Try The Best Street Food In Osaka's Kitchen, Visit Kuromon Ichiba Market!

Looking for the best street food in Osaka? Or just a lively place to wander, full with interesting foods to explore? You’re looking for Kuromon Ichiba Market in Osaka. This busy street, also known as Osaka’s Kitchen, is full of local fish vendors serving up some unforgettable dishes. Whether you’re visiting for a specific meal, or just to see what’s there, Kuromon Iciba Market has something for almost everyone visiting Osaka!

Want to try Tiger Blowfish (Fugu) – the fish that Homer Simpson thought he was poisoned by- without breaking the bank? The cheapest Fugu in Osaka is at this market. Along with sea urchin, okonomiyaki, and many different types of meat, including Kobe beef – Osaka’s Kuromon Ichiba Market is the best (and cheapest) place to eat all these foods.

What is Kuromon Ichiba Market?

Visit Kuromon Ichiba Market for fresh seafood and the cheapest street food in Osaka — Osaka’s lively Kuromon Ichiba Market is a great place to try local street food of Osaka. Kuromon Ichiba Market is also known as Osaka’s Kitchen

Because many restaurants buy from this market, it has earned the nicknamed “Osaka’s kitchen”, Kuromon Ichiba is a popular place for tourists and locals to buy a number of fresh produces and goods. Historically, in 1902 this area was established as a market were fishermen would sell seafood caught that day.

Since then, it has become a popular tourist attraction, that brings in over 23,000 visitors daily. With over 150 shops selling anything from famous Kobe beef to fruit and vegetables to a couple of clothing outlets, around 30% of the stalls sell fresh seafood.

The best reason to visit Kuromon Ichiba Market is that it’s an extremely cost-effective way to taste many foods that are expensive in restaurants. For a rough price guide, you can see a detailed list of everything I tried below. As well as some other great reasons to visit Osaka’s kitchen!

Why should I visit Kuromon Ichiba Market?

Obviously the food, there’s something for almost everyone to enjoy at Osaka’s Kitchen! Sure, a few of the portions I got were small, and a bit pricey for what they were, but still a massive discount from ordering the same at a restaurant.

The cheapest Fugu in Osaka (still completely safe)

Fugu is the poisonous fish that almost killed Homer Simpson! — Kuromon Ichiba Market is the cheapest place in Osaka to buy Fugu, or tiger blowfish, is a delicacy in Japan.

Want to eat the poisonous puffer fish in Osaka for cheap? Kuromon Ichiba Market’s Minami seafood store is where I tried my small platter. If you’re set on trying it and don’t want to break the bank, here’s your chance!

When I say it’s the cheapest Fugu in Osaka, I don’t mean that it lacks safety. This poisonous tiger blowfish requires chefs to undergo 3 years of specialized training before able to prepare this fish for consumption.

Commonly served as sashimi style, this fish has been banned at different periods of Japan’s history. Fugu contains tetrodotoxin, a poison over 1000 times deadlier than cyanide, with the liver, ovaries, eyes and skin being the most toxic.

With only 11 deaths from 2005-2014, mostly being from ill-prepared dishes. Most recorded cases are from fishermen eating their own catch.

I’ll admit, after watching the Simpson’s episode where Homer thinks he is to die from eating poisonous fish, it was something I had to try.

Luckily, I wasn’t going into this experience expecting a delicious meal. It was more the story of eating super deadly fish that I was after. Many restaurants serve Fugu, but a lively fish market is the best atmosphere you’ll find.

To be honest, Fugu is kind of rubbery. It’s translucent and doesn’t taste like much at all. I tried the last few slices of Fugu sashimi with soy sauce and it made the taste a lot more flavourful and enjoyable.

Fugu can set you back quite a few thousand Yen, but you can get a small taster plate of 8 slices at the Kuromon Ichiba Market stall ‘Minami’, for only 2000 Yen ($18.20 USD).

I think once is enough for me, but I’m glad I went through with this bucket list Japanese cuisine.

Eat spikey sea urchin in Osaka

Sea urchin is another tasty dish to try at Osaka's Kitchen — Sea Urchin, or Uni, at Kuromon Ichiba Market in Osaka

Sea urchin is commonly known as Uni in Japan. While the outside looks unappealing, with thin black painful spines, the inside is tasty and a prized delicacy around the world. They are usually eaten fresh as soon as the dark shell is cut open.

While the outside is as black as night, the inside flesh is bright orange. I’ll admit, I was hesitant to taste sea urchin, but this flavourful fishy taste surprised me. It was a Japanese cuisine highlight for me no doubt.

These creatures are also fairly expensive in most places. At the fresh seafood stall of ‘Funasada’, you can get a single urchin for 1000 Yen ($9.10 USD).

Cheapest Kobe beef in Osaka (and so tasty)

Maruzen is the stall where Kobe beef is served in Kuromon Market, Osaka — Kobe beef is a great food to try at Kuromon Ichiba Market – it’s also one of the cheapest places to get Kobe beef in Osaka

At the little butcher stall of ‘Maruzen’ is a great place to try cheap Kobe beef in Osaka. And it’s delicious!

This is one of the very few places I ate at that had available seating. This prized and usually extremely expensive beef is cooked right inform of you and salted.

At 2000 Yen ($18.20 USD) for a relatively small tasting, it wasn’t cheap. But compare that to a regularly priced appetizer at a restaurant and this is the shoestring budget Kobe beef in Osaka.

Wagyu beef skewers

Wagyu beef is the umbrella term for any type of beef raised in Japan, by Japanese standards. So, saying “try wagyu beef” is a slightly misleading statement. However, many of the butcher style stalls advertise wagyu beef.

So you can’t really be sure of the breed of cow on offer, but it’s worth a try none the less. One skewer of wagyu beef will set you back around 1000 Yen ($9.10 USD).

Okonomiyaki Osaka style

Fresh fish pancake of Okonomiyaki is Osaka's blend of this popular dish — Okonomiyaki has a distinct Osaka flavor – this tasty and cheap treat is a great food to try at Kuromon Ichiba Market in Osaka

Okonomiyaki is one of my favorite Japanese meals (other than ramen, of course). This pancake-style dish is crammed full of tasty ingredients and sauce and then fried.

Osaka’s version has local fresh fish and is a perfect warm snack on a cold winter’s day. One of these tasty treats will set you back around 300 Yen ($2.70 USD).

When is Kuromon Ichiba Market open?

Kuromon Ichiba Market is open 7 days a week. Opening hours are the same every day, 9am to 6pm. As usual, early in the morning is a fair bit quieter. By lunchtime, this street can be so crowded and noisy.

If you wind up here during a busy time, a great strategy is to eat at the tourist information. Many shops here don’t have much seating, and eating while droves of people push passed isn’t fun. At all.

Are there information services at Kuromon Ichiba Market?

Kuromon Ichiba Market has a tourist information building towards the south side of the street. Not only do they provide useful information and maps (super handy!), they also have a number of other services.

My personal favorite thing about Kuromon Market’s information center is they have seating for eating. It’s much less busy and quiet inside the doors here. You can enjoy your meal rather than deal with the possible chaos outside.

You can store your bags at the tourist information at the Kuromon Market. It’s 500 Yen ($4.50 USD) per piece. If you’re just in Osaka for the day, it’s probably worth the fee to ditch your bag while you explore.

There is also a currency exchange machine in the market information center. I’m not too sure how great the exchange rate would be, but if you’re in a pinch it may be worthwhile.

There are restrooms/toilets at the market, but the only ones I’ve found mentioned are up a flight of stairs. Not too accessible for anyone handicapped. If you know of an alternative toilet, please let me know in the comments.

Alternatively, you can take a short walking tour of Kuromon Ichiba Market and get shown all the unmissable items to eat.

Make sure you book the best accommodation in Osaka through Booking.com or Hostelworld.

How do I get to Kuromon Ichiba Market?

Getting to Kuromon Ichiba Market in Osaka is very easy. The best way to get here is to take a subway to either Nippombashi or Kintetsu Nippombashi Subway station. From here it’s a short 3-minute walk.

Things not to miss at Kuromon Ichiba Market

Fugu – the poisonous puffer fish experience
Sea urchin was surprisingly tasty
The busy atmosphere of the market

Have you visited Kuromon Ichiba Market? What did you think? Did I miss anything? Let me know in a comment below!

If you enjoyed this post, you can share it to social media – just use the buttons to the left of your screen (down the bottom if you’re on mobile).