What to eat in Osaka
Osaka is the nation's kitchen: takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu with the one-dip rule, udon, kitsune, winter pufferfish and highballs in an izakaya.

[ ] Eat takoyaki
    Batter balls with a piece of octopus inside, cooked in a dimpled iron pan and topped with sauce, mayonnaise and bonito flakes. The centres stay molten.
[ ] Try okonomiyaki
    A thick pancake of batter and cabbage with add-ins, griddled and finished with sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed and bonito. The Osaka version mixes everything into the batter.
[ ] Eat kushikatsu
    Meat, vegetables and seafood on skewers, breaded and deep-fried, with a shared sauce on the table. Ordered one at a time and eaten in a run.
[ ] Try kitsune udon
    Thick wheat noodles in a pale broth with a slice of sweet fried tofu. An Osaka invention, and the broth here is lighter and gentler than in Tokyo.
[ ] Try conveyor belt sushi
    Sushi on a belt where the plate colour sets the price and the bill is counted from your stack at the end. A cheap, fast way to eat fish.
[ ] Try kushiyaki in an izakaya
    Meat, vegetables and offal on skewers over coals, seasoned with salt or tare sauce. Ordered in small waves through the evening alongside beer.
[ ] Try horumon
    Beef and pork offal grilled over a rack, an Osaka speciality dating from the post-war years. The name comes from a word meaning what gets thrown away.
[ ] Have dinner at a kappo counter
    A ten-seat counter where the chef cooks in front of you and serves one seasonal dish at a time. A format looser than formal kaiseki, and it originated in Osaka.
[ ] Try fugu in winter
    The poisonous pufferfish, prepared only by licensed cooks: translucent slices of sashimi and a hot pot. The season runs from autumn to early spring.
[ ] Try battera and oshizushi
    Pressed sushi: fish and rice packed into a wooden box, weighted and cut into blocks. The Kansai style, older than Tokyo's nigiri.
[ ] Eat taiyaki
    A fish-shaped waffle filled with sweet bean paste, custard or sweet potato. A street sweet baked in front of you.
[ ] Try dango and warabimochi
    Rice balls on a skewer in a sweet-salty glaze, and warabimochi jelly dusted in kinako soy flour. Both are restrained by Western standards and served with tea.
[ ] Try melon pan and bakery items
    A bun under a crisp crosshatched sugar crust; there is no melon in it and the name comes from the look. Japanese bakeries are a genre of their own and are everywhere.
[ ] Drink Japanese tea
    Green sencha, roasted hojicha and powdered matcha are three different drinks. Restaurants bring tea or water free and refill it.
[ ] Drink a highball
    Japanese whisky with soda and ice in a tall glass, the standard izakaya drink, taken with food rather than after it.
[ ] Try sake
    Rice wine served chilled, warm or at room temperature depending on the grade. Good sake is more often drunk cold than heated.

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/food-osaka