Okonomiyaki and takoyaki cooking class

Learning to cook Osaka's star dishes at a local workshop is a culinary experience that goes far beyond simply eating. The okonomiyaki and takoyaki workshops in Osaka are hands-on classes in small groups of about two hours, in which a bilingual instructor teaches you to prepare from scratch these two icons of the city's gastronomy. Okonomiyaki is a thick cabbage omelette-pizza with meat or seafood, cooked on a griddle and topped with special sauce, mayonnaise and dancing bonito flakes; takoyaki are the famous batter balls with pieces of octopus, crispy on the outside and molten inside, prepared in hemispherical iron moulds. You will learn to portion the ingredients, to turn the balls with chopsticks (the most fun part) and to plate like a local. At the end you eat what you have made. The workshops cost between 50 and 80 euros per person depending on the provider and what is included; many are held in neighbourhood kitchens near Dotonbori or Namba. Book in advance through platforms such as GetYourGuide, Cookly or ByFood; there are options for family groups and for allergens.