanese food. Dude, that's lucky, eh?

[edamame]

I am interested in the food culture of your country so that you are so. And I support your site. If there is time, please come in my site. From Japan
http://food-soybean.blogspot.com/

[Andy]

I've been so busy lately that I have to say it has been TOOOOOOOOO long since I have visited your blog. And it's my loss. You consistently do SUCH a great job and take such exquisite photos. Way to go! You're a constant inspiration!