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Osaka is a seemingly Japanese restaurant in Santiago, Chile. Why would I choose to eat at a Japanese restaurant in South America? However, a
few days into the trip, I learnt that Chile is blessed with great seafood and I
can’t think of a better cuisine than Japanese to take advantage of that
abundant bounty.
Osaka Santiago is the second restaurant of the flagship
restaurant in Peru – touting Nikkei cuisine – Japanese and Latin American
fusion. Online reviews are generally very complimentary of the food, but a
number of them criticize the lackluster service. Making the reservations only
two days in advance, the only seating was at the sushi bar, which suited us
fine.
We had a very flamboyant waiter and when I asked for
recommendations, he asked if we would let him order a few dishes for us. Since
we are familiar with chef’s choice (omakase), we thought why not ‘waiter’s
choice’. The 3 dishes turned out to be absolutely delicious!
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| Aji Amarillo ceviche |
My absolute favorite was the ceviche dish called Aji Amarillo - white sashimi fish, with a 'leche de jaguar' sauce, black sesame and two fried wontons filled with sweet potato puree. Not the usual lime-cured ceviche, the sashimi style fish is light and, coupled with the crunchy red onions and the sauce (which remains a mystery), was a heavenly combination.
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| Mariscos al fuego - shrimp, octopus, squid in a scallop shell, with fire ablaze. Enjoyed with Austral beer from Punta Arenas |
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| Salmon belly - lightly smoked, topped with quinoa in a ginger soy sauce |
Delighted by such excellent choices, we encouraged him to
order another round of food for us.
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| Unagi with Foie |
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| Crispy Quinoa - avocado, crab, shrimp roll coated with crispy quinoa |
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| Crispy rice - topped with salmon |
All 6 dishes were really good.
According to our waiter,
he’s able to to order partial portions because he’s selecting and ordering the dishes for us. Our bill
came up to $35 per person, including two beers. Really reasonable for the
quality of food and I dare say, the quality of service too. I’m looking forward
to a return visit soon!
