Osaka Food Guide: Best Eats in Osaka, Japan
When it comes to local dishes, Osaka is known for its flour-based foods such as okonomiyaki, takoyaki, and kushi-katsu. Konamono — this is what these flour-based foods are called.
And you won’t experience authentic konamono anywhere else in Japan better than Osaka.
But of course, Osaka’s food scene has so much more to offer. In this Osaka food guide, we’ll give you the best eats in Osaka, Japan and where to find them:
1. Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki is one of the most popular carb-rich foods in Osaka. It’s is often likened to pizzas because of the dough overspread with a variety of toppings. But okonomiyaki is a far cry from the Italian dish in a lot of ways. Okonomiyaki’s base pancake is mainly made of wheat flour batter mixed often with cabbage and mountain yam. Just as okonomi means “what/how you like,” you can put any kind of toppings — meat, vegetables, sauce, cheese, anything really. Osaka is literally filled with okonomiyaki restaurants. You’ll find a bunch of good ones in Minami, Kita, and Tennoji.
2. Takoyaki
Takoyaki is a deep-friend dough ball stuffed with octopus meat. The dough is made of flour, eggs, and soup stock. Takoyaki is crazy popular in Osaka, so much so that there are over 650 takoyaki restaurants in Osaka (compared to 160 in Tokyo). Minami is where you will find so many takoyaki restaurants fiercely competing to attract customers. And with that, you will usually see these establishments offering their unique variations of the dish, from plain takoyaki with no sauce at all to takoyaki with shaved ice.
3. Negiyaki
A savory pancake made with negi (“green onions”), beef sinew, and konjac, Negiyaki is very much like okonomiyaki and takoyaki — they’re all flour-based. Negiyaki looks a lot like okonomiyaki as in fact it was derived from the popular dish, except it doesn’t have cabbage or pork in it. After all the ingredients are held together, it is grilled and then covered in soy sauce.
4. Kushi-katsu
Kushi-katsu is deep-fried, bite-sized meats and vegetables on skewers, breaded with flour, eggs, and bread crumbs. A dipping sauce is available to give your kushi-katsu enhanced taste. But dip only once! Most famous and innovative kushi-katsu restaurants are found in the Shinsekai area, but you can find good ones pretty much anywhere around Osaka. Kushi-katsu is best eaten with drinks on your other hand, that’s why it is quite popular in the drinking areas in Minami and Shinsekai.
5. Butaman
Fluffy, wrinkled, and juicy — butaman is a popular steamed bun in Osaka usually stuffed with ground pork meat and minced onion. Also known as “nikuman” in other parts of Japan, butaman was originally derived from the Chinese counterpart “xiao long bao.” Butaman comes in distinctive variations, some containing dried scallops, others have all-vegetables in them. From 24/7 convenience stores to street food stalls, you can find butaman everywhere.
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