3 of the Best Kushikatsu Restaurant Recommended by the Japan Kushikatsu Association

Kushikatsu is one of Osaka’s most popular gourmet foods. If you are going to go to the trouble of eating kushikatsu, you want to go to a good restaurant.
Today, we asked the Japan Kushikatsu Association, which promotes the food culture, history, and knowledge of kushikatsu, to recommend some of the best restaurants in the city! We hope you will find them useful.

1) Popular Kushikatsu Bar Kei

The first place we were told about is Kei, a popular kushikatsu bar located about a 5-minute walk from Midoribashi Station on the Osaka Metro Chuo Line.
The restaurant is a renovated 80-year-old old private house, and when you look up at the vaulted ceiling, you can see beams from the time of construction, giving you a sense of history and atmosphere.

The reason why we recommend Kei, a popular kushikatsu bar, is because of its delicious vegetable Kushikatsu! The restaurant uses fryer-assisted equipment that changes the properties of oil on a molecular level, which allows the ingredients to retain their moisture and brings out the true flavor of the ingredients in the kushikatsu.

The kushikatsu is also healthy, with a large cut of oil. This is great for those who are concerned about calories!

Based on the above, I ordered three skewers first: Manganji togarashi, shiitake mushroom, and eggplant.

You can taste the true flavor of the vegetables, and all the skewers are addictive!
However, if I dare to choose the best one among them, I preferred the “Manganji Togarashi” (red pepper)! Although it has the name “Togarashi” (chili pepper), it is not spicy at all. The vegetable skewers were thick, tender, and satisfying.

The next item we ordered, myoga, was also excellent (skewer in the foreground of the photo). Myoga, with its unique aroma and flavor, is an ingredient that will disappoint your expectations in a good way when it is used in Kushikatsu. I had an image of myoga as a condiment, but I learned that it can play a leading role when used on skewers.

I also found some unique skewers.
“Satoimo Taitan” is a dish made by deep frying an already finished taro stew. After the crispy texture, the taro with broth spreads in your mouth. The “half-boiled quail egg skewer” has a quail egg that is half-boiled, as the name suggests, and has a deliciously thick texture 😊.

The sauce served at Kei is also excellent. This original sauce is made from a “phantom sauce” that is not sold individually and is hard to find even for commercial use, and is mixed with chicken broth. Enjoy the crispy kushikatsu with our special sauce!

In addition to vegetables, there are also meat and seafood skewers, as well as recommended skewers made with seasonal ingredients, and there are always 60 to 70 items on the menu. He says that even if he wanted to reduce the number of items on the menu, he couldn’t quit because he kept seeing the faces of customers who loved the skewers as he added more seasonal items to the menu.
By the way, some customers say, “The restaurant looks like a chain restaurant” (lol). It is a restaurant with an at-home atmosphere where anything can be said.

If you have trouble deciding where to start because there are so many items on the menu, we recommend the “Tasting Set (902 yen, tax included),” which includes seven standard skewers, or the “Chotto Iimon Absolutely Delicious Set (1,485 yen, tax included),” which includes popular skewers such as beef halami and shrimp. In addition, it is a good idea to order the skewers you are interested in.

Popular Kushikatsu Bar Kei’s Tasting Set

Chotto Iimon Absolutely Delicious Set

If you want to have a drink with kushikatsu on weekends, please take advantage of the happy hour for lunchtime drinking.
On the other hand, if you want to enjoy kushikatsu at a leisurely pace, weekdays are recommended.

2) Ohsho Club

Next is Ohsho Club, which has a store in Janjan Yokocho in Shinsekai, a sacred place for kushikatsu.
The Ohsho Club is a revival of the Ohsho Club, a chess club that has a 70-year history in Shinsekai, as a kushikatsu restaurant.

The kushikatsu served at Ohsho Club are characterized by their light texture, which has been pursued to the utmost limit.
The chef adjusts the frying oil and batter on a daily basis according to the season and weather conditions, and he keeps in mind the most delicious kushikatsu of the day. The ingredients are deep-fried in a short time and the oil is carefully drained from each skewer. Many customers come to the restaurant every day to enjoy the time-consuming and meticulous preparation of the kushikatsu.

The most famous Kushikatsu at Ohsho Club is the Emperor Shrimp (1,780 yen, tax included)!

The size is a whopping 30cm! Its presence overturns the common sense of shrimp kushikatsu. It’s too good to be true.
The plump flesh is very satisfying! The thin and light batter is a perfect match.
You must try it when you come to Ohsho Club.

Next is the Salmon Oyako Kushi Ikura Koboshi (550 yen, tax included). Isn’t the visual appealing?
Deep-fried salmon topped with salmon roe. There is no reason why this skewer should not be delicious, and one bite of this dish will make you know why it is so popular.
There are many kushikatsu restaurants in Shinsekai, where JanJan　Yokocho is located, but Ohsho Club is a restaurant that boasts of its delicious kushikatsu, which can be said to be a “one-rank higher” kushikatsu.

If you have a chance to visit Ohsho Club, please enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant.
Shogi (Japanese chess) pieces are displayed in the restaurant, and the upstairs seating area is lined with tables that make use of a shogi (Japanese chess) board.

Some customers ask, “Why do you have so many chess items?” while some customers come to the restaurant with nostalgia for the Shogi Club of the past.
Ohsho Club also offers a wide selection of alcoholic beverages, so it is recommended for those who want to enjoy a drink with kushikatsu.

3) Sousaku Kushi-Age Enjiro Shin-Imamiya Kushikatsu

The third restaurant we would like to introduce is Sousaku Kushi-Age Enjiro.
It is located in “Ebisu Yokocho,” which opened in June 2024, only a 2-minute walk from JR and Nankai Railway Shin-Imamiya Station, the nearest station to Shinsekai, and right next to OMO7 Osaka by Hoshino Resorts.

If we were to describe the appeal of Sousaku Kushi-Age Enjiro in a few words, it would be “impressive to look at and satisfying to eat.”
Fresh ingredients purchased at the Osaka City Central Wholesale Market every morning are carefully deep-fried one by one in front of your eyes.
The menu includes a 10-skewer course (4,180 yen, tax included) and Enjiro’s omakase course. The omakase course allows you to enjoy delicious kushikatsu to your heart’s content until you make a stop.
Popular dishes include onion gratin, Tuna Kushikatsu with oil and ginger sauce, shrimp with mango sauce, and more. The simplicity of the kushikatsu makes it possible to arrange it in both Japanese, Western, and Chinese dishes, a merit that is unique to kushikatsu.

The photo shows “Tuna Kushikatsu with oil and ginger sauce.” The sweet and sour flavor of the oil and ginger sauce spreads softly in the mouth. The manager, who was trained in Chinese cuisine, is proud to have created this original skewer.

This is today’s shrimp. You can eat everything from head to tail. Only the head is deep-fried first, and then the whole shrimp is deep-fried. This time difference in the frying method makes the head, which is covered with sansho (Japanese pepper), crispy and the rest of the shrimp crispy. A small step by the chef to make the dish tasty. This is a nice touch!

Seasonings also change according to the ingredients. The most popular is Enjiro’s blend of sesame and kobu-cha salt. This is really delicious, and the unique flavor of the kobu-cha salt is the best! You really want to taste it over and over again. In fact, the owner said, “We get so many requests from customers that we consume half the salt we have.” That’s right! Convincing and delicious!

And Enjiro’s creative kushikatsu, deep-fried in lard oil, are light and crispy, making them easy for even women to eat. The light and crispy texture of Enjirou’s creative skewers is easy for women to enjoy. Many customers say, “I can keep eating these skewers forever.”

Popular kushikatsu are appealing, but elegant and sophisticated creative kushikatsu are also good!

Kushikatsu is not the only attraction of Enjirou.
The tomatoes marinated in apricot wine, served as a chopstick rest, are also exquisite. The sweetness of the tomatoes fills the mouth, and even children who do not like tomatoes can enjoy this dish.
The reason why you can have such a heartbreaking time is because we have a patissier on staff, which is rare for a kushikatsu restaurant. This is a high-class Kushikatsu restaurant where you can also enjoy a wonderful dessert.

If you want to celebrate a special occasion or want to surprise your companion with something, please consult with the restaurant in advance! You can even make reservations for custom-made sweets☆.
Please spend a wonderful time at Enjiro, where you can experience “impressive to look at and satisfying to eat.”

Extras) Shinsekai 94(kushi) Dining Makoto

The kushikatsu stores recommended by the Kushikatsu Association were all distinctive.
Then, I was a little curious about the restaurant of the chairman of the Kushikatsu Association. What kind of restaurant is it?

The restaurant is located about a six-minute walk from JR Hanaten Station. The name of the restaurant is “Shinsekai 94 (kushi) Dining Makoto.” It has been introduced in various media and is very popular among kushikatsu lovers. The exterior of the restaurant is marked by an illustration overflowing with love for kushikatsu★.

The restaurant has three tables and six counter seats. The restaurant has an at-home atmosphere that anyone can easily enjoy, from solo diners to families with children.

The owner, who trained at a famous kushikatsu chain restaurant in Shinsekai, invented the hybrid kushikatsu. 100% rice oil, which is low in calories and healthy for the body, is used, and the batter is egg- and milk-free, making it safe even for those with allergies. The batter is egg-free and milk-free, making it safe for allergy sufferers. The fryer is also carefully designed to provide the ultimate in tasty kushikatsu, even when cold!

The kushikatsu menu offers a wide variety of more than 50 different types of kushikatsu. Especially recommended ingredients are eggplant, white meat, and pork. Among them, the eggplant may turn your concept of kushikatsu upside down! The flavor of the eggplant is so concentrated that it is best eaten as is without sauce.

I was also surprised at the number of seasonings! The “Makoto no Shio (Makoto’s Salt)” is especially delicious on anything. If you try different flavors with the same ingredients, you will enjoy kushikatsu in endless ways!

In addition, the odd menu items are interesting and tasty!
This “Hinomaru Roll”(154 yen, tax included) is a kushikatsu (Japanese-style pork cutlet) version of tuna sushi roll. The red tuna and white rice before frying are designed to resemble the Japanese flag. Deep frying removes the smell of tuna and makes the sushi rice sweet, so even those who do not like raw fish sushi should be able to enjoy it.

For those with a sweet tooth, the separate dessert skewers are also recommended. These are “Fried Buns with Honey” and “Baumkuchen.” How about finishing your kushikatsu?

Shinsekai 94 Dining Makoto offers not only delicious kushikatsu but also entertainment. If you want to enjoy kushikatsu with everyone, it is definitely worth a visit!