Chitomo — Restaurant in Osaka

This place is such a hidden gem within the heart of Osaka. We were actually suppose to eat at another restaurant but they were full, so we opted to eat at this place instead.

Starting with the aesthetics and dimensions of the restaurant itself, this particular Izakaya is rather small, yet it is also cozy. Smoking is allowed inside, but there is a discount for tables that opt not to. If you're not sitting at the bar, you're required to stow your shoes inside the dining area.

That said, the ambience in itself is intimate, further emphasized by the fact that the entire Izakaya is run by the owner alone; from cooking, to greeting, to delivering dishes, this Izakaya is a one-man operation.

The owner himself is very nice, having made sure to have multi-lingual menus (which accommodate Japanese, English, and Korean languages) and is lovely. Don't let the fact that he's managing all this on his own fool you though; the food quality is magnificent.

While the waiting time for the food may vary depending on how many other customers are there (in our case, only two other people were there, with the average wait time for our dishes being anywhere between 5-15 minutes), the dishes he served were nothing short of delicious.

We ordered the Whelk Sashimi, Gyoza, and the Yellowfin Sashimi to start, and from the onset were delighted. The fish were fresh, the Wasabi used clearly being actual horse radish rather than substitute, and the Gyoza was good.

The main highlight however, was definitely the main courses we ordered. The fried rice was very well-seasoned, blending umami and salty undertones perfectly. More than this, was the Katsudon. His Katsudon is /easily/ the best Katsudon we've had the pleasure of eating (and we frequent Japanese restaurants in the Philippines a lot), being crispy yet also flavorful. In terms of pricing, the food prices generally range from 500 yen to around 1000 yen, making it one of the friendlier priced restaurants in the area.

Overall, this Izakaya was a wonderful moment of Serendipity for us, and we'd highly recommend you dine here if given the chance. I know for a fact that I will if I ever find myself in...

Worst dining experience of my trip to Japan. Only the owner was working, no staff. When we entered, we wanted to sit at the counter but were forced to sit at a traditional hearth table instead. He gave us a thick manual of rules with no explanation and required us to write down which country we were from before ordering — which felt discriminatory.

The owner offered zero hospitality, and since he was alone, the food came out painfully slow. We finished one dish and waited a very long time before the next.

I felt completely disrespected here. I do not recommend this izakaya to any foreign visitors, unless you’re ready to teach the owner basic English and how to treat customers...

It’s a really welcoming place, with your traditional japanese izakaya experience. The service is given solely by its owner, so you might have to wait for a bit. That said, the service is excelent and both the food and drinks are very tasteful, with the personality of its owner embedded in every dish. Highly recommended.

We were two people and we took the much recommended clam ramen, a sashimi dish to share, two beers and two...