If I had to choose one type of cuisine to eat for the rest of my life, it would be Japanese. Think small, bite-sized chunks of perfectly sliced salmon and tuna belly with strips of fat that just melt in your mouth. Bowls of ramen with thick, creamy, and downright delicious broth packed with so much flavor that slurping down that first mouth could very well make you tear up with joy (also because it’s so hot it burns). Think beautiful, precious prawns coated in batter and deep-fried until delicately crispy and golden. Amen.

Besides being a great base for adventuring out, Osaka is quite the food heaven. When I returned to Osaka for a second time with two of my friends, I thought about how we could maximise our short 12 hours in the city before heading to Kyoto, and came up with the following list of must-do things.

1. Walk around Dotonbori at night

   

   The Dotonbori district is most likely your number one reason for visiting Dotonbori, and it does live up to the hype. It is by far the most happening place to hang out in downtown Osaka at night, with hundreds of food stores lining the spacious, open-air pedestrian streets just by the canal. By day, it doesn’t look like much, but by night, the bright lights of the many billboards and advertisements transform the streets into a different kind of creature.

   

   There’s a buzz of excitement as throngs of people line up to buy street food from shops with giant crabs and paper lanterns plastered on the facade. If you’re so inclined to fork out the money, join them for a taste of charcoal grilled crab and seared scallops. Otherwise, head down the street and get some takoyaki from its place of origin instead – hot balls of slightly chewy batter with minced octopus mixed inside, served with green onions, bonito flakes, and some kind of sauce.

   

   It’s a mystery how the running Glico man became a symbol of Osaka, but just go with the flow and take a photo alongside other eager tourists with their hands up to prove that you’ve been to the city. And when you’re done with all that, head to the huge Don Quijote store and shop till you drop.

2. Eat Ichiran ramen
   

   

   Ichiran (一蘭) isn’t exclusive to Osaka, but when in Japan, you shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to eat it. While there are countless ramen shops in Japan, Ichiran is an experience of its own, promising consistent quality at a very affordable price (a bowl of ramen costs about 790 yen, I think) and remarkable efficiency given the ever-present queues. For me, eating at Ichiran for the first time was one of my most memorable food highlights in Osaka.

   Ichiran started in Fukuoka in 1960 and specialises in tonkotsu ramen, or ramen in a cloudy pork broth. The ramen is served with a special spicy red sauce, hiden no tare, and since your order is fully customisable, you can choose the level of spiciness to suit your taste.

   

   What’s really special about eating at Ichiran is that you’re seated at individual booths, facing a wall panel, so even if you’re traveling solo, you won’t feel out of place at all getting a table for one. You select the dishes you want to get from a vending machine, pay and get change, and get a ticket with your order before you’re seated. Then you get a piece of paper to customise and add more items to the base order. After your food has arrived, the staff will roll down the screen so you can slurp up that goodness in complete privacy. If you’re with friends or family, you can also push up the boards separating the booths from each other, but it’s not really the kind of place where you sit and chat. I’m a big fan of this concept, and I’m hoping it becomes more widespread.

3. Eat at Chibo Okonomiyaki
   

   

   Another iconic dish to try out when in Osaka is okonomiyaki, a savory pancake that translates to ‘grill as you like it’. It tastes somewhat like a flattened takoyaki, but with a lot more options for ingredients. We had lunch at Chibo Okonomiyaki along the Dotonbori stretch. Their ‘Okonomiyaki Dotonbori’ with seafood was my favorite among the few different ones that we tried.

4. Try the cheesecake and desserts from PABLO
   

   

   Yup, more food! Just around the corner from the Glico man at Dotonburi is one of the outlets of PABLO, where you can get freshly baked cheese tarts and other desserts. These popular cheese tarts originated from Osaka, so why not get some to cap off a night of feasting?
   

5. Visit the Kuromon Ichiba market
   Given its popularity with tourists, I’d be remiss not to include the Kuromon Ichiba market in the list of must-do things in Osaka, but in all honesty, I’m recommending this only if Osaka is your only destination in Japan and you’ve got time to spare. The Kuromon Ichiba market is a huge, spacious, stretch of market famous for its fresh seafood, fruits, dried items, and other snacks. Although some stalls will cook their food on the spot for you, it’s really more of an eye-opening place to wander down than a place to fill your stomach, since there are more satisfying alternatives just a stone’s throw away. So do take a walk down a portion of the 580m stretch just to check it out, but if you can, head to Kyoto and check out the more vibrant Nishiki market instead.
6. Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Universal Studios Japan
   

   

   If you’ve got a full day to spare, Universal Studios Japan is well worth the trip, even if you’ve already been to the other Universal Studios theme parks. Universal Studios Japan is the only other place outside the US where you can visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a magical and wholly immersive experience for Potterheads and plain curious tourists alike. If you haven’t been to a Universal Studios theme park, all the more to explore!

   Take a tour of the Hogwarts castle and shop for themed merchandise at the snow-capped shophouses of Hogsmeade. Snap photos with the steaming Hogwarts Express and the Weasley family’s flying car! Gaze lovingly at the Chocolate Frogs and beautiful array of colorful and strange sweets at Honeyduke’s, and then walk away sadly because everything is expensive. There’s so much to see and do within the Harry Potter area that I spent most of the day there during my first trip to Osaka with my family in 2016.

   

   One of the most popular rides in the park, and the world’s number one ride for five consecutive years is the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. It’s a very immersive ride that brings you on a flight around Hogwarts, complete with Quidditch, fire-breathing dragons, and hovering dementors. To be honest, it was immersive to the extent that I was so overwhelmed by the multi-sensory experience, I had to sit down and rest through a long lunch to get my bearings back… but I’m sure you’ll be fine.

7. Take a day trip to nearby Nara or Kobe
   Osaka is a great base for traveling to nearby cities. One of the best options is Nara, which is just a 40 min express train ride from Osaka Namba station by the Kintetsu Nara line. Nara has lots of shrines and a great deer park where you can purchase special deer biscuits to feed and pet the deer that roam the area. It’s a really nice place to spend a languid afternoon.

   

   

   If you prefer a more urban city experience, why not head to the nearby city of Kobe? Kobe is the capital city of the Hyogo prefecture as Japan’s sixth largest city, can easily be more than a day trip. There are many different ways to get there depending on where in Osaka you are, but most ways will get you to Kobe in half an hour or less. We took the Hankyu Kobe line from the Hankyu Umeda station to the Hankyu Kobe-Sannomiya station for 320 yen per person. My highlight of Kobe was eating the signature marbled Kobe beef – the kind of the beef that’s tender and juicy and makes you sigh with delight. The kind of beef that’s so good, you forget to take photos of it (sorry).

   

So here’s my short list of 7 things to do when in Osaka! Japan is one of my favorite countries that I keep going back to. There’s so much to love about it – the efficiency of its public transport system, great food, super nice people, and an endless list of things to see and do. I know that I’ve barely scratched the surface, and I’m super excited to discover more.

For a video summary of things to do in Osaka, Nara, Kobe, and Kyoto, click here.