Matsuba Sohonten
A standing kushikatsu counter inside Shin-Umeda Shokudogai postwar food alley; from ¥100 per skewer, busy at lunch and after work with office workers.
Order: ['Beef skewer', 'Pork and negi', 'Corn']
Kushikatsu Daruma Shinsekai is a kushikatsu restaurant in Shinsekai, Osaka.
The Shinsekai Daruma flagship below Tsutenkaku Tower, serving thin-battered skewers with the communal sauce pot; the no-double-dip rule is strictly enforced.
Must order: ['Beef kushikatsu', 'Shrimp', 'Lotus root', 'Quail egg']
Address: 2-3-9 Ebisu-higashi, Naniwa-ku, Osaka 556-0002
A standing kushikatsu counter inside Shin-Umeda Shokudogai postwar food alley; from ¥100 per skewer, busy at lunch and after work with office workers.
Order: ['Beef skewer', 'Pork and negi', 'Corn']
Famous for 24-hour pork-marrow kotteri broth and happiness pig chashu; a Namba landmark for late-night workers and tourists seeking rich Osaka tonkotsu.
Order: ['Happiness pig ramen', 'Extra marrow', 'Spicy miso ramen']
Solo-booth tonkotsu ramen at the Dotonbori branch of Japan's solo-dining chain. Customise broth richness, spice, and noodle firmness on an order form.
Order: ['Tonkotsu ramen with flavour-concentration slip']
A warmly lit Hozenji Yokocho izakaya serving Osaka obanzai small plates and house sake; hidden beside the moss-covered Fudo-Myoo altar in a lantern-lit alley.
Order: ['Obanzai set', 'Dashimaki tamago', 'Sake flight']
Fukushima's duck-chashu ramen shop, famous for slow-roasted duck breast in a clean shoyu broth; a 20-seat counter that fills quickly by 12:00 and 19:00.
Order: ['Duck chashu ramen', 'Tori shoyu ramen', 'Half-rice set']
A one-person curry counter with a rotating daily curry made from a house spice blend. No menu card; eat whatever the cook made that morning.
Order: ['Daily curry teishoku']