Last updated on September 17th, 2024
We tried the best Kushikatsu in Osaka at Yaekatsu, a popular traditional Japanese restaurant among locals. Check out how to order and what to eat at Yaekatsu.
When visiting Osaka, don’t forget to try the delicious kushikatsu (串揚げ), especially when you are in the Shinsekai area. Kushikatsu is made by frying beef and vegetables with bread crumbs attached to a skewer. This local dish is very popular in Osaka and is a common food among locals.
While there are many kushikatsu restaurants in Osaka, we highly recommend Yaekatsu as the best kushikatsu restaurant in Osaka. Below, you can find our dining experience at Yaekatsu.
Yaekatsu – Osaka Best Kushikatsu
Yaekatsu (八重勝) is a beloved local restaurant in Osaka with a prime location in Shinsekai (新世界), boasting over 50 years of history. The restaurant specializes in kushikatsu, a Japanese-style dish featuring deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables.
The restaurant is extremely popular, and there is always a line of people waiting outside. Many people visit this restaurant frequently for its delicious food.
We always visit Yaekatsu for its food whenever we return to Osaka. The restaurant is easy to find and is the best place to eat when you are visiting the Shinsekai area. Even though it wasn’t peak lunch hour, we had to wait for about 30 minutes in line. So we recommend coming early or avoiding peak hours. But the queue moves pretty fast.
Yaekatsu (八重勝)
Address: 3-4-13 Ebisu Higashi, Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan.
Business Hour: Daily from 10:30 to 20:30. Closed on Thursday.
Getting there: 3 minutes walk from Dobutsuen-Mae metro station
Depending on how much food you order, but expect to pay 2,000-3,000 per person.
How To Order in Yaekatsu
Once inside, we were seated at the counter where the chef prepares the food in front of you. It’s a casual place where everyone seems to be having a good time. Most of the patrons are locals, and we enjoyed the vibe inside the restaurant.
After being seated, we received a menu with prices and started ordering. You can choose from vegetables, seafood, or meat. No need to order all at once as you can continue to order more as you go.
If you are seated in front of the food bar, you can also point to the skewer food for ordering. The server behind the counter will take your orders. The staff was very polite and accommodating, and we didn’t feel pressured to rush through our meal and vacate the seats.
What To Eat in Yaekatsu
Yaekatsu has only the two popular items on the menu, Kushikatsu (串揚げ) and Doteyaki (どて焼き). We recommend you try these Osaka specialties in this delicious restaurant.
The menu is quite extensive. But generally, the range of choices goes from various types of veggies, meat, and seafood kushikatsu. Just get a mixture of all. The most expensive items here are the prawns and oysters with the rest sitting between ¥100 to ¥200 yen per stick.
Don’t forget the cold sake or beers! They also serve non-alcoholic drinks as well as other drinks.
Kushikatsu
Let’s decide what to order at Yaekatsu today. The tiger prawns and scallops look really nice.
We ordered a variety of items: prawns, oysters, eggs, meat, green peppers, shiitake mushrooms, onions, and more. After placing our orders, we turned our attention to the chefs working behind the scenes, while we enjoyed our cold beer.
The servers will dip the food in batter, fry it in front of you, and serve it to you. Besides, there was a big bowl of soy sauce served with a dipping sauce and lettuce right in front, which was shared by all the customers before or after you.
It didn’t take long before the first batch of our orders arrived.
Two of my favorite skewers (not surprisingly the most expensive ones) – prawn and oyster.
The deep-fried oyster was so creamy and the batter was so crispy and light, making it very good. Perfectly match!
The prawn was seriously tasty, with a very nice bouncy texture.
The fried onion was really nice and sweet, and the batter was perfect.
Despite being deep-fried, it was not oily at all! Even my friend, who hates fried food, loved them. They were very cheap, so we tried different kushikatsu. I recommend trying everything on the menu. I had to order more than once to ease my craving. Great to enjoy with a cold beer for sure!
Doteyaki – Miso Tendons
As I mentioned earlier, Yaekatsu also specializes in doteyaki (tendon simmered in miso). This is a classic menu item at Yaekatsu that many Japanese restaurants offer. At Yaekatsu, you can see the tendons being cooked in miso paste at the restaurant. Almost everyone orders it.
This dish was surprisingly delicious. Its texture reminded me a little of Korean glutinous rice cake, but with a more aromatic taste and some earthy notes. The food might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s definitely mine. I really enjoyed it.
No Double Dipping
Just a reminder: NO DOUBLE DIPPING!
When enjoying kushikatsu, please dip your skewer into the sauce just once. The kushikatsu will be served with a pot of sauce in front of you. After you receive the skewer, dip it in the sauce as much as you like and then place it on your plate. It’s important not to take a bite and then dip the skewer again – this is considered taboo.
The restaurant is very strict about this rule, and there are numerous signs to remind patrons. Additionally, you can use the cabbage provided as a side, dipping it into the sauce to complement your kushikatsu.
Overall: Osaka Best Kushikatsu
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance and our meal at Yaekatsu. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. The wait time of 15-20 minutes wasn’t too bad, especially considering the long line. The restaurant had a good mix of both local and foreign patrons.
In short, I will definitely make it a priority to revisit Yaekatsu when I’m in Osaka again!
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