常温OK｜Good to Eat without Microwave｜2021/03/10

大阪から東京に戻るのにお腹が空いてしまった。お弁当を食べる時間でもないし、このままだと空腹でお菓子を貪ってしまいそうだ。おむすびでは味気ないしと思っていたら、イカ焼きが一口サイズで売店に並んでいる。もちろん焼きたてというようなものではなく、工場で作られたものだ。常温OKっという手軽さで早速購入。これは大阪出張の定番か？と意気込んだものの、常温OKとは常温でも食べられることができるだけで、美味しくというわけではなかった。せめてハイボールと一緒だったらまだしも、お茶とではちょっと残念すぎた。そうだ、551の蓬莱のふかふかの肉まんにすればよかった。→すっかり大阪の定番に。（絵と文：サカキテツ朗）

I was hungry to return from Osaka to Tokyo. It was not time to eat lunch, and if I ate nothing, I would get too much sweets. And rice balls were not attractive. I found bite-sized ikayaki at the shop. Of course, it was not freshly baked, it was made in the factory. It said it was OK to eat without using a microwave. I was excited that this would become a new staple of business trips to Osaka. Although I was enthusiastic, OK to eat meant that I could eat, but it was not so delicious. It was a little too disappointing with green tea, at least I needed highball.Oh, I should have ate 551 Horai's fluffy meat buns. → It has become a staple of Osaka. -Text and illustration by Ted Sakaki