Osaka Is a Food-Obsessed City Unlike Anywhere Else in Japan

"Tranquil and upscale, Shiruhisa Hozenji is a Showa-era den of kushikatsu, Osaka's famous fast food. The skewers of breaded and deep-fried vegetables, fish, and meat are served with raw cabbage to standing diners at hundreds of counters across the city and typically washed down with frosty mugs of beer instead of sake. This cozy brick-and-wood-paneled tavern has stained-glass windows and 15 counter seats, each laid with a copper tray and various homemade sauces and salts. Its chef, Shiruhisa-san, is known for his ornate kushikatsu twists, like prawns twined around fiddleheads, butterbur wrapped delicately in tofu, and shiso leaves with flaky whitefish. Among his most popular dishes is a dessert: a deep-fried strawberry enveloped in bitter matcha mochi, as elegant as it is delicious and a reminder that Osakan food can hold its own against Kyoto's graceful kaiseki and Tokyo's VIP sushi counters."