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I was only in Osaka for a very quick couple of hours. Aside from visiting Osaka Castle, there wasn’t really too much that interested me in Osaka. I did get a chance to meet up with Anna and her boyfriend from Slightly Astray again. They were using Osaka as their base during their time in Japan.
Such a busy place!
We met up for lunch at one of their favourite places to eat (scroll down, it’s the tsukemen shop) before taking a wander down Dotonbori, a street famous for it street food, bright neon lights and shopping.
Hello from Osaka!
This area is definitely the hub of Osaka as there were so many people out eating and shopping. In fact, Airbnb named the area that Dotonburi is in, Chuo-ku, the hottest neighbourhood to visit in 2016.
One thing I immediately noticed were all the giant food decorations above shops on the street. They gave you a very clear idea of what was being sold in the shop below. One we saw frequently was a giant crab. Naturally, the shop specializes in crab. Called Kani Doraku, people flock here for a taste of their crab and is first in a chain of restaurants. There are three different locations of this restaurant on Dotonbori street alone. Definitely popular! I’m not the biggest fan of shellfish so there really was no desire for me to try it.
This one even moves!
Gyoza on a building? Yep, you can expect dumplings.
Giant octopus? You can expect takoyaki.
They were everywhere you looked!
Sushi by the looks of it
Fugu anyone?
This was a bit away from Dotonburi, but looked so creepy and warrented a photo.
There were so many stalls offering interesting bites, but we were so full from lunch. We did manage to eat one thing that I wanted to try while in Osaka: takoyaki or squid balls.
Takoyaki in the making
Considered a specialty of the area, takoyaki is octopus mixed into a batter and cooked into the shape of a ball. It’s then topped with a sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce with that sweet and sour flavour), mayonnaise, green laver (a type of seaweed) and dried bonito flake shavings.
Takoyaki anyone?
I had takoyaki before and while I know a lot of people love it, I don’t. Especially now that I’ve had it from the source, I have definitely made up my mind. I don’t find the texture appealing at all. Inside is rather mushy and slimy and then you get the chew bits of octopus.
Another famous landmark along Dotonburi street is the Glico man. I grew up eating the many flavours of Pocky and Pretz were some of my favourite snacks (still are!), both of which are manufactured by Glico so I was familiar with the brand, but not necessarily this guy.
He can be seen from the Ebisu bridge which runs over the Dotonburi canal where you can get a good view of all the signs and billboards in the area. I’m still not too sure what makes the Glico man such a landmark beyond standing out among all the neon lights.
From the couple of hours I spent in Osaka, it felt very much like a smaller version of Tokyo full of neon lights, shops, restaurants and people. After a couple days in quieter Kyoto, it felt really overwhelming from all the things to look at. At the same time, Osaka was really underwhelming compared to all the other places I had been. Maybe I need to spend more time in the city to truly get a feel of it, but who knows?
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I’m glad we were able to hang out! But I’m sorry that Osaka isn’t that exciting :P. I’m actually really surprised that it’s named one of the hottest neighborhoods in 2016. I feel like I can only walk around there for an hour or so before it becomes a little boring. And the food isn’t that great either. I agree… I’m not a fan of the takoyaki either, but the theme songs were hilarious. I still have it popping into my head from time to time!
I was pretty surprised to see Osaka on the top of the list as well, but maybe others know something we don’t? That song was awesome! I need to find my video footage of it and add it to this post.
I share the same view as Adelina here. I was surprised to see Osaka make them, but then we might be missing on something here.
But among the Japanese, Osaka is known as a center of home style Cuisine. I must agree that takoyaki is not great. But if you like Japanese food, Osaka is the city
I know so little about Osaka – on my trip to Japan, I flew in and flew out of there, but spent my time exploring elsewhere. I do love the photos of this street and the handy signs to let you know what to eat where though! #citytripping
I think a lot of people skip Osaka for that same reason. No one really talks all that much about the city when it has to compete with Tokyo or Kyoto for example.
Osaka was my FAVORITE city in Japan. I’m bummed you didn’t enjoy it. I found the other neighborhoods to be incredibly low key, the people were some of the nicest I met and the food was my favorite of anywhere else in Japan. Maybe you have to give it a few more days next time you’re in Japan!
Yes, I think you’re right Laura. It’s so hard when you only have a couple hours and you get a bad impression of a place. I definitely need to return to Japan at one point.
I enjoyed reading your post, Adeline, especially since I don’t know anything about Osaka. I’ve never visited any place in Asia so far and it sounds like I’m missing a lot. Especially the great food, although I don’t think I’d even taste something like takoyaki. There other Japanese dishes that I’m crazy about.
There’s plenty of really great Japanese food! Hopefully you’ll get a chance to visit one day. I highly recommend it.
You have brought back memories of my brief time in Osaka. We were only there for a night (and stayed in the tiniest hotel room ever) but I really enjoyed the buzz and the food was great. After hectic Tokyo it was good to come to a slightly more low key city. I think one of the food stall owners insisted we try takoyaki and just gave it to us – my husband and I weren’t too impressed either! An acquired taste perhaps. Thanks for linking to #citytripping
That’s very true. Osaka is definitely a low key version of Tokyo. That is the perfect description. I guess I’m not the only one that isn’t too impressed with takoyaki!
I’m not a fan of tokoyaki either, even after I figured out that octopus balls were not in fact an octopus’s balls. I think I would enjoy visiting Osaka just to walk down this one street. It seems like an on-steroids version of the plastic food you see displayed in restaurant windows. That giant fugu is my favorite.
That’s a great way of putting it. I did enjoy the wander down this street because there is just so much to look at. It’s a lot of fun!
It has not changed much since I last saw this place in the 1980s
That’s good to hear! It’s nice that places, while modernizing, keep to their roots.