Which station to aim for
Two stations frame the district. Dobutsuen-mae sits on its south side, and Exit 1 is the meeting point for the 15-dish tour by Osaka Food Tours, Inc. as well as for the kushikatsu and okonomiyaki tour, which gathers at the FamilyMart there. Ebisucho lies to the north; Hungry Osaka Tours starts at its Exit 3 and walks south through the district, so you finish near Dobutsuen-mae. Goen Japan uses the MEGA Don Quijote store in Shinsekai as its landmark instead of a station exit.
If your hotel is in Namba, any of these points is a short subway ride away. If you plan a second night out in Dotonbori, the kushikatsu and okonomiyaki tour covers both districts in one evening, with a train ride between them that is not in the ticket price.
Kushikatsu manners
The shared tub of sauce on a kushikatsu counter comes with one rule: dip each skewer once, before the first bite, and never again after you have bitten into it. Many shops in Shinsekai post the rule on the wall. If you want more sauce, scoop it up with a leaf of the raw cabbage that sits on the counter. Your guide will show you, but it helps to know before the first counter.
What fifteen dishes look like
The dish counts in the titles are counts of tastings, not of meals. One reviewer of the 15-dish tour describes the portions as very small and lists plain potato among the fifteen; another finds the amount of food above expectations. On the Hungry Osaka evening, a reviewer counts fifteen kinds of food with one drink at each restaurant. Expect to leave full, but do not expect fifteen plates.
A second point from the reviews: the restaurants on these routes are close together. One guest on the Hungry Osaka tour wanted more walking through the streets and found the stops very close to one another. If you want to see more of the city on foot, the kushikatsu and okonomiyaki tour, which ends in Dotonbori, covers the most ground.
Who these tours leave out
Shinsekai food is fried batter, meat and dashi, and the listings are clear about it. Hungry Osaka Tours rules out vegetarians, vegans and gluten-free diets and takes children from 10. Osaka Food Tours, Inc. rules out vegans and gluten-free diets and says nothing about vegetarians. Goen Japan adapts for vegetarians to a limited degree. The kushikatsu and okonomiyaki tour also rules vegetarians out, and explains why: its dashi contains pork, even for the meat-free skewers. The diet guide for Osaka tours and classes lists the alternatives.
For tours in other districts, such as the small-group evening in Tenma and Kyobashi, see the comparison of all full food tours in Osaka.
The Ebisucho tour has its own page: Hungry Osaka Tours in Shinsekai sets out the route, the group cap and what the listing says about drinks.
