“Kushikatsu Daruma” is a popular restaurant for Kushikatsu which is one of Osaka’s speciality! I went to the original shop of Kushikatsu Daruma in Shin Sekai, and enjoyed their Kushikatsu and Doteni (Doteyaki)!
This is NOT paid promotion, just writing my experience.
Kushikatsu Daruma
History of Kushikatsu Daruma
In 1929, Yoshie opened a small shop named Takohishi, only beef skewer and potato skewer were sold at the time. It went to popular since people could fill their stomach easily with them.
After WW2, they changed their name to “Daruma” from Takohishi.
Daruma Shin Sekai Main Shop
They have a lot of shops around Shin Sekai area though, I went to the original one which is very small.
You will be surprised how small this shop is once you get inside. I wouldn’t recommend you to bring a big backpack or something like that. My husband (200cm) and I barely sat down next to each other.
My recommendation : What to Order
I suggest you to get one of set menus if you’d like to try some kinds of skewers! It comes with their famous Doteni (Doteyaki).
We (my husband and I) ordered
- one set of Doubutsuenmae including 13 skewers and Doteni (Doteyaki)
- 1 skewer of Ganso Kushikatsu
- Black oolong tea
- Oolong tea
About 1 skewer og Ganso Kushikatsu, (ganso means “original”), they recommended us to order since there is only one Ganso Kushikatsu in a set menu which we were sharing, and they wanted both of us try it. So we ordered it too.
They give you a bowl of cabbage, too. You should keep it even if you wouldn’t eat it. Because you’d “use” it. (details for later on)
Doteni / Doteyaki
Doteni or Doteyaki is a kind of stew, there are beef tendon, daikon radish, carrot, konnyaku (yam cake), green onion, etc in miso based soup.
I didn’t expect my husband (American) would like it, but she loves it.
This comes with 13 skewers if you order Doubutsuenmae set.
Kushikatsu – Deep-Fried Skewers
Doubutsuenmae set includes:
- Ganso Kushikatsu (Beef)
- Tori Tsukune (Minced Chicken)
- Kisu (Fish)
- Beni shouga (Red ginger)
- Hotate (Scallop)
- Satsumaimo (Sweet potato)
- Renkon (Lotus root)
- Mochi (Rice cake)
- Ebi (Shrimp)
- Wiener (Wiener sausage)
- Uzura (Quail eggs)
- Cheese
- Chicken Karaage (Japanese style fried chicken)
The texture is so crunchy and light! You can tell from the first bite! It is fried food but not heavy, somehow. They have their own secret recipe for batter, method of when/how much they put ingredients on batter.
When they serve, they explained to us each kushi (skewer), and how we should eat it like with sauce, salt, nothing etc. You need to know one thing about sauce for Kushikatsu!
Here is a rule for Kushikatsu sauce, “Dip ONLY ONCE!” you can NEVER dip twice or more. But then you might wonder what if you’d like to add more sauce on your kushikatsu.. the solution for this is using a piece of cabbage!
Casual and Cheap Place to Eat
Our bill was around 2800 yen (nearly $25)!!
I just write down each cost “approximately”.
- Doubutsuenmae set : 2100 yen
- Ganso Kushikatsu : 110 yen
- Oolong Tea : 230 yen
- Black oolong tea : 330 yen
It was perfect for us to fill up our stomach (not too much, since we were up for going get other foods) with this cheap price! We were very satisfied 😉
Access To Kushikatsu Daruma
5 mins walk from Doubutsuenmae station (Midousuji Line / Sakaisuji Line)
7 mins walk from Ebisucho station (Sakaisuji Line)
More >> Osaka Travel Blog
Kushikatsu Daruma is a must try restaurant in Shinsekai Osaka, especially their famous Kushikatsu (deep-fried skewers) that is not only tasty, but also cheap!
