Osaka calls itself the nation's kitchen and cooks with a rowdier spirit than Tokyo, summed up by the local saying kuidaore, to eat until you drop. The signature here is street and counter food, best chased through the neon canyons of Dotonbori at night.
Takoyaki, molten balls of batter and octopus, and okonomiyaki, a savory cabbage pancake griddled to order, are the icons. Kushikatsu, skewers breaded and deep-fried, pile up in the old Shinsekai district, where the rule is no double-dipping in the shared sauce.
Kappo counter dining, an Osaka invention, lets you sit before the chef for something more refined, and dashi underpins all of it. Graze the stalls of Kuromon market by day and the bright lanes by night. Osakan warmth makes every meal feel convivial.
