Exploring Kuromon Market in Osaka

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Osaka is one of the top tourist cities for many Taiwanese people. Kuromon Market is one of the most representative tourist markets in Osaka.

I believe you must have seen the photo on the cover ~ it was taken at Kuromon Market.

If this is your first time coming to Osaka, you can come and check it out. If you don’t know what to eat in the city center, you can find many choices here, from seafood shops, izakayas, sashimi, and desserts.

Kuromon Market Background Introduction

Kuromon Ichiba Market in Osaka is a historic market located in the center of Osaka, Japan. It is one of the most popular markets in Osaka.

This market originated in the Taisho era (1912). Because the nearby temple has a black door, it is called “Kuromon Market”~ It has a history of a hundred years. (Kuromon means black in Japanese)

Kuromon Market is about 580 meters long and has about 150 shops. It is famous for its abundant fresh seafood, vegetables, fruits, and other traditional Japanese foods.

Providing a variety of ingredients and cooked food, as well as many authentic Japanese snacks, you can taste high-quality sashimi, Takoyaki, fried pork cutlets, sushi, ramen, and other delicacies here.

In addition to delicious food, Kuromon Market is also a lively tourist attraction, so you can also see a lot of tourists. Don’t forget to take pictures with the big Kuromon lanterns!

Location and Transportation

Kuromon Market is located in the center of Osaka, close to the Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi shopping districts. If you like shopping, it is recommended to stay here.

What’s in Kuromon Market

▌Kuromon Sanpei

The first one I want to introduce is “Kuromon Sanpei” which everyone recommends selling sashimi and nigiri sushi.

Others would also recommend it, which seems very boring. However, after I visited the entire Kuromon Market, this business seemed to be the best.

No outside food is allowed inside. At that time, I still had the takoyaki I had just bought, and the store clerk told me that I had to finish eating before I could enter.

There are lots of choices and lots of bargains! There is also a lot of sashimi, which looks very thick and tastes fresh! We chose five tuna and five salmon, which totaled only $19. It was more than satisfying.

▌Takoyaki diagonally opposite Kuromon Sanpei (I don’t know the name)

(I feel that the takoyaki here is too soft and not to my liking. Maybe it’s Taiwan’s eating habits)

You can choose a single flavor or a combination. We ordered the combination (700 yen), which is about $4.68. There are eight pieces in total.

▌Various Wagyu beef dishes

These stores have inside seats. You can buy them home or ask the store to cook them after you choose them. However, I heard from my previous research that it is a bit more expensive here, so I didn’t spend money there, But it can be seen that the meat quality and thickness are good.

There are many kinds of meat to choose from. If you want to try the skewers alone, that’s fine.

▌The Wagyu skewers shop I bought from

This restaurant has almost reached its end. The owner is adorable and is Chinese. She keeps soliciting customers in Chinese.

At that time, I thought it was unreasonable not to eat wagyu, so I bought an A3~A4. It was grilled properly, very tender, and melt-in-your-mouth, and it retained the original taste of beef.

Look at that gravy! My mouth is watering while writing this article, I want to eat it again!

▌Groceries

Luggage shops are a must in places with a lot of tourists, but I found that the Kuromon Market is still a bit more expensive than other shopping districts. Maybe it’s because there’s less competition. After all, I only saw one or two Luggage shops.

In short, if you are not in a hurry, there is no need to buy suitcases at Kuromon Market.

This store below looks like it sells traditional clothes. The clothes are quite thick.

▌Various snacks~

When you enter Kuromon Market, you will see this oden restaurant. There are also other grilled skewers and grilled scallops. The oden looks very delicious.

This small snack shop sells ice cream and Japanese dango. It has a retro feel. The Japanese dango cost 100 yen each, which can be said to be a very reasonable price.

In addition to Kuromon Sanpei, other sushi restaurants look relatively high-end. The following sushi models and prices are displayed outside for your reference. The prices are marked.

What impressed me most was this croissant shop. Not far away, you can see the small and fresh decoration in the corner, which is particularly exquisite.

Girls should like it. They also sell some drinks, which are not expensive. You can try them out.

Conclusion: Is Kuromon Market worth visiting?

Generally speaking, in addition to the above-mentioned stores that impress me, there are many more in Kuromon Market waiting for you to explore.

The whole street is neither long nor short. I chose to have lunch here. It took about 1 to 2 hours in total.

There are not as many souvenir and drug stores as there are in the Namba business district, and they are mainly for food~

But for me, it may not be on the list of must-visit attractions next time. If you haven’t been there, I still recommend you to visit it. Taking a photo in front of the big Kuromon lantern feels like a must-have for a trip to Osaka.

If you are a shopaholic, don’t spend money here, you can go to Shinsaibashi for more choices!

Our Osaka travel costs and itinerary

▷ Travel In Japan, Osaka Five-day itinerary And The Cost