Strawberry Approach by Hanafru (Osaka)
This Mylentines I wanted to spend the day treating myself. I had the day off work so I decided to spend my time in Osaka. Prior to Osaka I explored North Hyogo and visited, “Little Kyoto”, Izushi city with a couple of friends , they returned their homes at the end of the trip but I decided to extend my trip by staying overnight in Osaka. In Osaka I visited two restaurants; Hanafru, a fruit restaurant which offered a special strawberry 5 course and Difference, French restaurant that offered a 10 course lunch. Needless to say I was very full by the end of the day.
I stayed at Mitsu Garden Hotel Osaka Premier. I was fortunate enough to have a river side view. As I arrived around 8 at the Hotel from my North Hyogo trip and Osaka was under a quasi-state of emergency most restaurants were closed. Fortunately the hotel accepts delivery so I ordered pizza. The hotel also has an onsen on the top of the building, luckily it wasn’t so busy so it helped me relax more.
One of the reasons I chose to stay overnight in Osaka is because usually it takes me 2.5 hours to get to Osaka from my apartment in Tatsuno. I’m not an early waker, so if i can sleep in and don’t have to worry about a long journey to somewhere I’ll definitely take that option. I also wanted to dress up a little and didn’t want a long commute to make me look tardy at the restaurant(s).
Hanafru
Hanafru is a cafe/restaurant that specializes in creating dishes with seasonal fruits. Usually they focus on 1 seasonal fruit per season and will have a variety of dishes and courses you can reserve and order. In months January to February strawberries take the center stage here.
There are a variety of courses you can book in advance (note they only accept debit or credit card payments – online and instore – no cash). In the month I booked, there was the “Strawberry Approach”, the “Strawberry & Chocolate Approach” and “Afternoon Tea set”.
I decided to go with the “strawberry approach” because it looked the more interesting than the “strawberry & chocolate approach” and had less items than the “afternoon tea set” (I still had a lunch after this). Apart from the courses, there is also options you can choose from the A La Carte menu they have which also changes seasonly.
Strawberry Approach
The Strawberry Approach option contains 5 dishes and costs 3850 yen. There is an option to change the entrée to trying 12 different strawberries (the normal option has 5) and that costs 5500 yen. The Strawberry Approach is available to be booked from 10:15am.
Menu
When you first get seated you will have a menu in front of you. It will list the items you will eat today and a drink menu. You will get drinks with the course so the drink menu is more for when you order a drink to finish your meal.
Appetizer
The appetizer contains 5 strawberries from 5 different prefectures. They are ordered from least sweet (left) to most sweet (right). To enjoy the experience, It is recommended to eat them from left to right.
The strawberries from left to right : Yumenoka from Tokushima Prefecture, Hinoshizuku from Kumamoto Prefecture ,Sakihime from Iwate Prefecture, Ichigosan from Iwate Prefecture and Marihime Wakayama Prefecture.
Strawberry Compote
The compote features the Ichigosan from Iwate Prefecture. It is mixed with some lemon juice,sugar and dill. You put it upon the blancmange
I’m not the most aesthetic dropper of fruits haha
A La Carte
The A La Carte features Sachinoka Strawberry from Tokushima Prefecture and Kumquats from Miyazaki Prefecture. Inside the Kumquats is custard creme brulee. At the bottom of the dish is Yuzu cream and crumbled cinnamon. Atop the cream is store-made white sesame ice-cream. The dish is topped with micro green shiso leaves.
Main
The main features the Sakihime strawberry from Iwate Prefecture. It is placed upon éclair pastry , macadamia flavored custard and Chantilly cream. It is topped with basil Next to it is store made goat cheese ice-cream which is topped with silver leaf.
Strawberry Atemputu
To be quite honest i’m not entirely sure what is “atemputu”. From a google search it seems it’s just a way of saying “to attempt” in English . I suppose they are attempting to incorporate strawberries in different ways?
Anyway, the Atemputu here is the last course which acts as the “dessert”. It features 5 small treats.
The first treat is a madeleine cookie with Amaou bits from Fukuoka Prefecture.
The second treat is a mini dorayaki with the Saranochika from Tokushima Prefecture.
The third treat is a daifuku with the Amaou from Fukuoka Prefecture.
The fourth treat is an éclair with the Saranochika from Tokushima Prefecture.
Lastly, the fifth treat is raw chocolate with the Amaou from Fukuoka Prefecture.
Comments
Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I had been wanting to come here for the longest time but because I didn’t have a Japanese debit/credit card I couldn’t- they don’t accept cash. Some people told me “you can just ask a friend who does have a card” but that’s something I don’t really feel that comfortable with doing. I was able to enjoy this alone but I think it’s a good place to have a date or meet with some friends. The menu does change seasonally so make sure to check what fruit is “of focus” to see if it’s something you like.
Cafe details
Genre: Cafe, Sweets, Fruit
Closest Station : Honmachi Station ( 5 minute walk)
Telephone: 06-4708-4307
Address : 大阪府大阪市中央区久太郎4-1-15 南1F
Opening Hours – 10am to 7pm (food last order at 6pm)
Website: https://hanafru.jp/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/fruit.hanafru/
