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BOGOTA | Osaka is a restaurant that originated in Lima, Peru that now has several locations across Latin America. They specialise in high end Nikkei cuisine, the fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cuisine that’s developed over the past century.
Located in Bogota’s upscale Chico neighbourhood, Osaka Bogota impresses with a quite open space, full of natural sunlight, greenery, and natural materials like timber. The open kitchen showcases a large sushi bar and robota grill, and the back of the restaurant opens up into a luscious dining courtyard. The open, natural theme creates a pleasant environment that fits in well with the neighbourhood and general lushness of the city.
The menu is quite extensive, and features a wide array of dishes exploring the varied aspects of Nikkei cuisine. Some dishes are very much pure Japanese whilst others are unmistakably fusion. For those who don’t speak Spanish, the menu is available in English and there are English-speaking staff. There’s a lot to like on the menu, and the knowledgeable staff are happy to put together a menu that suits your tastes.
We started with a sushi and nigiri, all of which impressed. The Inca is particularly delicious and sets the scene for the kind of food you can expect. It’s rice served at the perfect temperature topped with white fish, yellow chili sauce, crispy quinoa, and chalaquita, a Peruvian salsa. Also try the ‘Spicy Crunchy’, a maki made with Japanese butter coated prawns, crab meat, crispy quinoa and togarashi. It’s divine and extremely moreish.
Moving on to the more substantial dishes, we opted for the excellent Niku Kabayaki – tender Angus skirt tataki, which you dip in a kabayaki butter sauce before cooking at your table. It’s served with a simple yuzu soba that plays off the flavours and textures of the steak wonderfully. Other enticing options include things like Chancho Kunsei – pork belly glazed in ramen teriyaki sauce, tacu tacu, and yellow chili paper, and the Asado Gyudon – a Pachamanquero rice hot pot with braised short ribs and crispy sweet native potato.
We generally order a dessert to share when dining out but we had to go for two at Osaka because they sounded so appealing. The decision was a correct one, as both dishes were outstanding. The first was the Suspiro Nikkei – chocolate dulce de leche, ginger ice cream, and lemongrass meringue. A wonderful mixture of textures and flavours. The second was the Amai Yuki – chirimoya (an Amazonian custard apple), passion fruit cream, mango sorbet, ginger meringue. Refreshing and delicious.
The drinks menu follows a similar theme to that of the food, with flavours that draw from Peru and Japan. Try the ‘Pisco Punch’, a mixture of Pisco, torrontes wine, sake, feijoa syrup, pineapple and sparkling water, or the ‘Mr Osaka’ which combines Zacapa 23 Rum, orange bitters, lulo, passion fruit, basil honey, tonic and rosemary smoke. There’s also a fantastic selection of wines from around the world, with a focus on South American wines, including several interesting varietals you don’t generally see outside of this part of the world.
Regardless of whether or not you’ve been to one of the Osaka restaurants before, a meal at Osaka Bogota is a must. The flavours are unique, cooking and presentation is executed with perfect technique, and the atmosphere is casual without detracting from the fantastic service.
Osaka Bogota
Carrera 13 #85-25
Bogotá
Colombia
Telephone: +57 1 6318175
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Mon – Sat: 12:00pm to 4:00pm; 7:00pm to 11:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm to 5:00pm