mahoroba Teppan Shinsaibashi

The posh yet easygoing teppanyaki diner is set amongst the thick of Osaka’s shopaholic district of Shinsaibashi, but enter through its heavy stone door, and the venue feels like a secret, members-only club with a seductive but nonchalant ambiance. And it's dazzingly masculine, too. The upholstered seats line the granite counter, and the moody-lit space channels luxurious tones: dark wood, marbled walls and metallic backsplashes. The teppanyaki-leaning menu is powered by the gleaming iron plate and center charcoal grill called shichirin. Seasonal vegetables and classic fares like grilled garlic rice might do a feature, but there’s an emphasis on the exquisite format of proteins, such as the selected Awaji beef on the hot iron griddle that has the chef savvily slides, flips and sears meat like a maestro. Elsewhere, the vibrant red of "ise ebi" (spiny lobster) deepens as it cooks, while live abalone and A5 wagyu sizzle enticingly on the plate. The exciting lineup gets sprinkled with a dash of Kansai through offerings of okonomiyaki and yakisoba as one of the closing dishes. Beyond teppanyaki fares, creativity branches through unexpected routes, like the Japanese black beef tongue stew fragrant in truffle or the shrimp bread that carries Japanese sansho pepper. In other words, it’s also all live grills and multisensory actions that don’t let the food quality slip. The way to go is to opt for the "mahoroba Menou Course," which has the chef dishing out a hefty 250-gram kuroge wagyu teppanyaki right in front of diners. Mahoroba Teppan Shinsaibashi also offers a private room for power lunches or intimate dinners.