Osaka was the most Western city. It is known as the “Nations Kitchen “of Japan. This is because it has historically been a significant city for trade and commerce and is home to a wide variety of delicious food. No wonder I took a food tour here again. I will explain the food I experienced in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto to keep all Japanese food together.
Sushi
Regarding Japan, Sushi is the most common food we know in Europe. I tried all different ways to eat sushi: cold in the takeaway box, running sushi, an all-you-can-eat-sushi, and, for sure, a very expansive 1st class sushi place. And honestly, it is the best sushi ever, all of them!
And by the way, none of these fancy sushi types, i.e., California Roll, Chrispy Chilli Chicken, or Philliadelphia-Rolll, exist in Japan.
Noodle Soup
The most common one in Europe is Ramen Soup. Ramen is the type of Noodle that is used. Suppose it’s cold; it’s called Somen. But they have a lot of other Noodle Soup Types. I tried as much as possible 🙂
Bento Box
A bento is the Japanese iteration of a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch. I took boxes for my Shinkansen rides. Delicious 🙂
Sweet Potato
The pink sweet potato is ubiquitous in Japan. They make pink milkshakes, cakes, liquor, or fried dough filled with sweet potato cream. And sometimes they fry it and put it on a stick.
Chicken
I fell in love with the Japanese chicken. It’s delicious and tender, just amazing.
Coke Plus
Besides all the local drinks, Japan has one Coke that is unavailable in Europe. Coke Plus is a diet variant of the soft drink Coca-Cola with added dietary fiber in the form of dextrin.
Kobe-Beef BBQ
Very precious in Europe but affordable in Japan, the Kobe-Beef. On Christmas Eve, I decided to have a BBQ; it was really delicious and definitely worth it!
Takoyaki
Takoyaki is a Japanese term for “octopus grilled/fried,” they are a trendy street food snack. These lightly fried octopus balls have a crisp outer shell with a soft and moist center filled with pieces of octopus, pickled ginger, green onions, and crunchy tempura pieces.
Stingray Fin
It’s weird to eat the fin of a stingray, but it’s somehow common in Japan.
Sweets
Yes, and finally, I had tons of sweets in Japan, things we don’t have in Europe. Just a small selection of what I had 🙂
And for sure, I had a lot of other food and drinks — either local stuff like Sake, other Asian food like Korean, or completely un-Asian food like a kebap. And last but not least, a couple of times you could have me seen in a crispy cream or Starbucks store 🙂
By the way, in Japan, it is pretty common to see all available food in a restaurant in a plastic version to see how it should look. In that restaurant, even the beer was shown.
But what else to do in Osaka?
First of all, I had to walk a lot to burn calories. Osaka has some nice historical spots to visit, but nothing dramatic. I went to Osaka Castle, which has a modern museum of Japanese history inside. I read a lot that it’s not worth seeing, but as it was closed on the day of the visit, the decision was made that I am not going in.
One of your walks should definitely go to the party area of Osaka. It seems that this city never sleeps….
In addition, you definitely should use your time to visit one of the very long market streets, i.e., “Shinsekai Market “. These are very long shopping streets covered by a roof that you can go shopping even during rain. Some of them are impressive, like the fish market.
Especially the food and the more Western style made it worth visiting Osaka. If you expect some mind-blowing history experience, I recommend other cities. After four days, I took the Shinkansen train back to my final days in Tokyo.
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