6 Great Places To Eat And Drink In Osaka, Japan

Whether you’re knee deep in planning your trip to Japan or just getting started, I’m here to help with this list of top places to eat and drink in Osaka.

Osaka was our first experience of Japan and I think it’s fair to say we were almost immediately overwhelmed, overstimulated and felt out of our depth. It was our first proper trip away with Evelyn, almost three at the time, and we thought perhaps we’d bitten off more than we could chew. All of that planning, all of that preparation especially on places to eat and drink in Osaka went out of the window.

I always spend a lengthy period prior to any trip researching highly recommended places to eat as well as coffee shops and, in the past at least, bars and pubs. It always helps to be prepared when you have a toddler as you never know when hunger will strike or when you need a little break. I researched many such places in Osaka however as probably to be expected these days, with travel looking so different, we unfortunately didn’t get chance to try out all of them. This is therefore only a short list but I thought it would still be helpful to others when looking for some places to eat and drink in Osaka. I’m not here to say that these are the best of the best, I certainly couldn’t do that, but here’s a selection of where we, as a family, literally visited during our first time visit to Osaka.

PLACES TO EAT AND DRINK IN OSAKA

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All of the places to eat and drink in Osaka are included in the map below which hopefully will help when visiting a specific area. Osaka is much larger than I expected so having a few options of where to eat and drink in each location will always help out massively!

HOW TO USE THE MAP | Click the icon in the top left to show the list of all locations. Click on the top right corner of the map to open a larger version in a new tab. The star allows you to save directly to your own Google Maps.

Cobatopan-kojo

This retro bakery to the north west of Osaka Castle (around a fifteen minute walk) is a must-visit in Osaka. The small store specialises in Koppe Pan; a Japanese bread similar to the American hot dog bun. The cute shop served up the softest and sweetest sandwiches that you can imagine. We had ones filled with egg mayo, ham and cheese, breaded chicken and, the cutest of all was saved for Evelyn, a tiny ham and cheese sandwich with eyes on! Guess what… she didn’t eat it though she did devour the one filled with chocolate!

The iced coffee was fantastic and much needed in the Japanese heat. There’s a Cobatopan custom gachapon machine from which 500¥ got us a nice little pin. I was nervous about visiting here as I expected a huge queue but thankfully we were straight into and sat on a table outside. The shop is tiny, 2 people at a time, and there’s only a few seats outside so bear that in mind!

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The Gut’s Coffee

As with both Tokyo and Kyoto, I had spent a decent amount of time in advance of the trip researching coffee shops that I had all the intentions of visiting when in Osaka. I think I saved around 15 in total and hoped to try most of those…Obviously, I was way too optimistic. Osaka was far bigger than I ever imagined and travel with a toddler is most definitely not about whipping around here, there and everywhere just to test out the best flat whites and lattes.

The Gut’s Coffee was one coffee shop that we headed to purely out of chance really as Evelyn fell asleep in the stroller and we decided to walk from Kids Plaza Osaka all the way to Umeda Sky Building. That required fuel in the form of a latte and a matcha latte; both of which were absolutely unbelievable.

The Gut’s Coffee is located in the nostalgic old town of Nakazakicho; somewhere I really wish we had more time to explore properly and spend a good couple of laid-back days. The coffee shop has a really cool vibe with three floors of concrete, bare wood and lots of donuts.

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Dotonbori – Street Food

Dotonbori is probably the most famous district in all of Osaka and every tourist that visits Osaka will 100% make their way here for its neon lights, the iconic Glico sign, bars, clubs and, most importantly, street food.

Our first walk through Dotonbori was a sensory overload but we gave it another chance and focused on grabbing food from its many, many eateries. Obviously the places to eat here are all catered to tourists but its definitely an experience that has to be done and allows for a great introduction to some Japanese foods.

Must-try foods are kushikatsu (skewers of meat and veggies covered in panko breadcrumbs before being deep fried), takoyaki (ball shaped batter filled with octopus), crab and taiyaki (fish shaped cake filled with custard or red bean paste).

Pizza Bar Fullhouse

Our first experience of pizza in Japan was pretty good at Pizza Bar Fullhouse in Amerikamura though the atmosphere here was what made me really relax into Osaka’s unique vibe. This had been one place I’d seen recommended a few times so of course we made the long walk from our hotel especially passing another pizza place with a clay oven full of wood burning all night long and promising incredible pizzas. I initially regretted not just changing the plan immediately and heading straight in this other place to eat but once we had the pizzas at Pizza Bar Fullhouse and a beer I was more than happy with our choice.

Whilst we both went for pretty standard pizzas, pepperoni and quattro formaggi, they were delicious and, when combined with beer and a spot of people watching at the intersection, we all had a really good night and seemed to settle into the rhythm of Japan just that little bit more.

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Shinsekai District

Whilst this isn’t a specific place to eat, the Shinsekai district of Osaka is home to some great restaurants. Kushikatsu is said to have originated from right here and you best believe that there are many, many places that specialise in these deep fried skewers. Perhaps the most famous is Kushikatsu Daruma (the same chain as in Dotonbori though the main shop is here) though we decided to jump into Kushikatsu Janjan which seemed on the face of it to be full of people enjoying their food. If I’d had read the reviews on Google first, I probably wouldn’t have visited but honestly it was ok. It was our first experience of a completely Japanese menu (Google Lens was a must) and of ordering online (mobile data is also a must) and of this type of Japanese food. There was a mandatory fee of ¥330 for a side dish and the food that we ordered was alright. You’ll see so many 1 star reviews but I honestly didn’t see it was that bad at all. There are of course much better places to visit.

Other highly recommended places to eat in Shinsekai are Usagiya (for Okonomiyaki), Johnny’s Karaage Bar Restaurant (fried chicken) and Yaekatsu (for kushikatsu)

Naruto Taiyaki Hompo

Naruto Taiyaki Hompo, in Nipponbashi, was somewhere we found just by wandering down the street and simply following where this deliciously sweet smell was coming from. The taiyaki here was our first experience in Japan and I’m not sure it could be beaten. We chose the premium custard version and honestly it was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted though a word of warning, it was hotter than the sun! From research, it looks as though there are a number of outlets across Japan so hopefully, even if you don’t make it to the same one that we visited, you’ll be able to make a trip in line with your plans.

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Other Options

Ok, so you’re going to have to stick with me on this one especially if you’re travelling to Japan with kids. I promise that there will be times that you need somewhere relatively familiar, quick and easy for those unexpected toddler tantrums caused by hunger. That is where McDonalds came in for us. I don’t feel it lessens the experience of travelling all the way to Japan because, ultimately, when travelling with kids (especially toddlers) you are literally trying to deal with the same things as home. So when the tantrum hits or when you literally need somewhere to eat quickly, don’t be afraid to head somewhere familiar like McDonalds to simple get the job done. Evelyn’s first ever experience of McDonalds was actually in Osaka on our first night in Japan; shattered and over-stimulated we simply took the easy option before diving straight into bed.

Another option that I probably should put on every list is that you will, at some point in your trip, head into a konbini whether for a coffee to-go, lunch or a dessert run before heading back to your hotel. You all know what I’m talking about, trips into Lawson, 7/11 and Family Mart are essential rituals for any visitor to Japan. It just hits differently than perhaps heading into a Tesco Express in England…

My favourite konbini was Family Mart and, in terms of food and drink, I loved the 7/11 egg sandos, spicy famichiki, tuna mayo onigiri, fresh fruit and raiding the chest freezers for desserts. We often grabbed a quick and cheap lunch to refuel before heading on to our next spot.

Well, there you go. Relatively short and sweet but I hope you enjoyed this list of places to eat and drink in Osaka from my point of view. I’d love to hear from others with your thoughts and recommendations so that, if I am lucky enough to return to Osaka, I have more cool spots to add to my list!