Chibō is one of Osaka’s most celebrated okonomiyaki (savoury pancake) eateries. It quite often has a line, yet it moves quickly because there is seating on various floors. Try the house speciality, Dōtombori yaki with pork, meat, squid, shrimp and cheddar, and the tonpei-yaki (omelet folded over seared pork).

A shrine to the humble wheat noodle also known as udon, Byakuan uses meticulously sourced Hokkaido kombu and Kochi bonito ensuring a deeper complexity and flavour than other udon restaurants in town. The noodles, made from 100 percent domestic wheat, have a delicate mouthfeel that shine in either a thin, cold soup or the hot curry version.

Unagi (freshwater eel) is a favourite treat among foodies in Japan, and few places do it better than Shibato. Perhaps the place that invented the local eel preparation, 300-year old Shibato doesn’t steam its eels before grilling, resulting in a crispiness and head-to-tail cutting style that has separated Osaka unagi from eel in Tokyo.

There’s no better example of the new-wave ramen boom than at Moeyo Mensuke. Started by classically trained chefs, the austere, expensive-looking storefront still commands painfully long waiting lines. The exquisite duck ramen is more than worth the wait. Wakayama prefecture’s revered Kishu duck is the star of the show, so the restaurant’s soup puts its luxurious poultry flavour at the forefront.

Many foreigners turn up their noses at oden – the symbolic winter dish with the ‘stuff-floating-in-dashi’ — but they probably just haven’t had a good rendition yet. At Hanakujira, the life-giving broth is bursting with complexity. However, unlike a new wave of high-end oden shops, Hanakujira keeps things affordable and ultra-casual, just as the workaday stew should be. Be warned, lines can get absurdly long, especially on cold days.