Accidental lunch: The tale of the soggy tempura

I had a clever plan for my day trip to Osaka:  stop by the Namba Marui for a Bungou Stray Dogs pop-up store, have lunch at a nearby gyukatsu (deep fried beef cutlets) place, head up towards Umeda for dessert, then see the musical Chess. I achieved all of that ... except lunch.

Looking at Google maps now, I even see TWO branches of the restaurant I wanted to go to, on the same street, but I took a different turn than Google wanted me to, and when I turned the corner, I missed the restaurant I wanted, as the entrance was tucked away. I saw the one across the street, briefly noted it had fried things, started with the same hiragana as the place I wanted to go to, and, most importantly, was closing at 3 PM for lunch, so I had to hurry if I wanted to be fed.

Inside, they had a huge fryer, so I assumed I was in the right place. I didn't look closely at the menu, just ordered the set with the most food. So you can imagine my surprise when a bowl of seafood tempura, with a fried egg on top, showed up in front of me. I blinked, squinted more closely at the menu (I really need new glasses) and realized there was NO BEEF on the menu. Argh.

Still, I like tempura, so I could've pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat. But I like my tempura light and crispy. This was ... soggy and limp. I ate most of it, though, because I didn't want to waste shrimp and anago (conger eel). And the egg was fried perfectly. But I left a lot of breading and rice behind.

The moment I stepped foot outside the restaurant, I glanced across the street and saw where I was supposed to be. Oh well. Lesson learned.

No address and phone number because Google maps didn't even dignify them with a name on the map.