38 must-go Japanese restaurants in Osaka

Overlooking the lush landscape of the satoyama, the Japanese word for mountainous areas where people farm, forage and gather firewood, chef Takeru Nakai’s Nose Arata puts the spotlight on the plentiful produce of Nose – from seasonal vegetables to wagyu, wild meat and freshwater fish. Trained in traditional Kyoto cuisine and boasting a cosmopolitan resumé that includes a stint as chef at Japan’s mission to the European Union, Nakai lets his intuition guide him when reinterpreting washoku for the 21st century. The results are spectacular.

An Osaka noodle institution if there ever was one, udon eatery Azuma has been in business since 1864. For more than 50 years, the bestselling menu item here has been the Sasame Udon, an innard-warming bowl of medium-thick wheat noods topped with a thick and starchy ankake sauce accented with fresh ginger.

Having started out in 1955 as a humble food stall at Osaka’s bustling Kuromon Market, udon specialist Sakae developed its quick-cooking, toothpick-thin noodles to satisfy the market’s famously impatient clientele. Though now based in the suburbs, the shop still serves up what’s one of the city’s original fast foods.

Savour Naniwa (Osaka) heirloom vegetables and other seasonal delicacies amidst the bright greenery of early summer or the sparkling hues of autumn at this traditional Japanese restaurant on the trail leading to the thundering Minoo Falls. Book early – think up to a year in advance for the autumn leaves season.

Ryotei – exclusive restaurants and entertainment establishments in the traditional Japanese style – have been influential in shaping Osaka’s culinary culture over the centuries. The venerated Kashiwaya is a prime example; a shrine to hyper-seasonal haute cuisine, where head chef Hideaki Matsuo conducts an orchestra of ingredients that includes sustainably sourced fish and Naniwa heirloom vegetables as he crafts symphonies of flavour in tastefully understated, teahouse-like surroundings.

After a 14-year stint at Masuda, one of Osaka’s best-regarded kaiseki establishments, Toshiaki Amano knows the techniques and traditions of orthodox Japanese cuisine like the back of his hand. That’s exactly why he can bend the rules to come up with delicious surprises at the eponymous restaurant he opened in his hometown of Takatsuki in 2023. Local delicacies from organic produce to honey figure prominently in his playful cooking, which is at times coloured by Chinese and Western influences.

A more than 100-year-old traditional farmhouse deep in the green hills of Takatsuki makes a fitting home for one of Osaka’s most ambitious farm-to-table restaurants. The traditional East Asian 24-season calendar provides the basis for Cocorone’s signature omakase meals (¥25,000), which showcase local game meat, freshwater fish, and wild herbs foraged by the chef himself the same morning. This is a special place indeed, more than deserving of the trek to the prefecture’s farthest northern reaches.

Eager to take on a new challenge together with a team of up-and-coming cooks, chef Shintaro Katayama moved his signature restaurant to fresh digs in March 2025. His new space combines the shoin style of teahouse architecture with contemporary sensibilities, including a sizeable counter that provides an ample canvas for Katayama’s bountiful dishes. From the vividly coloured hassun appetisers to the moreish clay-pot rice that crowns every meal at Rakushin, this is delicate kaiseki at its boldest.

Trained in classical cooking at Osaka institution Ajikitcho, chef Keisuke Mifune channels his vast knowledge of cha-kaiseki – the ornate and highly formal meal served at a traditional tea gathering – into orthodox but imaginative series of dishes, beginning with a colourful expression of the season in the form of the hassun appetiser platter. For a kaiseki place, the atmosphere at Yugen is decidedly laid-back, making it the ideal restaurant for those fairly new to Japanese haute cuisine.

Jovial chef Takayuki Saki hails from Takamatsu across the Inland Sea but has been in the Kansai sushi game since age 16 – plenty of time to develop a distinctive feel for local seafood, around which he structures the artistic omakase meals on offer at this Kita-Shinchi gem.

Clear, aromatic and deeply flavourful, the dashi steals the spotlight at this elevated udon eatery. And no wonder: the broth is painstakingly crafted from high-end ingredients, as you might expect at an offshoot of the two-Michelin-starred Miyamoto, one of Osaka’s leading washoku restaurants. 

An omakase-style tonkatsu counter likely to change your perception of what’s usually dismissed as little more than greasy comfort food, Koshiro offers multiple servings with different cuts of meat – three for lunch, six in the evening – each a different expression of the genius idea of breaded and fried pork.

Takoume near Dotonbori was founded back in 1844 and is considered Japan’s oldest oden restaurant. It specialises in Kanto-daki, the Osaka variety of this classic comfort food and winter warmer, which is lighter in colour and sweeter than the punchy oden common in eastern Japan. Take your pick of around 30 oden options, including daikon radish, surimi fish cakes and various vegetables, plus a few specials like the tako-kanroni (sweet stewed octopus), served in largely unchanged form for 180 years.

Dempo fishing port is home to this gem of a seafood eatery with a cheerful proprietress and an infrequently seen speciality: detchiri, or hot pot with freshly cut fugu. Meals end with zosui, an umami-packed, congee-like dish prepared by dunking rice into the hot pot and mixing it with the remaining dashi broth.

Deep-fried skewers of meat and vegetables, kushikatsu is crispy golden goodness through and through. Savour the quintessential Osaka delicacy at this standing-only shop where all you need to do is face the counter, grab anything lined up on the silver trays, dip your pick in the thick sauce provided and dig in.

Taking Osaka’s iconic octopus dumplings to a new level, Takoriki makes its takoyaki with only the finest ingredients – top-grade kombu kelp and fish flakes for the dashi broth, the freshest octopus from Ise for filling. Its dainty creations taste heavenly even without the obligatory splash of special sauce.

Putting a healthy twist on iconic ‘konamon’ dishes – the multifarious flour-based eats that fuel daily life in Osaka – this casual izakaya is a pioneer in the admittedly narrow field of gluten-free okonomiyaki. Their speciality ‘buta’ (‘pig’) combines a crispy rice flour crust with a soft-boiled egg to delicious effect.

An unmissable stop on any ramen fan’s Osaka itinerary, Kadoya Shokudo is revered for its orthodox soy sauce-based chuka soba. But to truly give the shop’s memorable noodles – crafted in house every morning from a proprietary blend of domestic wheat – their much-deserved place in the spotlight, order the tsukesoba (dipping noodles). Paired with a rich dipping broth and a hearty serving of toppings, these aromatic, perfectly springy noods might well expand your culinary horizons. 

Fujino is famed for its commitment to brand-name Kawachi duck, sourced anew every morning so that cuts like liver and gizzard can be served while they’re still fresh and flavourful. For the full experience, order the Kawachi duck nabe, a hefty hot pot filled with an aromatic Kansai-style skipjack broth that together with vegetables like traditional Namba negi spring onion, water celery and burdock root lends the meat an extra infusion of flavour. Meals end with hand-cut soba noodles. 

Turning off the heavily trafficked National Route 1 in Hirakata and entering this restaurant set in a traditional Japanese country house feels almost like a mini-journey back into a simpler, more beautiful time. Nakanaka’s inspired kaiseki omakase (from ¥9,350) highlights a wide variety of Osaka vegetables, which receive strong backing from seasonal produce grown in nearby Nara and Kyoto. Meals end with a filling serving of rice cooked right at your table over an old-school wood-fired stove.

Sobakiri Tensho takes soba to another level, sourcing multiple varieties of high-grade buckwheat from throughout the country to ensure its noodles – whether thinly cut or roughly ground – are always on point. To savour the ingredient in its simplest, most fundamental form, try the sobagaki, an oblong-shaped, lightly boiled dumpling made from dough containing nothing but buckwheat flour and water. Get there early: the day’s meals often sell out in about an hour.

Laser-focused specialist eatery Marusho has been doing a roaring trade in nothing but pan-fried, thin-skinned gyoza dumplings and beer since 1969. Reservations are essential and taken only from 3pm on the same day – and you’ll need to tell them how many servings you plan on eating in advance.

The history of the former post town of Moriguchi comes alive at Chami, an orthodox kaiseki restaurant helmed by the Kyoto-trained Takuya Funami. Ever conscious of the need to align his craft with contemporary tastes, Funami infuses the revered traditions of Japan’s hyper-seasonal haute cuisine with a playful sensibility – and high-grade ingredients from throughout Osaka prefecture. Reservations are essential for all kaiseki meals, but the restaurant also offers a set lunch for walk-ins and same-day reservations.

Udon doesn’t have to be so serious, as proven by the playful cooks at this Shijonawate noodle joint that doubles as a pub. Get your fill of dishes like the udon tessa – thin slices of noodles eaten with ponzu and grated daikon flavoured with chilli pepper – and be sure to explore the plentiful tempura selection.

Kadoma lotus root is a heirloom vegetable that’s been grown in this area just east of Osaka city for centuries. Savour the sweet and satisfyingly crunchy delicacy in more forms than you knew existed at the restaurant of fourth-generation lotus root farmer Masanori Nakanishi, who turns his own produce into distinctive dishes like the cake-like renkon mochi. If you make it this far, do consider going all out with an elaborate multicourse lotus root meal.

Grill master Kohei Morinaga soaked up serious bird knowledge at Ayamuya, the first restaurant in Osaka to receive a Michelin star for its yakitori, before breaking out on his own to start an omakase-only chicken skewer joint. That decision is now paying off handsomely: Working together with sous chef Noboru Nishiguchi, Morinaga uses specially made titanium skewers and a self-built grill to bring out the dizzying umami in heirloom chicken from Akita and Kyoto, all while complementing the yakitori with an array of compromise-free side dishes.

Grill-it-yourself yakiniku joints are dime a dozen in southern Osaka, but if you’re looking to enjoy high-grade wagyu without breaking the bank, you might as well narrow your options down to one. Queen enjoys the benefit of having a family connection to a local butcher shop, giving the restaurant an insurmountable advantage when it comes to value. Whether it’s chewy intestines or A5-grade chateaubriand you’re after, this place can be counted on to deliver a memorable (and meaty) feast.

To eat like a Buddhist priest – albeit a rather discerning one – travel out to Kawachi-Nagano for this stunner of a restaurant, which occupies a 16th-century building constructed as the kitchen of a temple associated with the historic Kanshinji Temple nearby. Savour a rice porridge made with azuki beans and tea, traditionally eaten at Kanshinji on the first day of spring, or book a full spread of Buddhist cuisine made with local produce – but no meat, fish or ‘pungent roots’ like garlic or onions.

In the world of sushi, the freshest fish isn’t always the finest, as evidenced by the aged delights served at Moriya. Practically bursting with umami, these palate-invigorating morsels are the result of careful craftsmanship and an unparalleled eye for quality, demonstrated by the chef himself during his frequent trips to local ports to meet with trusted fishermen and pick out the most promising seafood. Be sure to order the sake pairing, curated to bring out the very best in every piece.

Carnivores with an eye for unique cuts travel from far and wide to peruse the frequently changing menu at meat master Tsuneyuki Kobayashi’s yakiniku grill. Sourcing rarities like Kumamoto black tongue and ultra-thick wagyu tenderloin from a private network of suppliers, Tsunechan is worth the trek for any dedicated beefeater.

If you can make a living for four decades serving a fish as fickle as fugu, you’re probably doing something right. At Agatha, plump 1.5kg pufferfish are available fresh in the restaurant’s own tanks year-round, ready to be cut up into thick pieces and served either as springy sashimi (‘tessa’) or in shabu-shabu form with ponzu sauce. Either way, the flesh is luxuriously light and mellow, with a refined hint of umami. Not a fugu fan? Try some other type of sashimi, or go for the excellent kushikatsu.

Fresh seafood brought in the same day from the nearby ports gets turned into vibrant seasonal dishes at this kappo stalwart, conveniently located just a few minutes’ walk from Kishiwada Station. While the fish steals the show – you’re offered different types of soy sauce depending on the source of the seafood served – Yuko’s meat and veg dishes are excellent as well, deserving of a pairing with choice tipples from the restaurant’s selection of around 100 wines and 50 types of sake.

Dine in style while gazing out at the elaborate Japanese garden just south of the Kishiwada castle moat at this samurai estate turned fancy kaiseki restaurant, where you can enjoy multicourse meals centred on delicacies such as Kobe beef. Tip: You don’t have to eat at Gofuso to visit the garden and its three teahouses.

Obanzai is straightforward Japanese cooking at its best – a longstanding culinary tradition of using fresh, in-season ingredients that results in meals bursting with natural flavours. Malu turns greens grown in the restaurant’s own garden or sourced from farmers in the neighbourhood into wholesome combinations of inviting small dishes, eight of which are served alongside melt-in-your-mouth rice balls and miso soup in the restaurant’s signature Malu Gokan Teishoku set.

Stewed fish, crisp tempura, Japanese omelette, sashimi cut fresh from fish brought in from the Izumisano fishing port that morning – the options are many and enticing at this eatery where you get to assemble your very own set meal. Open from as early as 4am, it’s a wildly popular spot, so come prepared to queue.

Kappo Matsuya styles itself the only restaurant in Japan specialising in watarigani, or Japanese blue crab. Take your pick of the multicourse meals, which include a bonanza of crab-based treats prepared in a myriad of ways – from salt-grilled to sashimi, in a salad, and incorporated into a rice dish. For a boozy finish to your culinary adventure, be sure to order a cup of the restaurant’s own ‘crab sake’.

Run by the wife of a fisherman based at the nearby Nishitottori Port, this no-frills eatery offers hearty home cooking centred on super-fresh seasonal seafood. Try the daily set lunch, built around your choice of the day’s catch.

A sizeable tank filled with seafood brought to shore on local boats dominates the airy interior of this fishing-village sushi joint. Make a quick pit stop for a couple of nigiri topped with in-season delicacies, or call ahead and settle in for an elaborate multicourse meal built around fugu or hamo sea eel.