Hanamaruken Namba Hozenji - Osaka

One of the first things we did when we got to Osaka was, of course, the Namba walk.  Literally.  We spent the entire day walking in Namba, ooh-ing and aah-ing over the food and stores around the area.  If we had unlimited-ly extendable stomachs, we probably would have entered every other restaurants and stalls.   Thankfully we don't, because it would not have been pretty for our bank account.

After spending a few days in Japan, there's one thing we learned.  If there's a line up, we join the line up.  LOL.  It's a simple trick and it's pretty much fool proof.  That's exactly what we did when we found this place.  I mean, yes we did look at the Google review as well before we lined up, and it looks pretty good.  We were re-assured when we saw the line up at 3pm in the afternoon. 

We waited for about 20 minutes.  and when we finally got in, we were greeted by an intense smoky pork-y aroma.  My mouth is watering as I'm typing this because I'm re-living this moment from October 2018.  We ordered the combo:  the slow-roasted pork ribs ramen, gyoza, and yakimeshi!  I think it was 1,500 Yen (or around that).  

When we were presented with this bowl of ramen, we were so excited to start eating because neither one of us has had a ramen with pork ribs before!  And we were not disappointed!!  It was soooo yummy!!!!  The ribs was so tender and flavourful.  It goes really well with the broth.  

We also got their gyoza, which was pretty good.  Crispy on the outside and super moist and flavourful in the inside. 

and finally, the other hero-dish that we got:  their  Yakimeshi (fried rice).  Super simple fried rice, there really isn't anything special in this fried rice, but it was delish!!  The rice was nicely cooked (bouncy and tender), with some charred flavours from the wok!  

All in all, it was a great experience at Hanamaruken Namba (Hozenji location)!   This is a restaurant that we vowed to come back to, just to eat the pork ribs ramen!  After we finished eating, the line up was even longer.  It was almost 4:30pm by that time.  We read some review on Google, and people have waited for almost an hour to eat.  So if you're planning to go eat here, just make sure that you go during off-hours.