My 3ish Days in Osaka
Technically, Osaka was our hub for a full week, but more days than not, we jumped on a train to another city (we had the Kansai-Hiroshima Rail Pass). Here’s the itinerary for the 3 days we spent in Osaka. Disclaimer: they’re mostly food-related.
Day One | Mon, May 13
It took us a breezy 2.5 hours to get to Osaka via bullet train from Tokyo. Our first task was to check into our cutie Traditional Japanese House. It was a little out of the way from key Osaka sites, but nestled in a calm and charming residential neighborhood, so we didn’t mind.
We settled in, snacked on fun chips and crackers our host had left us (there were like 5 different flavors: wagyu, shrimp, etc.), and started a load of laundry.
Dinner at YumeTori
As I shared in my Foodie Favorites post, we LOVED this cozy Korean-owned bar for yakitori (skewers). We ordered as we went — three rounds of food — to sample the menu. Our favorites were the chicken hearts, chicken with leeks, kimchi, and shishito peppers. Their plum wine with yuzu was our favorite of the whole trip as well. The staff was welcoming and the grand total only came out to about 6500 yen (~$40). Cash only.
Shinsekei “New World”
We ended our night in Shinsekei, which blasts you straight to the past — 1912, to be exact (when it was built). One part mimics Paris…
The other part mimics Coney Island. It mostly made us feel weird, LOL.
Day Two | Tues, May 14
Westwood Bakers
As I’ve stated elsewhere, breakfast is hard to come by in Japan and we love a good bakery, so this California-inspired shop called our names. However, we had to wait quite awhile to get seated and the food/coffee was really nothing special. Would skip next time.
Dotonbori
When you think of Osaka, you think of Dotonbori and the Glico man. This is the “downtown.”
It’s also the most crowded area of Osaka.
One of the main reasons we made Osaka our homebase was that it’s Japan’s street food capital. Here, in Dotonbori, we tried our first of the street foods: the popular melonpan. It’s a bread/cookie you can fill with ice cream. We ordered the green tea flavor. It was just alright.
We walked around the Kuromon Market, then hopped on the metro toward Osaka Castle.
Osaka Castle
The castle and surrounding grounds are beautiful — definitely worth seeing!
If you’re in the mood for some museum-y stuff + wanna see the views from the top, it’s only like $4 to tour the inside. Buy your tickets ahead (via Klook) and you can skip the line. I, personally, found the outside more impressive.
By 3 o’clock, all that walking in the sun was wearing us out, so we stopped for some vending machine ice cream. Highly recommend :)
SÖT Coffee
We had a walking/eating tour scheduled later, so we decided to find a place to recharge for a bit. SÖT Coffee is a Nordic style shop, ideal for working on a laptop or just chilling for awhile. They had quality coffee and a few sandwich/dessert options.
Off the Beaten Path Osaka Local Bar Crawl
This sake tour on Airbnb Experiences was easily the most fun we’ve ever had on a food/drink tour! Taka took us to three super local spots, where he ordered various small plates of delicious food, beer, and sake for the table and curated the whole experience. See this post for more detail.
Taka was a master at facilitating the group with his hilarious stories. He also taught us key Osaka and Tokyo differences.
Apparently, while Tokyo has a reputation for being straight-laced and formal, Osaka is known for being more casual and rule-breaking (not in a dangerous/criminal way, more like challenging cultural norms). Taka gave the example that if you see a “no bicycle parking” sign on a Tokyo street, you’ll also see no bicycles within a block’s radius, while the same sign in Osaka will attract people to park their bikes there. (To be fair, there are A LOT more bicycles in Osaka.)
Osaka is more of an artistic hub too — home to Japanese comedy and other less traditional career paths. And their vernacular is different.
Taka taught us to say: “ookini” instead of “arigato” (for thank you) and some other slang you’ll have to go there to learn :)
This tour was the best thing we did in Osaka and one of the highlights of our trip! Our only regret was that we had an early morning the next day (train to Kyoto), so we had to miss out on karaoke.
Day Three | Fri, May 17
We spent Wednesday and Thursday in Kyoto, then were back to Osaka for a flexible foodie Friday. This was a great day, starting with…
Ajinoya Okonomiyaki
This Bib Gourmand spot prepares one of Osaka’s signature dishes: okonomiyaki, table-side! And wow! We LOVED it!
Osaka’s version of okonomiyaki is essentially a cabbage omelet with a sweet BBQ sauce (we added the egg on top). At Ajinoya, you order while still in line. We got an “Ajinoya’s Mix” okonomiyaki (loaded with squid, octopus, pork, shrimp, etc.) and the “Ajinoya Homemade Stewed Beef Tendons.” Both were piping hot and delicious! We got some fun pickled veggies on the side too. A+ all around! It was the perfect amount for three of us to split for our first meal of the day. If you’re very hungry, you’ll want to order multiple okonomiyakis :)
Takoyaki
We saved very little space in our bellies for more food, but had to try takoyaki (octopus in batter) while we were in the neighborhood!
There are about a million street vendors selling takoyaki. We chose this one^ from the Michelin guide.
It had good flavor, but the inside was a bit too goopy for our liking. Be careful, they come out VERY hot!
Next up: Glitch Coffee.
Glitch was not easy to find. It was unclear which building it was in or what floor, if it was even in a building. We wandered around for quite some time, asked several people for help (they pointed us in the general direction), and consulted every map along the way.
The shop had no signs.
Eventually, we found it on the other side of some stairs. We didn’t realize it would be so…elegant. High ceilings, classy furniture, records playing. Carefully chosen, exquisite coffees. Apparently, Glitch was a destination all in itself.
Ignoring the prices, we selected three single origin coffees (representing Colombia, Costa Rica, and Ethiopia) to be brewed via the most beautiful pour-over set-up I’ve ever seen. I had no doubt they’d handmake each with the utmost care.
Each coffee was priced according to how limited / in demand its lot was. To give you an idea, the total for three cups cost over $50.
WE SAVORED them til the very last drop.
My mother-in-law became a coffee-drinker on this trip! I think her change of heart came mostly from experiences like this where we got to try such fragrant, fruity, tea-like, perfectly-brewed cups. Well done, Glitch.
Yakiniku dinner
We had 5 o’clock reservations for a yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant in Hozenji Yokocho — a series of iconic cobblestone alleyways known for their traditional food and izakayas.
Our restaurant, Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M, specialized in Matsusaka wagyu (wagyu is the Japanese word for beef, and Matsusaka is the region — like Kobe). You grill your meat and veggies right at your table.
This is definitely an experience worth having! Between the three of us, we shared two multi-course dinners, which included veggies to grill, a rich and delicious rice, five different cuts of beef (including beef sushi), and dessert.
This (chain) restaurant seemed to cater to tourists, so it probably cost more than it needed to. But the food was great, so we had no complaints. After our meal, we explored the alleyways, including this pretty shrine.
Dotonbori after dark
We had to see it all lit up!
And try some mini-cheesecakes from Pablo.
(Japan isn’t big on dessert, but they LOVE their cheesecake. You can find cheesecake at the convenience stores and all the coffee shops. Pablo’s are special because they’re mini tarts and all sorts of fun flavors).
To conclude our day and our visit to Osaka, we walked through Amerika-mura (a Western-inspired retail area / hang-out for expats). Most shops were closing, so there wasn’t much to see.
Planning a trip to Japan?
I think two days in Osaka is plenty to see the highlights. You could split your time: 2+ nights in Osaka and 3+ nights in Kyoto.
Though, it seemed like there were more affordable lodging options in Osaka vs. Kyoto. So, if — like us — you make Osaka your homebase for a week (with regional day-trips), try to stay near Shin-Osaka train station. That’ll save you a lot of time/energy.
But whatever you decide, eat some okonomiyaki for me!
