Kushikatsu (or kushiage) is a deep-frying style of Japanese cooking; more specifically, the term is applied to restaurants serving battered meat and veggies mostly on skewers. It is one of the cooking styles associated with Osaka (but it can be found throughout Japan).
The visit
I had a kushikatsu from the popular Daruma and it was really underwhelming. Through research, I identified a few “mid-range” joints that were promising a better experience (Daruma is the fast-food version of kushikatsu).
I went to Karatto on a Saturday evening and it was, of course, full. It is located on an alley, near Shinsaibashi station. But I was able to make a reservation for the next night. I noticed that all customers seemed to be Japanese, that’s why I believe this is a place locals go.
I sat at the counter on the ground floor overlooking the kitchen. I believe they have more rooms upstairs.
Ordering was pretty easy as they had an bilingual (Japanese/English) order form. I ordered their premium selection (“extra good Karatto set”).
I was quickly offered an appetizer included in the set. It was a bowl of doteyaki, a stew of of beef tendons in a golden miso-enriched liquid.
The first dish of skewers had (from left to right): beef (just ok), Japanese conger (yummy), onion (good), crab claw (very good), two pieces of tuna (very good, one piece was extra order).
The second dish had a shrimp (great), sausage (super), lotus root (very good), scallop (excellent), asparagus (good).
I also had yet an additional tuna skewer and one with mozzarella cheese. I was advised not to use the special sauce on the tuna and some other skewers.
Each seat had a container of the special sauce used with this kind of skewers. It is quite sweet and, personally, I do not over-use it. The usual rule applies: you can only dip once (to avoid contact with an half-eaten skewer). If you need more, some cabbage is available that you can use to transfer more sauce from the container. In the picture above I captured a little behind-the-scenes moment: after a customer leaves, the sauce is filtered, to eliminate crumbs and any residual food that may have fell into the container.
The check
Final check was 4,300 yen (39.80 USD) including the big set, some additional skewers, and non-alcoholic drinks, which were a bit overpriced. It was marginally more expensive than Daruma, but way better in terms of food and convivial experience. If you are looking for a good kushikatsu joint, Karatto is a solid option.
Where in Osaka:
1-3-23 Shinsaibashisuji, Chuo-ku.
In Japanese: 中央区心斎橋筋1-3-23.