New Year’s Lunch Buffet @Windows on the World, Hilton Osaka ヒルトン 大阪 January 12, 2015 New Year in Japan is very unique and traditional. Most Japanese return to their hometowns over the New Year break and most shops and restaurants are closed. The majority of Japanese people usher in the New Year by staying at home and eating toshikoshi-soba (the reasoning behind this is that, like the long and thing soba noodles, we hope to live a long and healthy and thin life) and pre-prepared treats like o-sechi. In addition, people go to local temples or shrines to pray for health and happiness in the New Year. It is mainly a family affair with lots of eating and drinking. There are not many options to spend 1st January in Japan for foreigners I feel. Only a selected few hotels have special new year lunch buffet and most of them are reserved well in advance. Luckily I was able to make a reservation at Windows on the World, the Italian restaurant at Hilton Osaka. Surprisingly it was not crowded at all whereas I had called Westin and Ritz Carlton too but they didn’t have a table. Now coming back to the buffet, I don’t think it was any thing special. Food was cold and nothing extra-ordinary. All the items were really average and not up to the Hilton standard I felt. I have had better food at buffets before. There were not many choices too and the dessert counter made me sad. And the drinks section lacked basic beverages like fruit juices and soft drinks ( they just had two mocktails ). To give them some credit they had two types of beauty drinks with collagen and all the ladies could be found at that corner!! The view from the 35th floor was stunning but the interior was really old and run down. I don’t recommend ruining your New Year like this, at all!! View from the restaurant… Dress – Forever 21, $16, 2009; Blazer – H&M, $40, 2014; Shoes – Charles & Keith, $60, 2014; Tights – Tutuanna , $3, 2014; Sunglasses – H&M, $10 on Sale, 2014; Bag – Chanel, gift, 2014, also worn here;