Osaka is known for kashikatsu, one of the many kinds of “food on a stick” in Japan, and our young cousin Maya was tasked by mom Harumi to find a place. Now, Maya is a student and gravitates toward bargains, while her mother was determined to find someplace really great, and Harumi was quick to veto the first suggestion where each skewer is about 100 yen—way too cheap!

Maya did her mom proud by finding Kushinobo Osaka Hozenji 串の坊 大阪法善寺本店, a 15 minute walk from our hotel in Dotonbori but off the madhouse main street. Oh, what a find. The restaurant is clearly old and reminded me (really) of an old time German restaurant in Chicago or Milwaukee. Dark wood paneling, two rooms only in which all the counter seats surround the cooking space. We ordered the special omikase sets, which they were able to tailor to Maya’s pescatarian diet. The three of us, on the other hand, will eat just about anything put in front of us.

Each item is cooked to order, and watching the chef dip the item in batter, draining each on a heavy mesh screen, then each coated in bread crumbs, deep fried, and placed with care in front of you. A variety of sauces were available at each place setting, as well as salt and a wedge of lemon. You eat the item as it is served and put the empty wooden skewer in a ceramic fish. Most things look quite similar (except for items like asparagus, obviously recognizable) yet everything is distinct and distinctive.

Just as we were all agreeing that we had no more room, dessert appeared—a square of grapefruit jello. Light, tart, perfect.

Marvelous.

Fortunately we paused outside in time to notice the delightful window—not the typical plastic food but this: