Cup Noodles Museum - Create Your Own!

If you love cup noodles or instant ramen, I’ve got the perfect experience for you. Did you know there is an entire museum dedicated to Cup Noodles? Did you know that you can even make your own custom cup noodles to take home as a souvenir?

There are two cup noodle museums in Japan, one in Yokohama and the other in Osaka. I’ve been to both, but the Yokohama location is bigger and has more to see and do. I recommend checking it out while you’re staying in Tokyo.

When you enter, you will learn about the evolution of Cup noodles and see a really colorful display of the noodle development. They have packaging from all of the eras of cup noodles so that you can see how it has changed over time. It also makes an excellent backdrop for photos.

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Then, you’ll learn more about the origins. They have an exhibit about the founding of cup noodles for you to explore.

Let’s get to the fun stuff. One really cool element of the Yokohama location is a tasting room. It’s an old fashioned city scape with ramen shops surrounding a food court. This is very similar to the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum, which you can read about in my other post here.

My favorite part was actually creating my own custom cup noodle. You enter a large room where you get an empty cup noodle cup. Then, you sit down and decorate it however you like with markers. This is a great activity for kids or adults. Each time I’ve done this, it was with other adults, and we all had a great time. Next, you take it up to the noodle station. You move your cup through a noodle-filling machine by turning a lever. Then, a cup noodle staff member will add whatever dehydrated toppings you want as well as the soup base flavor of your choice. There are so many options to choose from! I chose seafood base with shrimp, crab, green onions, and corn. My friend picked curry base with shrimp, corn, kimchi, and green onion. You can really customize it however you like! At the end, you package it up in a nice little protective bubble for your cup noodles and take it home.

We ended our museum tour with an excellent view. They have a balcony where you can look out over the harbor in Yokohama and take in the beautiful sights.

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This was a wonderful experience. At the Yokohama location, be prepared to spend several hours and come hungry and ready to eat. The Osaka location can be toured in about an hour, as it is smaller and does not have the tasting room. It does still have the create-your-own cup noodles, though. If you’re planning your trip to Japan, I definitely recommend checking this place out!

Rikuro Ojisan - Fluffy, Jiggly Cheesecake

Let’s talk about cheesecake. Normally, you think of a delicious, cheesy thick piece of rather solid, rather cheesy dessert. It’s usually pretty rigid, right?

That’s not the case for this famous cheesecake in Osaka. This cheesecake is a fluffy, jiggly cheesecake that bounces around when you move it. It is like the jiggly memory foam of cheesecake. It bounces right back! That’s because they use more whipped egg whites. It’s all about the fluffy egg texture. And that is exactly what makes it so good…The fluffy, bouncy, but still creamy cheesecake texture.

That’s why, when we went to Osaka, we had to visit Rikuro Ojisan (Uncle Rikuro). Uncle Rikuro’s cheesecake is well known worldwide for their bouncy cheesecakes with a raisin layer and branded stamp on top. They are a staple in Osaka for this delicious dessert. We had seen countless videos about this cheesecake and had to try it out for ourselves. It did not disappoint. It was absolutely incredible! We loved it so much the first time, we went back again on the following year’s trip.

On our first visit, we ate in store. We purchased a slice of cheesecake and a drink and sat in the cafe to eat. It was a super cute atmosphere with great service. The smell of sweets filled the air. They brought us our warm slices of cheesecake. The soft, squishy cake practically melts with each bite. The eggy texture makes it filling, but not too rich. It was the perfect amount of sweet. The bottom layer of the cheesecake is scattered with raisins to add an extra pop of flavor.

We went to the location right by Osaka Namba Station. It was just a quick walk from our hotel, in the middle of a covered shopping street called a shotengai. It was easy to find and a great evening activity. I definitely recommend checking out Rikuro Ojisan Cheesecake if you’re ever in Osaka.

Gudetama Cafe - Osaka, Japan

Ok. You’re going to need to just deal with how incredibly obsessed I am with Gudetama. Gudetama is a Sanrio character, a character from the same company as Hello Kitty. Gudetama, however, is an egg that embodies laziness and a love of sleep and all things chill. He is my spirit animal… spirit food?

Anyways, he has his own cafe in Osaka, Japan, in HEP FIVE, a mall in the Umeda area. Japan has many character themed restaurants, so I was really excited when I found out that Gudetama has his own cafe. We went to it, and it was amazing. First, you walk up to a Gudetama themed entrance, and upon walking in, you’ll see Gudetama everywhere!

There are Gudetama plushies all around the cafe and even a Gudetama statue in the front. The entire time, you’ll hear Gudetama cartoons playing on TVs throughout the restaurant. There is even a gift shop in the entrance of the store. Here you’ll find all of the Gudetama swag you could ever want. It’s even Sanrio official merchandise.

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Next, let’s talk about the food. Because Gudetama is an egg, of course you’ll find a ton of egg type foods like udon and gyudon. But you’ll also find some super cute desserts like the Gudetama custards that come in little egg shell containers or the Gudetama ice cream Sunday. All of the food items have super cute Gudetama pun-themed names in Japanese, too.

The food was delicious and definitely made the experience really memorable. If you don’t leave that cafe with a fully belly, humming the Gudetama theme song for the next day and a half, then something has gone seriously wrong.

Next time you’re in Osaka, Japan, definitely try this place out. Even if you’re not as big of a Gudetama fan as I am, it’s an absolute must-see.