Umeda Sky Building in Osaka has at least four dining establishments that I saw. The most accessible, the most noticeable, and perhaps, the most affordable, to the visitors of Kuchu Teien Observatory is Café Sky 40.
Café Sky 40, as the name suggests, is located on the 40th floor of Kuchu Teien Observatory. To go there, one has to purchase a ticket to Kuchu Teien Observatory, but once there, it is right in the middle of the pathway around the building.
The simple café is flooded with natural lighting from the floor-to-ceiling windows that also gives diners unobstructed vista of the city 173 meters below. Despite the number of visitors that linger in the area, Café Sky 40 retains a certain degree of quietude as one sips roasted coffee or hot matcha or enjoying the day with a cone of green tea ice cream with waffles.
It was 1040am, and we arrived in Osaka at 7am that day, walked from the bus stop to the hotel, dropped our things at the hotel (check-in at 3pm later that day), from the hotel to JR Osaka Station, and from the station to Umeda Sky Building, got lost at least a couple of times and witnessed a film or commercial shoot in the process, I was famished. I decided to have something warm and filling. I chose French hotdog for 500 yen, (US $4.57). The cashier told me that if I wanted tea with it, they would give me a discount and I had to add only 270 yen (US $2.47) to it. So I said, yes. I asked ketchup to be added to my French hotdog. It was a little too hot when I first bit it (I was that hungry!) and almost spat out the meat. In the end, I enjoyed sitting down and looking at the scenery to my right while thinking, “Omg, my hair look like a bird’s nest”. And yes, we had not showered yet at that point of the day.
For a related entry, please read Umeda Sky Building (Osaka, Japan).
The following are photos taken at Café Sky 40 at Kuchu Teien Observatory:
*Exchange Rate: US $1.00 = 109.45 yen
Café Sky 40 at Kuchu Teien Obersvatory Operating Hours:
10am to 10pm daily except on holidays and special days