My second full day in Osaka, Japan began bright and early at Osaka Castle on yet another frigid, late January morning. The castle was built in 1583 and is one of the most famous landmarks in Japan. I couldn’t wait to check it out! Come along with me and my buddy Javier as we go on an amazing Japanese street food tour at Osaka Castle!
One of the many cool things about Osaka Castle is that it’s surrounded by a huge moat, so the castle stands on an island in the middle of the city! Unfortunately, cameras aren’t allowed inside the castle, but there are still lots of fun things to do in the immediate vicinity!
I linked back up with my boy Javier, a Miami guy like me who actually lives in Japan now. We explored the stone walls surrounding the castle. The stones are huge! The castle and the path leading up to it were built very strategically so that any hostile invaders approaching it can be easily seen and picked off by snipers.
That, plus the fact that there’s a double moat surrounding the castle, means it would be very hard to reach the castle without being detected. Now, however, the climb up to the castle makes for some really incredible views!
The castle itself is built atop more massive stones and is gorgeous and super impressive! The emperor basically had an entire army building it!
From there, we headed to the nearby street food stands. Because it was so cold outside, there were only a few stands that were open, but we made the most of it! If you want to come to Osaka for street food, book your trip for when the weather is warmer.
We started our food tour at Osaka Castle with a cup of karaage, or Japanese fried chicken (500 Yen/$4.55 U.S.). The batter was very different, and the chicken was super juicy. You could taste the quality in it! I couldn’t stop eating it. Apparently, in Japanese culture, it’s considered rude to take the last karaage, but since I was the guest, Javier let me have it. And it was worth it!
Next, we walked to an indoor mini-market near the castle, where there are some shops and restaurants. There, we continued our food tour at Osaka Castle. We found some assorted deep-fried skewers (860 Yen/$7.82 U.S.) and beer (600 Yen/$5.45) at the Konamon Bar Rikyu. The skewers came with a variety of sauces as well.
I started with the quail eggs. The yolk exploded in my mouth and the tempura on the outside gave it a nice, delicious crunch! The sweet-and-sour sauce I tried it with was really nice, and the beer I washed it down with was amazing as well.
The fish skewer was really good, too, and the fish cake with chili sauce was fantastic! I also had a skewered shrimp with roe sauce, which had some outstanding roe flavor! It was a really good mix of flavors and the different textures were out of this world. The tempura was so different from varieties I’d had back in the States and was phenomenal!
We finished up at Konamon Bar Rikyu with a minced fish patty before heading off to get some matcha ice cream at a shop that specializes in matcha! I got a matcha soft-serve (450 Yen/$4.17 U.S.) It was super creamy and earthy, with lots of delicious matcha flavor that I couldn’t get enough of. It was so good!
I hope you liked coming along with me and Javier on our amazing food tour at Osaka Castle! If you did, please give the video a thumbs up and leave me a comment below. Also, please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already and I will see you in the next travel food adventure!
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