OSAKA GUIDE
I really enjoy visiting Osaka. It feels like a big city with a laid-back vibe. There are great restaurants and street food — both takoyaki and okonomiyaki originated from here. The city has a variety of options to spend your day like walking around Osaka Castle, shopping around Dotonbori, visiting the Osaka Aquarium, or even experiencing Universal Studios Japan. I’ve visited Osaka a few times but still have much to explore. Here are my recommendations for the places I’ve been to so far.
Sightseeing
Osaka Castle
Recommendation: Can’t miss.
Osaka Castle is the most famous landmark in the city. It is surrounded by a moat and built atop a hill. The castle grounds are beautiful to walk through during the day and it’s a pleasant change of scenery from the surrounding metropolitan city.
Dotonbori
Recommendation: Can’t miss.
Dotonbori is the main tourist area in Osaka. The area is filled with restaurants and shops. If you want to try some street food, Dotonbori is the best place to find it. Try takoyaki, flour-based batter balls filled with a piece of diced octopus. Or okonomiyaki, a savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients such as meat and vegetables mixed with flour-based batter. The area is lively all throughout the day with plenty of nightlife options as well.
Yamazaki Distillery
Recommendation: Can’t miss if you like whisky.
For those who may not know, Japanese whisky has garnered worldwide popularity over the past decade to a point where many bottles have become very rare and expensive. Suntory is Japan’s first and most popular whisky maker with three distilleries: Yamazaki, Hakashu, and Chiba. Of the three, Yamazaki is the oldest and regarded by many as the best.
The distillery is located between Kyoto and Osaka and is accessible from both cities. It is about thirty minutes by train from Osaka station.
If you want to take a tour of the facilities, you must make reservations in advance. Even if you don’t join the tour, the free museum offers plenty to see as it displays the history of Suntory whisky.
My favorite part of visiting the distillery is the whisky tasting which is available to all visitors. You can pick three whiskies per tasting including some of the rarest bottles like Yamazaki 25, Hakashu 25, and Hibiki 30. Each of these bottles, if you can even find them, can sell upwards of $10,000 and they only charge you $30 per shot. At that rate, the entire bottle would only be valued at around $500! Given how rare the whiskies are, this distillery might be the only place in the world where most people can taste them.
Food
Jinsei
Price: $$$$
Worth trying once: Yes
Would I go back: Yes
Jinsei is a small and cozy sushi restaurant that only serves six guests per seating. The chef doesn’t speak much English and when I visited, my wife and I were the only foreigners while the other guests seemed like regulars. I appreciated being able to join such an intimate setting, even if I felt a bit out of place.
The sushi is traditional Edomae-style and is very good. There wasn’t anything in particular that I felt I never tried, but all the sushi was delicious nonetheless. The overall experience is less fancy than comparable sushi restaurants in Tokyo but also does not cost as much.
Due to limited seating, reservations are difficult so book early and use your hotel concierge to call for you. One important note is that the restaurant is cash-only so make sure you bring enough to pay for the meal.
Rakuraku
Price: $
Worth trying once: Yes
Would I go back: Yes
Rakuraku is an udon restaurant outside of Osaka and is the highest rated udon restaurant in Japan according to Tabelog. Getting to it is a bit of a hassle — approximately an hour each way by train or thirty minutes by taxi. The effort is well worth it as the udon is one of the best I’ve ever had. The noodles are thick and chewy and the broth is flavorful. One of their specialties is bukkake udon where the broth is served separately and poured onto the noodles. I tried the beef udon and tempura udon and would recommend both of them.
The restaurant doesn’t take reservations and is only open for lunch, closing at 3pm. Go early to avoid long waits. Rakuraku was the stand-out restaurant for me in Osaka and I will definitely return in the future.
Gyukatsu Motomura
Price: $
Worth trying once: Yes
Would I go back: Yes
I will start off by saying Gyukastu Motomura is a chain and has multiple locations all over Japan. However, the one I visited in Osaka has been my favorite. The other locations serve beef that feel like it’s been frozen whereas the beef I had here look fresher and tasted better than other places. It’s a great lunch option and you don’t need to make reservations in advance.