Eat Your Way Through Shinsekai with this Delicious Osaka Food Tour
Everyone comes to Osaka expecting delicious food and lots of it. It’s arguably what the city is most known for. This reputation for tasty food is well earned. You’ll find all sorts of food everywhere while walking through Osaka’s streets whether you’re in the popular districts of Dotonbori, Shinsekai or anywhere else in between.
Restaurants and street stalls are so prevalent it can be a little overwhelming deciding where to choose! This is why an Osaka food tour should be high on your list of things to do when visiting.
The Osaka food tour we did took us through Shinsekai and gave us more than enough Osakan food and facts. This tour turned out to be one of our favorite parts of our whole two-week trip through Japan, and I’m excited for it to become one of your favorites, too!
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Three Reasons to do this Osaka Food Tour in Shinsekai
So Much Good Food (and Booze)
Let’s get straight to the most important thing of any food tour, and that has to be the food. This Osaka food tour in Shinsekai did not disappoint in that regard. There was never a moment on our tour where I felt underwhelmed.
One of my biggest concerns with food tours is that we’ll finish and I’ll still be hungry. After our fourth stop (out of five), I already knew I could forget about that happening. The last stop was mostly just filling in the gaps of my stomach. Michelle could have rolled me home at the end of the tour.
Not only did this Osaka food tour have a lot of food, but it was also all delicious! Of course, there were a couple things I didn’t like as much as everything else. Still, it was more so some things were just less good than others, and even the things I didn’t like as much were down to personal preference.
In addition to the food, this Osaka food tour through Shinsekai also includes two drinks (either alcoholic or non-alcoholic) plus the opportunity to purchase another while walking.
Adam, Our Local Guide to Shinsekai’s Food Scene
Our tour guide, Adam, did a wonderful job at keeping the evening lively and interesting. He immediately set the tone by having everyone introduce themselves and then engaging us in actual conversation rather than mindless small talk. Because of this, everyone in our group quickly became friendly with one another, which always makes for a more enjoyable tour.
Adam himself was full of interesting information on Shinsekai and Osaka. Even though he’s from Australia, he has lived in Japan for many years and is married to a Japanese woman. I never felt like we were being spoon-fed information that any expat who’s lived in Japan for a couple years can give. Because he’s been in Japan for so long, everything he said felt natural and conversational.
Further, Adam seemed genuinely excited to be giving this tour, despite giving a longer tour earlier in the day. He was eager to explain everything and didn’t seem to be going through the motions, as can sometimes happen with tour guides.
Featuring Places We Wouldn’t Have Stopped by Ourselves
The most unique thing about this Osaka food tour in Shinsekai was that it featured several places we would never have gone in – or even noticed – had we been by ourselves. We like to try things that don’t look touristy, but some of these stops either didn’t even look like they served food or else seemed slightly sketchy for tourists.
Food tours I’ve been on in the past typically play it safe with popular spots. This aspect of the tour was a nice change of pace. It also felt like we were getting an authentically local experience.
Osaka Food Tour Stop #1 – Torikara Kitanoya
Our Shinsekai food tour started off strong with a stop at Torikara Kitanoya. Torikara’s was the most traditional-looking restaurant we stopped at during our tour, which was a nice way to ease us into Shinsekai. It also provided a quieter atmosphere than some of our other stops to make it easier to get to know one another.
But let’s be serious, the most important thing about Torikara Kitanoya’s was that the food was plentiful and tasty. In fact, of the four things we had here, one was my single favorite dish of the whole tour. The dish was just simple chicken wings, but it was cooked in a delicious sosu sauce, a brown sauce made with different vegetable and fruits. These wings were so perfectly crispy and yummy!
This was also one of two stops where our Osaka food tour included a drink. Here, we were able to have one of three varieties of Japan’s popular lemon sour. I had several of these drinks throughout Japan, and while I can’t say this one was that much better than any other, it was still a delight.
Osaka Food Tour Stop #2 – Gyoza no Ohsho
After some food at the very restaurant-like Kitanoya’s, we made a stop at a local kitchen supply shop before sampling our next food. Except wait – this was actually our next stop!
From the outside, Gyoza no Ohsho looked nothing like an eatery to any English-speaking visitor. The one or two signs had barely any food on them and looked like they belonged outside of a Target. This wasn’t the first time Adam would take us somewhere we would have never even noticed on our Shinsekai food tour.
Even upon walking in, I was still a little dubious about this stop. It looked like a very generic, old-timey subway cafe. It did seem to have lots of locals in it, so I kept my reservations to myself and trusted to Adam’s judgement.
You can probably guess the one thing we sampled at Gyoza no Ohsho by its name, but just in case, we had gyoza. It was probably a good thing we only had the one dish since we had so much food at Torikara’s.
Still, we had a very generous serving of gyoza. There was enough for me to have four pieces while the other people at my table still had enough to be satisfied.
Included with our gyoza was more sosu sauce. We were told to add some vinegar and soy sauce to this sauce and to compare our gyoza with and without. The gyoza was delicious, and, frankly, both sauces added a nice taste. I did like the slight tang the one with vinegar had, though.
I’ve come to find out while researching this post that Gyoza no Ohsho is a popular chain in Japan. I never would have guessed that!
Taking a Detour Around Shinsekai, Osaka
Because our Shinsekai food tour group was so focused, we had some extra time to do a little detour around Shinsekai.
(At least, that’s what Adam said. As much as I enjoyed him as a guide, I’m always a little dubious when any tour guide says things to suggest our group is special.)
During this part of our Shinsekai tour, Adam pointed out some non-food-related things in the area. Some of the highlights were an explanation of why the Billiken of St. Louis University is all over Shinsekai, a movie theater that features hand painted movie posters, and the story of why Kushikatsu Daruma’s mascot looks so angry (hint: double dipping is never okay).
Osaka Food Tour Stop #3 – Fukumasa
After about 20 minutes of walking, we made our way to our third stop, Fukumasa. Fukumasa is a small counter-service restaurant that sits crammed into a small space between two other shops. It has a few tables right outside its entrance, but we opted to stand at the counter for our tastings here.
At Fukumasa, we had two more dishes to try, as well as our second and last included drink of the tour. Our two samples were a cold ramen dish served with ginger and onions and then a type of Japanese omelet called a tonpeiyaki.
The ramen was alright. There was nothing bad about it, but cold isn’t my preferred way to have ramen. The tonpeiyaki was much better. It was filled with pork and other goodies and topped with sosu sauce. The combination of it all was very savory and sweet.
For drinks, we were offered either a lemon sour, sake or shochu, a type of distilled liquor made from rice. Since I had a lemon sour earlier and had already sampled plenty of sake throughout Japan, I opted for the shochu. It was tasty and not too boozy despite having an alcohol percentage of around 20%. However, it came with a lot of ice, so it became watered down fairly quickly.
Overall, Fukumasa was probably my least favorite of our five stops. It was still good, but the other places were much better. What I did like about Fukumasa was its somewhat chaotic and locals-only vibe. It felt like we were getting into some of the nitty gritty of Osaka. We almost certainly wouldn’t have stopped here on our own, so it was fun to have that feeling.
Osaka Food Tour Stop #4 – Takoyaki Ichiban
Our fourth stop of the evening was a quick but exciting one. Takoyaki Ichiban was our first taste of – you guessed it – takoyaki.
In a city known for its food, takoyaki is possibly Osaka’s most famous delicacy. Takoyaki is actually fairly basic. It’s basically just small pieces of octopus deep fried in batter and smothered in a brown sauce and mayonnaise. Think of it as Osakan comfort food.
Despite how simple takoyaki is, it is delicious. I personally think it’s just a tad overrated but only because it’s so hyped up. My expectations were so high I’m not sure anything could have lived up to it. Nevertheless, I loved these little fried balls of octopus enough to have a few here and then many more the next day at another takoyaki shop.
The samples here at Takoyaki Ichiban came in two varieties: one with a sweet brown sauce and another with a citrus sauce. Both were good, but I preferred the sweeter sauce. The citrus flavor offered a nice twist on the typical takoyaki sauce, though.
On the Way to Our Last Stop in Shinsekai, Osaka
Our last stop in Shinsekai was a little farther of a walk than everywhere else we had been. Because of that, Adam took us to one of Japan’s infamous alcohol vending machines.
Curiously, of the many, many vending machines I saw in Japan, this one was only one of two or three that sold alcohol despite reading about the prevalence of these before our visit. Regardless, it was fun to finally use one.
Adam filled us in on the history of these machines, and he even purchased a drink for the lucky person who was able to guess a trivia question related to Japan’s vending machines.
On our way to Hachifukujin, Adam had one more hidden part of Osaka to show us. We stopped at a nondescript corner where Adam had us huddle under a tiny covered shelter with a single countertop, a vending machine, a trash can and cigarette butts and graffiti everywhere else. Adam told us this shelter is used by Osaka’s laborers as a space to drink and smoke out of the rain and away from prying eyes. It was far from the most beautiful thing we saw in Japan, but it was an interesting highlight of everyday, civic life that we would have walked right past on our own.
Osaka Food Tour Stop #5 – Hachifukujin
After we finished our drinks in the little shelter like we were local Osakans, we made our way to our last stop, Hachifukujin.
Hachifukujin was yet another stop that we would never have gone in by ourselves. What’s more, we probably never would have even seen it as it was in kind of an obscure section of Shinsekai where tourists little reason to tread.
At Hachifukujin we had three different dishes, mostly featuring Osakan comfort food. If our bellies weren’t all full before this last stop, they certainly were by the time we finished.
We had a plate of Japanese fried chicken, small pots of beef stew and a dessert featuring a waffle-like item shaped into a risque piece of male anatomy to send us off. The eccentric dessert aside, the fried chicken and beef stew were both excellent.
Perhaps the weirdest part of our tour was here at Hachifukujin. Right outside the door was a man dressed as a samurai taking photos with tourists. He must hang out there knowing these food tours come through. When we first got to Hachifukujin, everyone thought it was a bit odd, but once the drinks from the vending machine kicked in as we exited, we were all more than happy to take a photo with him!
Post-tour Visit to Shinsaibashi, Osaka
After our official Shinsekai food tour was over, Adam invited whoever wanted to join him on a post-tour trip to Shinsaibashi. Shinsaibashi is a small district of Osaka filled with nightclubs, bars and shopping that sits just north of Dotonbori.
Our final destination was a bar popular among expats for its incredibly cheap drinks called Cinquecento. Along the way, Adam regaled us with tales of his life in Japan and more info on this new Osaka neighborhood.
Once we got to Cinquecento, we mostly went our separate ways. Michelle and I cozied up to the bar for one of the cheap martinis Adam promised us. We were not disappointed. Cinquecento has an extensive menu of martinis all for only 500 yen. That’s only $3.55! I haven’t ever seen drinks that cheap, and they were good, too!
While we had our drinks, Adam was still on top of his game. Even though his tour was officially over, he still went around to each person who was on the tour to talk with them a bit. He eventually made his way over to us where we got to have a more friendly conversation instead of talking about touristy things.
Besides being a good chat, I appreciated these extra little steps Adam took to make sure the people on his tour had a good experience.
This unofficial excursion was a fun nightcap, but it was made better by the fact that we were staying nearby at The Stay Osaka Shinsaibashi. Because Osaka is such a large city and you likely won’t make it to Cinquecento till about 9:30 or so, make sure you take travel time into account when deciding whether to add the unofficial tour of Shinsaibashi to your night.
Ready to Book Your Osaka Food Tour?
Are you salivating and ready to experience this great Osaka food tour for yourself? It’s simple to book!
You can book right here from my site using the form below, or if you still want a bit more info, head to the Shinsekai food tour page on GetYourGuide.
Frequently Asked Questions About this Osaka Food Tour
How long is the tour?
The official tour lasts for three hours from 5:30 to 8:30. I can’t speak for each tour guide through this company or even each specific tour, but the unofficial tour Adam took us on added about an additional hour. If you’re concerned about walking, about an hour of all that time is spent walking from place to place.
We then spent another hour at Cinquecento. However, at that point, you can spend as much or as little time as you want at the bar.
How much does the tour cost?
Tours currently start at $92.18 (a whopping 13,000 yen).
How many people are on the tour?
The max number of people for these Osaka food tours is 10.
Are there vegetarian and vegan options?
These tours have some options for vegetarians. However, it does not currently have options for vegans, but this could be changing in the future. Make sure to reach out to the tour operators to ask about vegan options at the time of your booking.
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