Located right next to the busy Osaka Station, Umeda and its surroundings are an exciting one-stop entertainment checkpoint for visitors. While ambitious shoppers can splurge at department stores such as Hankyu, Daimaru and Isetan Mitsukoshi, hungry foodies can head to the more low key alleys to the east and south of Umeda for some of Osaka’s favorite flavors. For cool, futuristic photos, feel free to include Umeda Sky Building and Grand Front Osaka in your shots.
Negiyaki Yamamoto Umeda EST Store
Transforming a dish originally designed for only its staff to one of Osaka’s most sought-after food items, Negiyaki Yamamoto has been a popular stop for green onion okonomiyaki pancakes since 1965. All their regular okonomiyaki options come with a green onion option for an extra ¥200. Besides the exciting taste of green onion, Negiyaki Yamamoto offers a wide range of items grilled or pan-fried on the teppan metal plate. Yakisoba is always a great go-to item, or feel free to try their grilled squid, scallop, and sausages - just to name a few! Food items cost between ¥680 on the low end to ¥1,800 on the high end. Expect to wait in a moderate line to get seated.
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Negiyaki Yamamoto Umeda EST Store is open from 11:30AM to 10PM every day.
Besides okonomiyaki, another must-try item in Osaka is kushikatsu, deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables. Although deep-fried, these skewers don’t taste oily at all, and instead have a fluffy texture. At Yoneya, you can choose to either get seated at a table or eat while standing up like the busy locals. Their skewers are priced between ¥100 and ¥220 each. While you can have regular deep-fried vegetables such as lotus roots, onions and pumpkin slices, make sure you try their seafood and meaty skewers such as quail eggs, scallop, octopus, gizzard, and chicken wings with fish roe, Remember, only dip the skewer into their sauce once!
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Yoneya Umeda is open from 9AM to 10:30PM and accepts cash only.
As the first bean-to-bar chocolatier in Japan, Palet D’Or offers a creative array of 50 different high-quality chocolate items, some made with fruits and Japanese sake. Besides chocolate pieces, Palet D’Or also produces beautiful macarons, cakes, parfaits, ice cream cones, and drinks alongside regular chocolate pieces. With a spacious seating area and full-height glass windows facing the commercial hub of Umeda, diners can easily spend a relaxing afternoon here with fine chocolate. Diners typically spend between ¥1,000 to ¥2,000 here.
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Palet D’Or Osaka is open from 11AM to 8PM every day.
Using much loved creamy Échiré butter from a small town in the west of France, Échiré Marché au Beurre is a popular bakery and dairy shop. Some of their top picks include buttery cookies (¥216 each), kouign-amann cakes (¥398 each), butter cream omelets (¥324 each), custard cream-topped éclair (¥1,890 for five) and ice cream (¥562 for butter and caramel flavors; ¥724 for raisin flavor). Of course, you can also buy butter here -- they come in different sizes and some even salt-free (priced between ¥432 to ¥2,473)! There are no seats available at this shop; only take-outs!
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Échiré Marché au Beurre is open from 10AM to 8PM Sundays to Thursdays and 10AM to 9PM on Fridays and Saturdays.