The Top Ten Restaurants in Umeda

The Umeda district has a fantastic range of dining venues for both lunch and dinner. Here are some of our favorite locations for tasty meals in and around Osaka Station.

1. Tsurutontan Top Chefs

Tsurutontan Top Chefs is a noodle shop specializing in udon: thick wheat flour noodles which are typically served hot with a fish and konbu kelp based broth, or cold with a dipping sauce. This restaurant has both of these options, but also has a more adventurous menu of noodles served with curry sauces, or Italian style cream sauces. The noodles themselves are soft but with a good chewy consistency and the servings are very generous.

The restaurant’s décor is all white and brightly lit so that the only color comes from the food you eat. As a result each bowl of noodles appears like a dazzling work of art. This restaurant also has English menus. You can find Tsurutontan Top Chefs in the B2 basement level of the Daimaru department store on the south side of Osaka Station City. Map.

Open: 10.00 – 20.30
Tel: 06-6451-0063

2. Camp

Camp serves piping hot Japanese style curry that is made with lots of vegetables: eggplant, daikon radish, potato, sweet potato, cabbage, onion, mustard spinach and a variety of mushrooms. Their signature dish contains 11 different seasonal vegetables and at over 350 grams it is equivalent to the government’s daily recommended vegetable serving! You can choose your own curry sauce from three options: the shops own original chicken and tomato sauce, a vegetarian green Thai sauce, or a spicy Indian style sauce. Wash it down with a glass of lassi, or enjoy it with a side order of chicken wings.

Camp is located in the Eki Marche shopping complex which is located inside the Osaka Station building close by the Sakurabashi ticket gates. You can eat in or take away. Map.

Open: 10.00 – 22.30
Tel: 06-6940-7155

3. Dashichazuke En

Chazuke is a simple Japanese dish made by pouring hot green tea on a bowl of cooked rice mixed with other ingredients such as fish, pickles, sesame seeds, strips of nori seaweed, and wasabi. It is typically used as a way to use up leftover food. Dashichazuke En has taken this simple home kitchen recipe and given it a new twist by replacing the tea with a rich dashi soup of fish stock blended with chicken broth, soy, miso, konbu kelp, and sake. On the menu are a variety of tasty toppings which include bream, shrimp, scallops, marinated tuna, salmon and salmon roe. Every serving comes with two seasonal side dishes and pickles.

This is the place to come to for truly delicious and healthy Japanese style fast food. Dashichazuke En is located inside the Eki Marche shopping complex which is located inside the Osaka Station building close by the Sakurabashi ticket gates. You can eat in or take away. Map.

Open: 10.00 – 22.30 (Last orders 22.00)
Tel: 06-4795-5096

4. 24/7 Café Apartment Umeda

Just a minute away from the north exit of Osaka Station, this café has created a comfortable homey atmosphere in which to unwind from the hustle and bustle of the city. Recharge your batteries with one of the healthy Japanese style set meals which feature multigrain rice, miso soup, and obanzai style side dishes with lots of nutritious vegetables. You get to choose 3 of these side dishes from the 15 options on the menu. The dessert menu features a range of freshly baked bread and pastries with plenty of fresh fruit and soft serve ice cream. Drinks include freshly squeezed juice, ground coffee, and top quality roasted green tea from Kyoto.

Café Apartment Umeda is in the B1 level basement of Umekita Hiroba in the Grand Front Osaka complex just in front of Osaka Station’s north gate. Map.

Open: 10.00 – 22.00 (Last orders 21.00)
Tel: 06-6377-5777

5. Kisuke

Gyutan or beef tongue is actually a Sendai specialty but the Umeda branch of this famous restaurant chain is extremely popular. The signature dish is a plate of tender, juicy cuts of beef tongue chargrilled, seasoned, and served with barley rice, simmered oxtail soup, and pickles. However there are a variety of other ways to eat gyutan too: broiled, smoked, stewed, in sausages, or minced and served with tofu.

You can find Kisuke on the 7th floor of Grand Front Osaka’s South Building on the north side of Osaka Station. Map.

Open: 11.00 – 23.00
Tel: 06-6485-7910

6. Ginpei

Ginpei is a casual izakaya style seafood restaurant that takes pride in its fresh ingredients and the variety of ways that seafood can be grilled, simmered, marinated, fried, or served raw. Lunchtime set meals, and evening kaiseki style courses are available and you can also order a la carte. Highlights include the seafood tempura, crab salad with avocado and salmon roe, and the rice with minced bream. Ginpei also has a great selection of sake to drink with your meal.

Ginpei is located on the 8th floor of Grand Front Osaka’s South Building on the north side of Osaka Station. Map.

Open: 11.00 – 22.00
Tel: 06-6485-7310

7. Yosuko Ramen

First opened in 1964 Yosuko Ramen is a legendary ramen noodle shop in Umeda. This restaurant serves Chinese style ramen noodles in a lightly salted clear chicken soup which is topped with thin slices of roast pork, potherb mustard, and bean sprouts. Other options include gomoku ramen which has lots of toppings, wonton noodles, and gyoza ramen which include Chinese dumplings.

Yosuko Ramen is located one block to the east of Hep Five in the basement of the Fukiya Building. Map.

Open: 10.30 – 23.00 (Last orders: 22.45)
Closed: Thursdays
Tel: 06-6312-6700

8. Sansunowaza

This restaurant’s specialty is tempura: light strips of seafood and farm-fresh vegetables dipped in a simple batter of egg, flour, and water, then deep fried in cottonseed oil to a light and golden crispy finish. You can order individual items off the menu, or have a course meal. Lunchtime sets are also available. Sansunowaza has a range of delicious sake varieties to complement your meal, but if sake doesn’t suit you they have an extensive wine list too. White wine is particularly recommended as a refreshing accompaniment for tempura.

The restaurant is located on the 5th floor of the Herbis Plaza Ent building which is a 5 minute walk from the Sakurabashi Exit of Osaka Station. All tables have floor-to-ceiling window views which are particularly splendid at night. Map.

Lunch: 11.00 – 15.00 (Last orders: 14.00)
Dinner: 17.00 – 23.00 (Last orders: 22.00)
Tel: 06-6347-1688

9. The Oyster Room

If you like oysters, you will love Oyster Room. This stylish restaurant serves several different varieties of fresh oyster from different regions of Japan, and serves them up in various appetizing ways. You can have baked oysters, deep fried battered oysters, pan fried oysters in an ajillo sauce, oyster risotto, or savor them raw with a slice of lemon. Other seafood items are on the menu, but it is the oysters that make this restaurant special. Enjoy your meal with a glass of white wine or a bottle of oyster stout.

The Oyster Room is located on the 5th floor of Herbis Plaza Ent which is a 5 minute walk from the Sakurabashi Exit of Osaka Station.Map.

Weekdays: 11.00 – 15.00 / 17.00 – 23.00 (Last orders: 22.00)
Saturdays, Sundays & holidays: 11.00 – 16.00 / 17.00 – 23.00 (Last orders: 22.00)
Tel: 06-6451-5118

10. Kiji

It doesn’t look like much from the outside but Kiji is the best okonomiyaki shop in Umeda. Okonomiyaki, literally “grilled stuff you like”, is a an egg and grated yam based savory pancake filled with shredded cabbage and other ingredients of your choosing. At Kiji every kind of topping is available: pork, squid, shrimp, beef, potato, corn and more which can be had singly or in combination. You can also try the modan-yaki variety of pancake that comes stuffed with noodles.

This is a very friendly restaurant with a well-deserved reputation as one of the top okonomiyaki restaurants in Osaka. Kiji is located inside the Shinumeda Shokudogai restaurant complex which you can find under the overhead walkway that runs between Osaka Station City and Hankyu Osaka-Umeda Station. Map.

Open: 11.30 – 21.30
Tel: 06-6361-5804

Article and original photos by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.