Osaka Restaurant

 

Growing up, birthdays were celebrated at a restaurant of the birthday person's choice.  As a young kid, my favorite place to go for birthdays was Showbiz (now Chuck E. Cheese) Pizza, but not because of the pizza.  In fact, my family maybe only purchased pizza there once or maybe twice after seeing how much more expensive it was there.  Nah, we just went to play the games, and got cheaper food elsewhere.  When the arcade games and dinky prizes at were no longer a draw for me, I would choose to go to a restaurant for the tasty food.  My favorite food became Japanese food by the time I was 10 or so, and my favorite place to eat it was this little place on Center Street in downtown Provo called Osaka.

photo by: ratetheplateutah.com

It looks exactly the same as it did when I was a kid- from the red walls and black benches, to the hanging ball lanterns and Japanese charaters on the wall.  The menu is exactly the same as when I was a kid.  I'm not sure if the prices have changed, since I didn't pay attention to the prices as a kid.

The salad is this yummy creamy sesame-ginger dressing served on iceberg lettuce.

photo by: ratetheplateutah.com

Their miso soup has always been a comfort food for me.

photo by: ratetheplateutah.com

I brought my family to Osaka this past time we visited Utah Valley.  It hasn't changed.  It was yummy food, and the service was slow (it always has been), and it was like going back to my childhood.  This time, I ordered something I've never ordered before- the Steak Teriyaki entree with tempura vegetables and rice.  The steak was really, really good.  In fact, I'd like some about now.  

photo by: ratetheplateutah.com

My kids both ordered the kids meal "boats."  Those are the best!  They haven't changed from when I was a kid either.  The rice comes with a little paper umbrella stuck into it, there is an orange carved to look like what I thought was a snail as a kid, but found out later it's supposed to be the trunk and tusks of an elephant.  What ever the kids couldn't eat, I happily finished for them.

Lily loved it.  She said that it tasted good.  She liked the boats and the fancy lit lamps.  Once we got out of the restaurant, we saw a guy singing on the street with this weird instrument that looked like a half piano and half violin, and another guy dancing.  She remembers looking at the fish in the aquarium by the cash register and that they had fancy toothpicks there.  Lily liked to hear the stories I told about Osaka.  I told her how I remembered the stairs that led to the basement where a bathroom was located before they built the one on to the back of the building.  As kids we used to play on those stairs and slide down them, because the steps were so shallow it was almost like a ramp anyway.

Amara liked the umbrellas.  She also liked the oranges that looked like an elephant with tusks.