Unique Osaka Food Tour 🇯🇵 First 48 Hours in Japan’s Food Capital |Abura Soba, Takoyaki & Hidden Gems
Welcome back to East West Wonder. If Tokyo was all about hidden gems and refined flavors, Osaka is completely opposite. Loud, bold, and deliciously chaotic. We have finally arrived in Japan’s food capital, where every corner smells like something amazing. From sizzling takoyaki to juicy kioatsu and comforting bowls of abura soba. In this episode, we’ll take you through our first two days in Osaka, tasting everything from local street food to cozy cafe finds. And of course, we’ll share some real tips for exploring Osaka like a local foodie. Let’s dive into the heart and stomach of Kansai. Welcome to Osaka, the kitchen of Japan. So, we just checked out from our hotel in Kyoto and now we’re heading to Osaka at culinary capital of Japan. Let’s go. So, we have arrived to Osaka in the first wipe. I feel it reminds me of Tokyo actually a little bit. But, uh the first thing, of course, what we’re going to do is to find something great to eat. For our first lunch in Osaka, we decided to try Japanese sukiyaki at a small local spot. Cozy, authentic, and exactly what we were looking for. So, this place a little bit hard to find. This is the location of the restaurant on the second floor. Let’s go. So the first restaurant we came to it’s a sukiyaki and grill restaurant. So we ordered some lunch deal with um premium uh beef. We’re looking forward to try it because it will be different I guess concept and you know the first lunch in Osaka the food capital of Japan. So we’re excited. First let’s prepare adip. Adip means raw egg. You just open it like a normal egg. Look at the yolk. It’s so bright orange. Nearly red color actually. Quite full. We also got a kimchi and rice as well. The gas stove preparing for the hot pot is being cooked now. [Music] And mine’s also been cooked right now. And I ordered a bigger portion. So, looks pretty big for lunch, but I think it’s a good beginning of our trip in Osaka. We start to smell so good for And I’m mixing my egg because the right way to eat is once once it’s cooked, you you dip it in the egg. And then uh this the right way how you eat this. One of the pieces of beef is already cooked enough, I think. So, let’s do it in the right way. Put it in the egg and then uh we can uh try this wool beef. [Music] It’s very tender. a bit different from shabu shabu my experience go ahead and um kyoto but it tastes good and the beef itself is very juicy tender and um actually dissolve in your mouth as well I like it I think um it’s um different experience the the broth itself it’s a little bit um sweet so also quite different so yeah it’s delicious I like First time trying a sukiyaki for me and I really don’t know what to expect. So, let’s try. I heard that the broth is a little bit different, like sweet, but let me try. [Music] The beef is very good. However, the broth is sweet. A little bit sweeter to my taste, but still good. This is I think I just need more time to adapt to a new taste because uh because usually hot uh in my world is usually different taste. So, it’s just a new taste for me which I need to adapt to. So I slightly adjusted the taste. I put a little bit of garlic paste and also chili paste. So to my taste it became better. But in general uh guys I have to say that I understood the taste uh by the end of eating this dish. So, if you like um sweet broth, sweet with a little bit of um garlic and um um I think some vegetable taste, it’s a bit unusual for us, but it still tastes good. And um in the end, I actually have to say I’m really enjoying. [Music] After lunch, we took a walk to the famous Tuttbururi district. Full of energy, people, and incredible food smells everywhere. Osaka instantly gave us a great first impression. [Music] Before checking into our hotel, we stopped by Brooklyn Roasting Company to grab a coffee and recharge a bit. So we found a coffee shop before we check in in the hotel which is called like Brooklyn coffee roastery or something like that and actually design of the shop is really cool and to be honest reminds me to some extent um timeout market in Dambo in Brooklyn New York. So really cool atmosphere. How’s the coffee then? The coffee is good and it’s iced coffee. So something that we need for this weather because it’s really hot in Osaka right now. Yeah. And I want to l coffee also. So we just checked into the hotel. Here’s the room with a kitchen. So we can potentially cook, but probably when you go to the restaurants kind of a balcony can go outside to see Osaka. So, it’s time for evening walk to explore Saka a little bit and of course we will find something delicious to eat. Yes. First, we stop at 7-Eleven to get something to drink. I’m going to take my this one. Berries and yogurt. We’ll do the make the smoothie on our own. again. No is uh mixing her favorite uh smoothie in 7-Eleven. [Music] Now just wait and let the machine do the magic. [Music] So good. Osaka at night felt absolutely magical. Full of lights, energy, and people everywhere. The city truly comes alive after dark. And then we spotted a small kiosk selling freshly grilled squid. The smell alone was impossible to resist. They cook it right in front of you and you can see just how fresh and juicy it is. [Music] So, we got the squid and um the way they cooked it, they really pressed it hard to the grill. They put some sauce and also I think some chili peppers and um some other seasoning. I have no idea what they put, but I think it’s the time to try. Look, looks gorgeous. It’s very flavorful. The strong taste of chili, maybe some oregano actually, and some sweet sauce, but tastes really good. I like it. very good snack before you go for a proper dinner. It smells so good. So, I cannot wait to try it. [Music] Super well seasonings. So good. A little bit spicy, but yeah, I can handle this spiciness. So, it’s very good. And the auto boost is as a squid actually. It’s really really really fresh. Yeah, it was fresh. It just cooked in front of us. So perfect. [Music] Looks magical in the night. Yeah, very different vibes from the daytime. [Music] [Music] There are crazy a lot of shops, restaurants kios here to try different food. We don’t know where to start. Even maybe somewhere of the recent past. Yeah. For dinner, we decided to go for Abura Soba Ramen at a spot right in the city center. It looked local and cozy, just the way we like it. So, we came to the local Aburura Soba ramen place. It’s a ramen without um broth. You see this even instruction how to eat it. And um we ate something like this in Tokyo as well. And by the way, if you haven’t watched our Tokyo videos, please don’t forget to watch. It’s also ultimate experience of our Japanese u uh holidays. So, we’re looking forward to try it again because in Tokyo really we loved it. It was so good. And you also have to wear this uh paper apron just to make sure you will not make your clothes dirty cuz to be honest, my experience with Japanese food, I always make my clothes dirty. So whenever it’s available, do wear it because it’s really helping a lot to protect your clothes. So, we got our noodles and they say that the first thing you have to put some um um vinegar, a little bit like this, and then a little bit of um chili oil to make um the taste even more um authentic. And also, we can choose some toppings. For example, we have here onion um garlic. chili. I think nothing go wrong with some garlic. And um we can also put a little bit of um chili. Just a little bit. No need to do crazy because chili is obviously spicy. Just a little bit like this. And then it’s time to mix this dish properly. very strong uh smell of nori seaweed like quite interesting way. So mix it like this also egg as you see it’s quite melted inside. So I think also will give some um flavor. So now let’s um try this noodles. Very flavorful really strong taste of garlic, chili and al some also nori. I would say I would highlight it because nori really makes some a difference here. I need to my taste I would put a little bit of more um soy sauce. But in general, I like it. Really good. And you know, every time I’m surprised because whenever you eat um ramen or this um aura noodles in Japan, every time it will be different because I think each restaurant decides um on what toppings they put for the for their own classic um dish. So it varies from the restaurant to restaurant. So that’s quite cool because you never know what to expect. We tried noodles, but let’s obviously try some meat. It’s pork meat and put them all the sauces. It’s really good. I really recommend to put um lot of garlic if you like it and of course vinegar and chili oil. It really makes difference. So I recommend it. I love I feel like uh I’m cooking uh my own Aurora soba now because like my bowl has totally different taste from Alex B. So it’s totally depends on you to make your own taste. Yeah, because you it’s up to you how much you want um garlic or chili. So it’s totally depends on your preference. For example, I like a lot of garlic and chili and some people don’t like it. So you can adjust the taste accordingly. But anyway, it will taste good. Yeah. See, that’s what I was talking about. A lot of spots here. If I didn’t wear it, this new t-shirt had to go to the washing machine directly. Smart idea. So good. I think noodles, but the sauce, I love it. Good stuff. I can see how much you like it. Yes. I’m not a good cook. So, after five times of mixing, I finally got my perfect uh uh pura sa broth. Oh, all thanks to the Alex kids. [Music] You can also have a a boat tour here. I don’t know how much it cost to be honest, but it looks really nice, you know, between the lights. In general, the atmosphere here is really nice. A lot of people, a lot of colors, advertisements. Really nice uh place. Don’t worry. channel. [Music] There are a lot of um decorated trees. It feels like Christmas is already coming. Although it’s like about 2 months until Christmas, but everything is decorated. Quite nice. And then it was time to try Osaka’s famous takoyaki. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and absolutely iconic for this city. Thank you. So, we ordered um takoyaki with menteo sauce. I have no idea what is this to be honest, guys. We have already tried the takoyaki in Kyoto, but um it’s originated from Osaka. So, I’m quite excited to try it. And you? No. Oh, absolutely. Yes. There a lot of people actually uh uh stay in the line in the main street to uh try this. So, I’m even more curious now. This is the shop just uh off the beaten path a little bit and have quite good ranking. So, we’ll see. So, we’ve got our takoyaki with the sauce, and it smells so so good, guys. Really. Oh, cannot wait to try it. And this time I’m going to be a bit more careful because when I tried it in Kyoto, I literally burned my mouth. So I need to be a bit uh more gentle now. Oh, they’re so fluffy and so soft. Let’s bite. Quite a strong um taste of seafood and be honest. this um seaweed together with the sauce. It’s a little bit spicy. Not like spicy spicy, just slightly spicy. Gives a lot of taste. And let’s actually try the piece of octopus which is inside. It’s very good. a very different snack, you know, like in comparison to that other pancakes, if you can call it pancake. Of course, there’s a piece of um octopus like this. You can see it inside as well, but um it’s more this the structure is more like liquid, less condensed, but it tastes really good. And octopus in the middle makes it really special. And what do you think about this takoyaki no? It’s hot. [Music] It actually gross on me at first. Um, it was a bit uh different. So, I needed the time to uh understand the taste. But now, the more I ate, the more I realized that I started to like it more. Um especially the inside part is really creamy and then the octopus is super fresh here. Um and then with the combination of um this um uh special mayo sauce a little bit spicy. I think it’s perfect. It’s getting better. Yeah. Yeah. It’s really fresh as well because I saw that he just uh made this when we ordered. So, it’s kind of becoming our tradition. In every Japanese city, we’re trying different sake. And this time, this it’s more expensive sake. I think it’s like 1,200 yen for this uh small uh bottle. So, I have high expectation for this. And the first thing, of course, we need to open it. And I need to do really carefully because last time when I opened it, I cut my um uh my my arm. You see here? Last time in Kyoto. Although was good, but I was not really careful. So, hope this time I’m not going to get make it worse. Let’s see. Oh, this time is different. It’s like it’s like a bottle of wine, you know? So, it’s different way of opening it. Let’s put a bit in the glass. [Music] Oh, smells actually a little bit different like so fruity smell. I don’t know where it’s coming from given that it’s rice wine, right? But every time actually I can notice that it’s um full of full of smell like usually it’s grape smell. But let’s try. [Music] It tastes very different. It’s like um a mix of different fruits. Not like just grape, but different. I don’t know how they make it because it’s pure rice, right? I’m not sure how sake is being produced or whatever. Guys, please do comment if you know how it’s made and every detail how they can produce this type of um taste. But it does taste really good. I like it. You know, funny fun fact, I think it reminds me a little bit of Haribo, but it’s just my feeling. The next morning, we started our day at Sakimoto Bakery Cafe, a cozy spot known for its freshly baked cakes, buttery croissants, and that irresistible smell of warm bread. And of course, we couldn’t skip our morning coffee to kick off the day, right? Good morning, guys. Today is our second day in Osaka. So, we started with a small breakfast like this. So, it’s honey toast with um I think matcha and some other cream. So, looks interesting. Looks a bit unusual to be honest. And um I got um iced coffee. I know got her favorite iced matcha latte. So, let’s try. Smells different. It’s really interesting how they combine the taste of honey bread with the matcha. It’s good. It’s sweet. It’s something that I would enjoy in the morning. So, pretty good. I like Then we took a walk to Namba Yasaka Ginga, a unique shrine famous for its giant lion head structure. The scale in detail are incredible and it’s such a fascinating spot to explore in Osaka. For lunch, we decided to try Japanese gyocatsu, a crispy tender beef cutlet. That’s a must try specialty in Osaka and Japan. So once you have a reservation, you can skip this long line which we hate. So we made it in advance. So I hope the food will be good. So, we’re finally inside the restaurant and this time we’re going to order a beef cutlet and we’re going to grill it ourselves. So, different experience and also just keep in mind this restaurant it’s very very crowded and Rod mentioned we don’t like uh crowds lines. So, we have reserved this restaurant I think three or four days in advance just to avoid the hustle and the line is really crazy but we managed to skip it thanks to our advanced planning. So, good for us. [Music] [Music] So we got our food. So this is beef cutlet. Looks slightly like with some salad sauce. Also we got the mochi for dessert and um some other sauces. And of course, we’re going to grill it on this uh grill. I know I’ve got a single portion. We have a bit bigger portion, but makes sense. I guess this is salad sauce. Smells good. Now, let’s maybe start grilling it. Yes. So see it’s a ro me which you have to pay. [Music] I think we do not uh need a lot of time for that. Ah also have a soup here. It’s like miso soup. [Music] And this is the to eat with rice and different sauces. And also we got a dessert moi. Yeah, but we’ll eat that later. It smells so good. I will dip it in the onion sauce. [Music] Wow. [Music] So good. So good. It’s like uh in to another level, to the next level with beef. I love it. I also cannot wait to try it. And look, look at this beef. Looks really good. Let’s grill it from each side. Let’s try a bit of rice. [Music] Let’s turn it around. Smells so so good. I love the sound of grilling, you know. Yeah. [Music] See, it’s cooked. I think uh it’s time to enjoy the beef. I don’t know how to eat. I think we put a bit soy sauce. Oh, it’s so tender. The meat it is all in my mouth. Oh god. I mean, no is right. It’s um to another level. So, I like it a lot. I mean, I love it. It’s um very tasty in very unique way when you grill it yourself. I love Japanese food. [Music] [Music] even [Music] Now let’s try on the feet with some wasabi sauce. Here we have some wasabi. Put on top like this. [Music] Really good for you. It gives a lot of spiciness and I love spicy food. Oh, really good. Quite different flavor. [Music] [Music] [Music] Look at this. [Music] The food was very good. We enjoyed it a lot. Now I feel very full. But we still have a small dessert which is um a small varabi mochi. Looks like this. Was good. Let’s eat it. [Music] It’s different. It’s like it tastes like liquid inside a little bit sweet and um I think some nuts like nuts powder. Not good. Very refreshing after you eat this heavy lunch. Yeah, this dessert has um jiggling texture but very popular dessert here in Japan as well. Wasabi wabi um mochi. So we went to Saka Castle Park. It’s quite big park in general. The weather is also good and you can find options to uh have a snack through the Starbucks also those super market and also bakery I think over there and it’s only the beginning of the park so in general you can find something to drink or to eat while walking around the park and this is Osaka Castle here how it looks like a little bit different from European style I mean not a little bit totally different and if you want to enter inside I think you have to buy ticket and stay in line. But we’re not going to go inside. I think outside view is pretty good enough. So before going for for a dinner, we decided to go to this Osaka Shinskai area. Looks quite nice, full of light. Let’s go and explore it. The area looks really nice. A lot of shops around and very colorful. You you see the tower in front of us. Yeah, it’s it’s nicer in real life. Actually, looks nice in real life, of course, but that’s the maximum we can do. Unfortunately, show you like this. [Music] And after we pass the tower, it’s actually getting more crowded and even more colorful. So we came to the shop which serves different curry dishes like traditional Japanese curry and also curry udon. It’s a chain called cocoa available all over Japan and the first time we’re trying. I don’t know maybe it’s touristic trap guys. I don’t know but it’s mostly good and we want to try it and you order with this tablet. So you just choose whatever you want here and uh the food will come to your table. You can customize the toppings. You can add any type of toppings you want to your order. Cheese. So the important tip whenever you can just request this apparon so do not make your um clothes dirty. Ready to eat? Absolutely. I was born ready. So we got our first starter or side dishes they call it actually here. So it’s a potato crocket. Looks good. Smells really good. very good. There’s something else about potato. It’s a bit um spicy, you know. Actually, to some extent, this potato rocket reminds me of samosa. I don’t know, but something in this. I got my main dish. So, it’s a pork cutlet. I ordered some extra toppings like sausages and vegetables with potatoes, carrots, and um I think cheese as well here. And I also ordered it’s a bit spicy. So I like spicy, but I hope it’s not too spicy this time. Let’s try with a lot of cheese. It’s very flavorful. I think the spicy level it’s pretty good for me. Maybe not for every uh person, but for me, I like it. And um the meat is also quite fresh and um crispy, so it was just cooked. And um let’s try one piece of potato. [Music] It’s really good with this curry sauce. It’s different from Indian curry. It’s also spicy because I ordered like medium spicy. Um but um it tastes really good. I mean it reminds me of some homemade comfort food. Maybe also you see all the sausages here. Looks reminds me of Numba Gab actually the same size from Germany. But let’s try this one. Not bad. Nothing super duper special, but with the curry sauce tastes good. I like I ordered the same curry but different toppings this time with spinach and let’s try the sauce first with rice. We ate uh this uh dish in Tokyo. Um but it’s first time we try in this chain. So we’ll see whether it’s good as people said a little bit spicy, but it’s really uh well seasoned to me. I think it’s to my taste is really good. It’s not not super spicy. And uh the the curry is not not very sweet, which is good. Um yeah, well balanced to my taste. Um let me try the meat. It’s pork. Looks like a schnit. [Music] meat. Um, the better part could be a little bit more crispy than would be more perfect. Um, the one we ate in Tokyo was crispier. But yeah, to to the quality of the chain, I would say it’s not bad. Freshly cooked like feel like home food. Yeah. With the with the curry sauce, it’s make it bad. I would say it’s still good choice. Good and um affordable choice. So, uh this is a melon pan. Very popular snack here. It’s called melon, but actually it doesn’t taste like melon according to people uh what people said. I have no idea how it tastes, so I’m going to try it. M smell really good. It’s like really good bread with sugar on top, but it has the It has the fresh bakery taste. You should try it. Yeah. Okay. Now, I’m also going to try this h bread. I think they put they put a lot of butter here with sugar, but I think it’s a good um snack, you know, when you have your morning coffee. Of course, like now it’s almost end of the night and um probably not very suitable, but still good, you know. Quite good. We can record the scenes for you, but actually we cannot record how good the smell of the sweet is. Yes. Everywhere you can smell like grill, like a wafering ramen. Oh, I’m going to miss Japan. I’m telling you because I have never experienced this in any country in the world. This is something you need about Japan. Yeah, it smells so good. Most of the suggestions from the internet, especially like typical travel guidelines, it’s quite limited. I think um what is good about Osaka, you need to follow um any guideline. You just get lost and you find some really amazing neighborhoods like we found and amazing restaurants. Just follow the locals and you don’t really need to follow any guidelines on the internet. Don’t be afraid to get lost in this amazing city.
Welcome back to East West Wander!
We’ve arrived in Osaka — Japan’s food capital, and our first 48 hours were packed with bold flavors, fun street food, cozy cafés, and incredible local discoveries. If you’re planning an Osaka food tour, this video will show you exactly what to eat, where to go, and how much everything costs!
In this episode, we explore:
🍖 Gyukatsu Motomura – perfectly crispy, rare beef cutlets
🍜 Abura Soba Kirinji Sennichimae – Osaka’s comforting noodle classic
🐙 Takoyaki at 鉄板くん – late-night snack in the heart of Dotonbori
🍞 Sakimoto Bakery Café – Osaka’s famous fluffy Japanese toast
🍛 Coco Ichibanya – Japan’s must-try curry
☕ Brooklyn Roasting Company – specialty coffee break
🍱 Nikuguro Amerikamura – juicy lunch plates in America-mura
Plus, we visit the impressive Namba Yasaka Shrine, wander Osaka’s lively neighborhoods, and share the real local food spots we loved most.
If you’re searching for:
• Osaka street food
• Osaka itinerary 2025
• What to eat in Osaka
• Hidden gems in Osaka
• Affordable Osaka food tour
• Dotonbori food guide
— this video is for you!
📍 All prices included in the video
🎥 Filmed October 2025
🌏 Part of our Japan Food Journey series (Tokyo → Mt Fuji → Kyoto → Osaka)
🕒 Video Timestamps & Food Stops:
[00:00] Welcome to Osaka, Japan’s Food Capital
[01:49] First Lunch: Wagyu Sukiyaki Hot Pot
[05:52] Exploring the Dotonbori District
[06:10] Coffee Break at Brooklyn Roasting Company
[08:25] Late Night Snack: Freshly Grilled Squid
[11:20] Dinner: Mixing Our Own Abura Soba Ramen (Brothless)
[17:34] Trying Osaka’s Famous Takoyaki (The Real Deal!)
[21:21] Trying Expensive, Fruity Sake
[23:18] Morning: Sakimoto Bakery Cafe (Honey Toast)
[24:32] Visiting the Unique Namba Yasaka Shrine (Lion Head)
[24:54] Lunch: Grilling Our Own Beef Gyukatsu
[32:09] Osaka Castle Park Visit
[32:54] Exploring the Shinskai Area at Night
[33:40] Dinner: Japanese Chain Curry (CoCo Ichibanya)
[39:00] Popular Japanese Snack: Melon Pan
[40:42] Final Thoughts: Best Tip for Osaka Foodies
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#OsakaTravel
#JapanFoodVlog
#OsakaStreetFood
#japantravel2025
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