23 must-go restaurants in Northern Osaka

Toyono

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.

Furniture and metalworking masters Jozu Works expanded into cooking with this gorgeous, multi-tasking space that houses two eateries fitted with the company’s celebrated artisanal furnishings. Fu specialises in Japanese cooking while Kanjitsu does Western-inspired fare; what they share is a commitment to fermentation, serving up rejuvenating dishes in which local vegetables meet condiments fermented in house.

Vegetables sourced from local farmers take centre stage at this innovative French restaurant. The prettiest and most flavourful greens shine as prominent parts of the colourful multicourse meals, which also feature house ham infused with mountain pepper and a memorable onion cheesecake.

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.

Set amidst the greenery of Nose, this countryside café is run by a husband-and-wife duo who were both born and raised in the area and source their produce from farmer friends in the community. Grab a seat on the terrace and dig into one of the weekly lunch plates or a dessert, coloured by hyper-local greens and fruits.

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.

Artisanal French-style baked treats line the neat shelves at Ikeda’s premier pastry and chocolate shop. Having cultivated a loyal following since opening in 2012, Pâtisserie a terre is the kind of spot you’ll want to get to early – preferably between 10.30 and 11am – to have your pick of the selection. Look out for the gâteau au chocolat, made with chocolate crafted from scratch in house, and the financiers, baked with copious amounts of the shop’s own almond powder. Seasonal specials abound.

Osaka-grown produce figures prominently in the parade of invigorating Italian dishes served as part of A La’s omakase meals (available for groups of two or more). Besides artisanal Naples-style pizzas baked in a handsome wood-fired oven, you can look forward to a selection of refreshing appetisers, plus hearty pastas and meaty mains. Be sure to ask about any seasonal specials: one of the most memorable dishes we’ve had here was a pizza highlighting figs from Habikino in eastern Osaka.

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.

Book at least a day in advance for the chance to eat your way through one of this seafood-focused Italian restaurant’s seasonal multicourse meals, which regularly venture beyond the confines of orthodox Mediterranean cuisine while letting the quality of the ingredients speak for itself.

Ohagi are small rice balls usually coated with sweetened red beans, kinako soybean flour or sesame and salt. Mori no Ohagi puts a creative twist on the traditional snack with a seasonal selection including corn mochi in summer and a combo of grilled chestnut and black rice for autumn and winter.

Chef Kenji Nakata swapped the star-studded kitchens of Paris for residential Toyonaka to pursue his at times narrative-focused, at times poetic cooking, in which the connections between ingredients stand out. His counter-only restaurant serves no more than seven diners at a time, and lunch is offered on Thursdays and Fridays only.

Note: Point will close in Toyonaka on November 9 and relocate to Fukushima ward in December 2025.

Hiroaki Imaki is a veteran of several decorated Italian restaurants, but the Sicilian cuisine he pours his passion into here is inspired by the home-cooked comfort food a Michelin-starred chef’s mother served to kitchen staff at one of his former workplaces. Don’t miss his show-stopping appetiser plate, a signature creation featuring up to nine dishes that set the stage for a memorable feast. Cuccagna is a staple among Shinkansen-borne gourmands, being easy to reach from Shin-Osaka Station.

The innovative couple running Toyonaka’s Limelight took over from the previous generation in 2023 and they’ve been busy elevating and reconfiguring chuka, the unapologetically greasy, no-frills Japanese take on Chinese cooking, ever since. Who knew staples like gyoza, fried rice and grilled bird could be reconstructed into something so photogenic – or that these dishes could pair so perfectly with natural wine or craft beer?

Mishima

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.

Local greens and culinary creativity shake hands at Bonocafe, an Ibaraki institution that celebrates the northeastern city’s produce in the form of an entirely improvised daily set meal built around a random array of fresh, seasonal veg delivered to the shop by local farmers each morning.

Having trained in classical French cuisine before he found his calling in baking, Takashi Funai draws on an eclectic repertoire of skills when crafting his acclaimed – and ever-evolving – selection of breads, pastries and sandwiches. Come prepared to queue.

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.

Putting the Hokusetsu area on beer fans’ radars since 2021, 3Tree Brewery is a pioneering microbrewery where you can settle in and drink your way through their acclaimed selection at the second-floor pub. In addition to four of their regular brews, you’ll find two different seasonal specials on tap every month. 

Having done his time and paid his dues in France, baker extraordinaire Ayumu Iwanaga conjures up baguettes that would hold their own in Paris. Kansai’s leading bread authority now runs several boulangeries in Osaka, but his original Kishibe bakery (and café space) is more than worth the hike out to Suita.

When you want to drink like a local, nothing beats hitting up a kakuuchi – a liquor store that doubles as a bar. Ueda Saketen is the perfect example; a long-established booze dealer with a superb selection of sake, shochu and canned cocktails. Feeling adventurous? Pair your poison with some house-made monkfish liver. 

The lush natural beauty of rural Shimamoto provides an apt setting for the innovative, near-to-nature Italian cuisine conjured up by chef Masaki Hishida. Having done his time in the kitchens of several Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy and trained under the late Gualtiero Marchesi, the first Italian chef to earn three Michelin stars, Hishida employs his hard-earned mastery to highlight the acclaimed produce of the mountainous Mishima region between Osaka and Kyoto.

Reservations essential.