Poor old Osaka. Kyoto is the traditional heart of Japan, filled with beautiful temples, charming shrines, and centuries of history. Tokyo is, well, Tokyo. Osaka kind of gets left out – it’s nowhere near as popular a travel destination as neighbouring Kyoto, and Tokyo residents are apparently wont to turn up their noses at the distinct (to locals, anyway) Osaka-ben, or regional accent.
Tourists who are brave enough to venture outside of Tokyo and ride the bullet train down to Osaka are rewarded with an absolute foodie paradise, filled with the most delicious edibles imaginable (assuming your diet allows for meat and seafood). Osakans are proud of their city’s culinary prowess, and rightly so. Give yourself a few days in this hopping city and sample everything Osaka has to offer.
Here are just three of my favourite foods to enjoy in Osaka:
This is one of Japan’s most popular street foods, and with good reason – it’s hot, fast, delicious, and easy to eat on the go! A thin, savoury wheat-based batter is poured into a special mould and cooked into airy little balls of molten perfection. The “tako” part of takoyaki means octopus, which is a traditional filling. The little balls are typically topped with Japanese-style mayonnaise (which tends to be a bit sweeter than Western mayonnaise), takoyaki sauce (a brown, slightly sweet sauce) and bonito (dried tuna) shavings, which dance when placed on top of the hot takoyaki. Takoyaki is actually a fairly recent dish, thought to have been developed in the 1930s, though it was based on other traditional snacks. Typically served in a takeaway tray, takoyaki are perfect little savoury morsels to share with friends.
Who doesn’t love fried noodles? This is another fairly recent addition to Japanese cuisine, which has quickly become one of its best known dishes. You can find yakisoba (literally “fried/grilled noodles”) at restaurants all across Japan, but Osaka has some of the best restaurants in which to enjoy this simple, delicious dish. Thick, Chinese-style noodles are stir-fried with cabbage and onions, and topped with a thick, sweet-savoury soy-based sauce. You ca see a giant bowl of yakisoba in the bottom row of dishes in the photo, second from the right, surrounded with delicious dumplings. Oishi (yum)!
Okonomiyaki has to be one of my all-time favourite Japanese dishes. Quick and easy to prepare, it features simple, humble ingredients, and can be easily adapted for different tastes. In fact, the name okonomiyaki literally means “grill/fry what you like”! Okonomiyaki is like a Japanese savoury pancake, though much thicker. A thin batter is mixed with heaps of cabbage, eggs and other fillings, such as octopus, cheese, or bacon, then pan-fried to crispy perfection. It’s served with a tangy brown sauce, more mayonnaise, and bonito flakes, just like takoyaki. A true highlight of any trip to Osaka is a visit to an okonomiyaki restaurant, where staff cook your meal to order on a piping hot griddle right before your eyes. It’s a delicious dinner and a show! This is simple, homestyle cooking, nothing fancy, but incredibly delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Osaka is filled with amazing restaurants to discover, from fancy 5-star establishments to tiny mom and pop holes in the wall. There are so many delightful dishes to be savoured, especially if you’re willing to step outside your comfort zone – Japanese food is about more than ramen, sushi and teriyaki!
I hope you enjoyed this mouthwatering tour of my Osakan dining experience. If you love exploring the world through your tastebuds as much as I do, I’d love to hear about some of your favourite culinary discoveries!!
The food does look delicious. Sounds like comfort food. I love the displays of food in windows and cases. It makes it easier to point to what you want to order (and not have to know how to pronounce it).
Plastic models in display cases are such a big thing in Japan, they’re so helpful! And I loved this kind of comfort food – simple, unfussy, and totally delicious.
Are food in Osaka more of the fried stuff rather than the raw stuff like sashimi etc? Food looks amazing though from your photos
#TheWeeklyPostcard
You can definitely still find lots of amazing sushi/sashimi places in Osaka, but it’s probably more famous for its fried food!
Definitely not the healthiest food options, but super tasty. 
Mmm That food looks delicious! I’ll have to keep in mind that Osaka is worth visiting! Thanks for linking up with #TheWeeklyPostcard!
It’s definitely worth visiting – we spent a few nights there, and there was so much to see and do!
I have never been to Japan, but I love Japanese food. It would be interesting to taste it in Osaka, since they always say that what we have here in California is not the “authentic” Japanese food.
I only really knew about ramen, teriyaki and sushi, so exploring Japanese cuisine was really eye-opening!
This looks amazing.
I want it all! I missed out on #TheWeeklyPostcard this Friday but am poking around some of the participants’ blogs 
I’m glad you stopped by!
Thankfully we did a lot of walking on our trip, otherwise I probably would have come home quite a few pounds heavier…
My mouth is absolutely watering – we only passed through Osaka for the airport on our visit but it definitely sounds like it should be on the itinerary for my return trip (one day) even if i simply eat and eat!
Thanks for linking up with #citytripping
Seriously, give me ALL the Japanese food! I could eat it 24/7! I so need to get to Japan, one of these days!
I love all the food you have presented in here. I have heard Osaka is a foodie paradise. Would not like to miss the city for anything.
Also love exploring the world through my tastebuds! I´m including Osaka to my must list right now! Love Japanese food even here in Europe, can´t imagine how good it´d be there! looks delicious from your pics…
Mmm – delicious!
Absolutely!
I’m really keen to visit Japan and I’ll make sure not to leave out Osaka when I make that trip happen!
I love the different foods you can find all over Japan. Osaka is no different! I loved the Rikuro Ojisan cheesecake I had there!
Everything looks so delicious!
I am hungry now! This all looks so fresh, tasty and wholesome -yum! #TheWeeklyPostcard
Yummmm! I love takoyaki – definitely one of my favourite Japanese dishes. #wanderfulwednesday
My friend recently went to Japan and said exactly the same thing!! Fried Japanese food is heaven, so I’d definitely go against the guidebooks and make a stop there. Thanks for making me hungry with all the descriptions…
We went to this area of Osaka. It is an awesome place to visit and the food is AWESOME. We had some mass produced Gyoza and they were amazingly good. We did a day trip from Kyoto. I would consider staying in Osaka at some stage in the future.
The fried noodles and that savoury pancake both look so good! I love traveling through my tastebuds, so this definitely looks right up my alley!
I will admit that when we visited Japan, we only made it to Tokyo and Kyoto. I like that giant octopus in the first photo. How bizarre is it that it’s holding a takoyaki? That’s like a chicken holding a fried chicken drumstick. Anyways, of all the foods you described, I think that yakisoba would be my favorite.
You’ve made me feel very hungry! I do remember Takoyaki but was a bigger fan of the pancake, delicious!
looks absolutely yum! I miss Asian street foods. Japan is unfortunately still on my to do list