Dotonbori Osaka

Dotonbori is the bright, loud, hungry heart of Osaka: a canal-side strip where restaurant signage became an art form - the running Glico man in lights, a mechanical crab the size of a car waving its claws, giant pufferfish lanterns and dragons climbing the walls - and where the city's motto of kuidaore, eat until you drop, is practised nightly with total sincerity. Osaka calls itself the nation's kitchen, and this is its stage: takoyaki octopus balls flipped at speed, okonomiyaki pancakes sizzling on hotplates, kushikatsu skewers with their strictly-no-double-dipping sauce, all eaten standing, strolling or crammed into tiny counters while the neon reflects off the canal.

What you actually see

• The Glico running man - the canal-side icon and its bridge full of photographers.
• Takoyaki and okonomiyaki - Osaka's signature street dishes from the famous stalls.
• Kushikatsu alley culture - fried skewers and the sacred single-dip sauce rule.
• Hozenji Yokocho - the lantern-lit stone lane and moss-covered temple one street back.

When to go

Dotonbori is an evening organism, at full neon from dusk, running every night of the year. Weekends are shoulder to shoulder. Come hungry, graze across many small stops rather than one sit-down meal, and finish with the canal reflections late when the crowds thin.

Honest expectations

It is touristy, packed and gloriously unsubtle - anyone seeking quiet refinement is in the wrong district, and that is the point. Queues at famous stalls can outlast the snack's eating time; the stall one door down is usually nearly as good. Prices have crept with fame but remain honest for what lands on the plate. One street back, Hozenji Yokocho restores calm in thirty seconds.

Nearby

Kuromon market's food stalls, Shinsaibashi's shopping arcades and Osaka Castle are all close.