Tucked away in the back streets of Minami in downtown Osaka is a narrow alley, paved with stone named Hozenji Yokocho. The alley is full of bars and restaurants, a scene that can be found in many Japanese cities. I've been walking along this alley on and off for 30 years now and little has changed. One restaurant that stands out in the alley is Wasabi, a small restaurant that specilaises in "kushikatsu" a local delicacy of deep fried food on skewers. Kushikatsu's origins is cheap deep fried food for the labourers of Osaka, particularly in the area known as Shin Sekai in Tennoji. As Japan became wealthy various chefs have taken this simple cheap food and developed a more refined sophisticated version of kushikatsu. Wasabi is one of those restaurants and it here that you can sample seasonal produce be it vegetable, fish or meat deep fried with tender care and served with an amazing array of tastes. There is a small selection of wine, sake and beer. It is cash only and a booking is required.
