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Thanks to its history and unique culture, the Kansai region offers an unparalleled variety of Japanese cuisine. In addition to the local specialties of Osaka, Kobe, and Nara, Kansai has the same inexpensive chain restaurants as Tokyo and a good variety of international food. Outside tourist areas, restaurant staff may not speak English but often exhibit Kansai’s signature friendliness, going out of their way to help.
Onishi has a well-deserved reputation, both with Japanese locals and longtime foreign residents, for serving fine Kobe beef. Steaks are cooked by master chefs in the middle of an enormous counter around which diners sit. Baseball players and sumo wrestlers are among the celebrity patrons.
Japan's first steak house is famed for its superb, hand-fed Kobe beef from a single farm in the nearby city of Sanda. The melt-in-your-mouth sumiyaki (charcoal-broiled) steak is worth its weight in yen and is served with only mustard and pepper (don't even think about asking for other condiments). The dining room's dark-wood paneling and lovely chandelier give it a European air. Be prepared to spend some yen; main courses are phenomenally expensive.
The city's premier hotel restaurant serves extremely good French food. The elegant yet relaxed atmosphere, seasonal menus, and extensive wine list make La Baie an excellent choice when you're in the mood for European-style fare. With its high ceiling, 18th-century paintings, and dark-wood accents, the interior is impressive and the service is impeccable. The weekday lunch courses are a good way to sample some of the best French cuisine in Osaka.
If there is one food Osaka is known for, it is okonomiyaki, a savory pancake that can be filled with vegetables, meat, or seafood. Mizuno, opened in 1945, is one of the city's best and oldest places to try this hearty specialty. Mizuno's okonomiyaki are light and fluffy, using a variety of ingredients delivered from Osaka's Kuromon Market. Sitting at the long teppan counter grill you can watch as the chef whips up a hearty taste of Osaka before your eyes. Long lines form around lunch and dinnertime but move rather quickly.
At this elegant dining room, the excellent Kobe beef is sliced thin and cooked before you on a teppanyaki grill along with fresh vegetables and served with pepper, mustard, and soy sauce for dipping. Wakkoqu uses meat from three-year-old cows that have never been bred, which is said to be the reason for its unbelievable tenderness. Lunch set menus are available until 3pm.
With a relaxed atmosphere, A-1 is known for serving thick slices of Kobe beef at bargain prices. The teppanyaki steak (broiled on a hot plate) is cooked in a marinade of spices, wine, and soy, smothered in grilled onions, and served with charcoal-grilled vegetables and crisp garlic potatoes. The "small" or "regular" version is enough to fill you up if you get the full course. Four branches are scattered about town, but the main one is conveniently west of Hankyu San-no-miya Station, across from the B-Kobe hotel. There's also a tiny, six-seat branch in Osaka if you don't have time to get to Kobe or can't get a reservation there.
Pungent nara-zuke will lure you into this well-known shop and adjoining restaurant. Inside, white-capped prep cooks busily prepare packages of pickles that you can try with cha-gayu (green-tea porridge) or a meal of crispy tempura. The set menus are on display, making ordering simple. This is a good place to escape the crowds on Higashi-muki Dori, the main shopping street. Nara Kintetsu Station and Nara Koen are within a five-minute walk.
It may look like a hole-in-the-wall from the outside, but this tiny cash-only restaurant serves up some of Osaka's finest akashi-yaki, a much fluffier and more delicate take on the city's famous grilled octopus. The staff are friendly and helpful. In addition to akashi-yaki, the shop also serves up excellent gyoza (fried meat-filled dumplings) and ika-yaki (grilled squid). It also carries a good selection of local sake.
In the basement of Kita-Shinichi's J-Pride Building, the hip, low-ceilinged Bat-ten Yokato serves a wide selection of very good yakitori (skewered meat and vegetables) in a fun, cozy atmosphere. Sitting at the long bar, you can watch the cooks work and call out requests. In addition to the quality of the food, the fact that the staff is obviously having a good time makes this an excellent place to try one of the most popular foods in Japan.
This lively café offers above average French cuisine that you can enjoy on an outdoor terrace—a true rarity in Japan. The menu covers all the bases, ranging from couscous to bouillabaisse. Midway up the hill on Kitano-zaka, it's great for people-watching and is a good stop while cruising the Kitano district. Lunch and dinner sets are reasonably priced.
Housed in the former Kobe Union Church, this café exemplifies Kobe's relaxed beauty. High ceilings, arched windows, and white walls give the dining room a bright, airy feel. It's the perfect place to take a rest from exploring the Kitano neighborhood. The kitchen serves tasty salads and sandwiches, and the bread is baked fresh next door.
Located on a quiet backstreet just a short walk south of Horyu-ji's Great Eastern Gate, this low-key yet stylish café offers delicious lunch sets, including very local specialties such as tatsuta-age (a type of fried chicken) and deep-fried ofu (steamed wheat gluten). The café also has its own woodwork studio and shop, with a number of robot-themed wooden toys on display.
Popular with tourists and locals alike, this bustling Japanese-style restaurant in the heart of the Umeda area specializes in sushi but serves a wide variety of reasonably priced set meals, including tempura, nabe (hot pot), udon, and various meat dishes. Service is fast and efficient, ingredients are fresh, and ordering is simple using tablets with ample English.
Dining at the Swissôtel's flagship restaurant is an elegant escape from the crowds of Osaka. The seasonal kaiseki dinners are presented with exquisite attention to detail, bringing out the flavor of each ingredient. The restaurant offers separate seating at the sushi bar, tempura counter, and even four private rooms. Choose from one of the seasonal set menus, or put your dinner in the hands of the skilled chefs. The staff are also happy to serve Kobe beef from Minami, the hotel's teppanyaki restaurant.
This eatery's kamitsumichi bento box, with a selection of sashimi, fried shrimp, tofu, vegetables, and homemade plum liqueur, is a bargain. Harishin is traditional and quite rustic. You sit in either a large tatami room overlooking a garden or around a large irori (hearth).
At Hiraso you can try kakinoha-zushi, sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves. What's more, you can take it away in a nicely wrapped wooden box for a satisfying lunch in Nara Park. Another featured delicacy is kakisuga, dried persimmon dusted with kudzu (flour made from the East Asian kudzu vine) or arrowroot powder and cooked tempura style. Most set menus include green-tea porridge, which is usually made with mushrooms or seasonal vegetables. Hiraso has tables and chairs, but the tatami alcoves are more intimate.
Kobe has many excellent bakeries, but this one, a Kobe institution since 1946 with its main branch a 10-minute walk north of San-no-miya Station, is notable for its fine selection of Japanese-style pastries and breads. Among its most popular items are the kare-pan (curry bread), crispy doughnut-like snacks filled with a mild curry sauce. Or try the kureemu-pan (cream bread), a much sweeter cream-stuffed alternative.
Four Seasons Osaka’s flagship restaurant serves high-end Cantonese cuisine in stylish surroundings, with stunning views from the 37th floor. The lunchtime dim sum discovery course wows with its delicate artfulness and variety, plus big flavors.
The most famous restaurant on Dotombori-dori—the enormous mechanical crab is a local landmark—Kani Doraku has fine crab dishes at reasonable prices. The lunch set menu includes large portions of crab; dinner is more expensive than lunch. If you prefer a quick snack, a stand outside sells crab legs. An English-language menu is available. Reserve a table on weekends.
There's no better place to try Osaka's kappo-ryori (a more intimate, less formal version of kaiseki-ryori) than the restaurant that started the trend. Chef and owner Osamu Ueno scours the markets daily to find the best ingredients for dinner each evening. The menu here is a constantly rotating selection of à la carte items, all superb. If you're unsure about what to order, simply leave it up to the chef for a delightful dinner. The restaurant has a relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff, with counter seating and two private rooms for small groups.
Even among Kobe's many excellent bakeries, Le Dimanche stands out. The owners bake some of the city's best artisanal bread, seamlessly integrating Japanese and European elements. Unique specialties include the renkon (lotus root) tartine, crème brûlée croissant, and signature viennois aux airelles (Viennese cranberry roll). The second-floor café is bright and airy, with rustic hardwood floors and tables. It's the perfect spot for a light snack while browsing the many boutiques along Tor Road.
This small and understatedly cool coffee shop serves the best coffee in town, and it's just a stone's throw from Kintetsu-Nara Station. This is a great place to grab a take-out cup before exploring the nearby sights. Super-friendly baristas speak good English, and there is (limited) window seating if you prefer to drink in.
An offshoot of the nearby Nadagiku Sake Brewery—one of Himeji's most prominent sake makers—this cozy izakaya-style restaurant a couple of blocks north of Himeji Station serves up the popular belly-warmer oden (fishcakes and vegetables in a broth), which pairs very well with their excellent varieties of sake (or a cold draft beer). Seating is limited, but wait times are usually short, and there is an English menu. Open for both lunch and dinner.
Hidden down a quiet street just south of Ara-ike in Nara Koen is this intimate restaurant serving exquisitely presented traditional kaiseki meals. Within the faded wooden walls, a common architectural motif in Nara, you can sit at a rustic counter or in one of two serene tatami rooms. Choose from one of the two set meals. Both lunch and dinner here are short and served early (noon–1 for lunch, 6–7:30 for dinner).
A hip hangout on the fringe of Amerika-mura, Planet 3rd is perfect for a quick snack or a full meal. The food is tasty—consisting mostly of sandwiches, curries, and sweets—and the atmosphere is cool and laid back. The café serves breakfast from 7 am. The computers at the front are free for customers to use.
The mellow atmosphere at Raja is matched by the delicious Indian food. The restaurant is now in its second generation; the friendly owner-chef is the son of the reputed first Indian chef in Kobe. Among the home-style curries and samosas, vegetarians can find something delicious. Raja attributes the excellence of the tandoori chicken to using the highest-grade charcoal available in Japan. It's on the west end of Chinatown, near Moto-machi. Lunch is cheaper, but dinner sets are reasonably priced.
