Imagine a restaurant themed as a "church" as seen by Japanese eyes: with gaudy images of Christ on his cross neon-lit in blue, frescoed ceilings of cheeky cherubs, glittering glass chandeliers, a silver disco ball(?!!) tall multicolored candles, and hints of bright scarlet red on chairs, napkins, and table settings. I welcome you to Umeda's Chris†on Cafe.
This was my second foray to this particular themed restaurant and I must confess that both times have impressed me not only with the strangely interesting Rococo décor but also with the delicious, if slightly pricy, “European-styled” food.
After having a Japanese friend make a reservation for my non-Japanese friend and I (it was a Sunday night during Golden Week, Japan’s version of spring break), we made our way to Umeda, one of Osaka’s main shopping/restaurant areas, and after a bit of searching we found the restaurant inside the shotengai, or covered shopping arcade. Then we were ushered in through revolving doors into an alternate universe of Japan-That-Never-Was or perhaps Europe-In-A-Different-Asian-Reality, which is definitely fun if you want to pretend for a night that you’re somewhere else that doesn’t exist.
The staff spoke English to us poor foreign-looking folk and soon we were seated at our table ordering some of their random specialty drinks. I got the Rose Fragrance and my friend ordered a Garnet Love, was it? I forget. All the names were equally absurd and equally amusing. Unfortunately none of them were strong – don’t come here to get drunk ladies and gentlemen because it won’t happen. We put in an order for some very delicious Indian curry-filled bread puffs as an appetizer (though sadly it came mid-meal) and my friend got some delicious looking Japanese-European fusion beef sushi that may sound strange but she assured me was very good. My own plate of penne pasta with spicy tomato sauce, eggplant, mozzarella cheese, and (in true Japanese fashion) a raw egg plopped on top was rather decent, though I was a bit worried about the egg at first. After a thorough mixing it was no longer a problem and I enjoyed having penne pasta instead of spaghetti at a restaurant for once. Admittedly, I liked what I got last time a bit better – delicious mushroom risotto absolutely smothered in butter – but I wanted to try something new and it was decent if not incredibly inspired.
All in all it was a lovely night and it’s always fun soaking in the scenery in a restaurant that only Japan can pull off without upsetting the Christians out there (well, at least no one that was dining there that night) as not only is Japan quite accepting of all religions they’re also quite willing to put a new spin on it. Japan is, needless to say, not a highly religious nation though very open to all religions. They also love themed restaurants and this one is just one of many very strange themed places to visit.
Overall I give this place an enthusiastic 8/10. I'd make it 9/10 if there were actual pews to eat at. Oh well. Can't have everything.
For more information, check out the website here (sorry it’s only in Japanese):
http://www.ug-gu.co.jp/restaurant/christon/christon.html
Happy dining.
