Osaka Local Food Tour with 15 Dishes & a Local Expert Guide

Shinsekai, Osaka's Retro 'New World'

Shinsekai means 'New World', and the name dates from 1912, when the district was laid out on the site of the national industrial exhibition held here in 1903. Its planners copied two foreign models: the northern half was drawn like a Paris boulevard, the southern half like an American seaside amusement park. After the war the area lost its shine, and that is exactly why it feels so authentic today: low prices, hand-painted signboards, giant puffer-fish lanterns and old arcades where locals play shogi.

Is Shinsekai worth visiting? For anyone who loves food, it is one of the most rewarding corners of Osaka, and a Shinsekai food tour is the easiest way to read it, because many counters have no English menu. The best moment is just after dusk, when the neon switches on and the street stalls start frying. Our tour spends its whole evening here, so you never lose time on transport between stops.

Tsutenkaku Tower and the Billiken

Tsutenkaku, the 'tower reaching to heaven', is the landmark that marks the centre of Shinsekai. The first tower of 1912 was inspired by Paris monuments; the present steel tower opened in 1956 and rises about 103 metres, its neon lighting changing colour with the next day's weather forecast. Inside sits the Billiken, a smiling lucky figure whose feet visitors rub for good fortune, and copies of him appear in shop fronts all over the district.

Your guide walks you around the base of the tower between food stops and explains how it became the symbol of working-class Osaka. How to get to Tsutenkaku on your own: it is a five-minute walk from Dobutsuen-mae or Ebisucho stations, and the observation deck is open in the daytime and evening if you want to come back for views over the south of the city.

Takoyaki, Oden and Kushikatsu: Osaka Street Food

The tour opens at a street stall with takoyaki, the round octopus dumplings that Osaka cooks invented in the 1930s. They are turned by hand in cast-iron moulds until crisp outside and molten inside, then finished with sauce, mayonnaise and bonito flakes. Oden follows: radish, egg, tofu and fish cakes simmered for hours in a light dashi broth, a comfort dish that tastes best on a cool evening.

Kushikatsu is the dish Shinsekai is proudest of, and the first shop to sell it here opened in 1929. Meat, seafood and vegetables are threaded on skewers, coated in fine breadcrumbs and fried in seconds. Learn the famous house rule before you start: dip each skewer in the shared sauce only once, and use the raw cabbage leaves on the counter to scoop extra sauce. Kitsune udon, noodles topped with sweet fried tofu, and yakitori join this part of the evening.

Nikudoufu and Gyoza in Traditional Eateries

Away from the busiest arcade, a cosy traditional restaurant serves nikudoufu, an Osaka staple of thinly sliced beef and soft tofu stewed in a sweet soy and dashi broth. It is the kind of dish families cook in winter, and here it comes with beef yakitori and a small sweet of mochi. This is a calmer stop where your guide explains how the city's merchants turned Osaka into the 'kitchen of the nation' during the Edo period, when rice and produce from all over Japan passed through its warehouses.

Next comes a specialised gyoza shop. Osaka-style gyoza are often bite-sized, with thin wrappers pan-fried until the bottoms turn golden and lacy. Watching the cooks fold and fry them is part of the show, and the dipping sauce of soy, vinegar and chilli oil is mixed to your own taste.

Tonpeiyaki Finale and the Osaka Kuidaore Spirit

The last eatery serves tonpeiyaki, a griddle dish born in Osaka in the 1970s: grilled pork wrapped in a thin omelette and covered with sweet sauce and mayonnaise. Bowls of salted edamame and karaage, Japanese fried chicken marinated in ginger and soy, complete the table, followed by a Japanese pancake or fresh fruit. Your final drink is served here, again with soft-drink choices.

Osaka people describe their city with the word kuidaore, roughly 'eat until you drop', and this finale shows why. The best time to join is a weekday evening, when the eateries are full of office workers rather than visitors. Before you say goodbye, your guide shares favourite places for breakfast and lunch, so the rest of your stay in Osaka keeps tasting this good.