Osaka and Kyoto 6 days. Love Suggestions :)

[skyhskyh]

Going to osaka and kyoto next next week for 6 days. Hotel in osaka.

Love to get suggestion on good eatery places, and food which i must try, and cooking equipments and cooking books.

My desired criterias:

* Tempura. Sushi / sashimi places:

Good places to have tempura and sushi / sashimi, so that afterwards, i would know what is a good "standard". (because i had done tempura and sushi / sashimi sections in restaurant, i would like to grasp what is a good standard i should aim for and compared to)

* Famous / must try / iconic Japanese food:

Eg okonomiyaku, tako taki, yaki niku, etc... What else?.. And where i should go for them ?

* Cooking equipment, knives, bags, etc:

I know there's a street called Douguya Suzi near Namba where it is a street of cooking equipment, etc… Is it common to bargain or is it rude to do so?

* Cooking Books!

Where to go to buy them? Obviously I can't really read Japanese "much", good to have translations, also kanjis are bit ok as i am originally from hong kong.

* Price range: Reasonably priced / Avg. price.

* the so far Eatery places suggested by some people i know:

- Was told that in Daimaru, at Osaka Station, Umeda, inside Daimaru, there's a famous restaurant, avg. priced called Kicho or something. Was told it's good to try, is it?

- Was also told if I go to Namba or Shinsaibashi, then go to any restaurant places, they are good, is it?

[Hayley Casarotto]

Hi skyhskyh,

I don't have a huge knowledge base about Osaka but seeing nobody else has chimed in yet I will give you my two cents! I most recently spent a few days there in 2010 and we ate almost exclusively in Namba and surrounding areas. The two things I had on my must try list were okonomiyaki (we ate at a non-descript place upstairs in one of the covered arcades in Namba and it was FABULOUS) and takoyaki. My Japanese friends told me that Tako Tako King is the iconic place to go for takoyaki, so we did. It was pretty great, but honestly, Osaka is famous for its takoyaki (and okonomiyaki) and I doubt you could go wrong anywhere that you see is popular.

If you like crab, you may want to try Kani Doraku in Dotonbori - it's a bit of a landmark with its giant moving crab sign. In terms of other dishes, my standard "can't go wrong" food while travelling in Japan is ramen. The pokey little hole-in-the-wall ramen places around the country have provided some of my favourite meals!

I've never had sushi in Osaka but perhaps your hotel's concierge can recommend a good place?

And as far as cookbooks go, I always just end up at Kinokuniya *^^*

I hope some of that is helpful to you! Hopefully some better informed eGulleteers can add some advice.

[Hayley Casarotto]

And of course, there's this extremely helpful thread.

[ChrisZ]

And this one...

[_john]

Definitely go to doguya-suji in Namba. It is not appropriate to ask for a discount.

In the same area there is a bookstore that sells only cooking books called namiya-shobo 波屋書房

What does average price mean to you? per-person lunch and dinner, do you drink alcohol etc.

Do you just want to have the average ("standard") sushi/tempura/okonomiyaki? Or do you want to have what is popularly considered to be the best or best in class?

There are a lot of young people working at restaurants in areas like shinsaibashi and umeda that speak Cantonese or are originally from Hong Kong. There are a lot of tourists coming from China as well as Korea recently so there is plenty of support once you are in Japan.