Hotel MINT Osaka Airport

A Japanese restaurant at the foot of the Minoh mountains. The head chef weaves the turning of the seasons into his menu. Hassun platters are arranged on large plates using several small dishes, then garnished with leaves gathered on the mountainside. Tempura, prepared with rice oil, is light in texture. If you reserve a seat on the ground floor, the tempura master will fry each piece right before your eyes. Dine with relish on the bounty of nature, serenaded by the murmuring Minoh River.

Techniques from every genre of Japanese cuisine are used for tempura; items may be pre-cooked or lightly scored and seasoned to bring out their natural flavour before frying. Keen to highlight Kansai ingredients, the chef stocks octopus, pike conger and tilefish. Osaka flourished as a centre of cotton production, so the chef cooks with a unique cottonseed oil in solidarity with producers. A beacon of Naniwa food culture to the world, with imaginative twists.

Until the previous generation, the shop had focused on sushi deliveries, but the current owner transformed it into a sushi restaurant. He changed the sushi, too, reflecting his training in the Edomae style. Sushi is served omakase style, but the chef also picks up on guests’ preferences and chooses pieces accordingly; if the guest likes to drink, he increases the number of small dishes that go well with sake. Seafood items from Osaka Bay, such as sea bream, sand shrimp, and egg cockle, are woven into the mix. Sushi is formed using red-vinegar rice.

‘Kuude’ is ‘let’s eat’ in Osaka dialect, the chef’s nickname is Kiyo, and the whole name has a French sound to it. A colour scheme of bright blue and green declares the shop’s freedom from convention. The theme is ‘unforgettable cuisine’: each dish features no more than three items, arrangements are minimal, and portions are generous. At lunchtime, set meals of Western items paired with rice and miso soup make ku:de kiyo a local favourite.

Japanese

Italian

Sushi