Netflix Asia Street Food Izakaya Toyo Osaka

Netflix Asia Street Food Izakaya Toyo Osaka

Finally, I went to the famous Netflix Asia Street Food Izakaya Toyo Osaka. This is a long post with lots of photos and video, please enjoy reading this.

Izakaya Toyo is started in 1992 by Chef Toyoji Chikumoto. If you watch the Neflix Asia Street Food Izakaya Toyo Osaka episode, you will understand the hardship of Chef Toyoji. His dream is to have his own izakaya and his earlier life was filled with obstacles.

At the time, he had enough money to open his izakaya, this abusive father passed away and the funeral took a big chunk of his saving. With what is left in his bank account in 1992, he opened Izakaya Toyo next to the graveyard.

He started off working alone and then from there, the izakaya becomes more popular, he getting more customers and he hired staffs to help him. He treated his staffs like his children.

This popular izakaya stall is just a stone throw away from Kyobashi Station and they starts from 1pm.I reached 40 minutes before the opening of the store, there is a long queue in front of me. I was there with a friend. There was a dozen of people in front of me and probably over twenty people behind me.

I took a photo from the end of the queue and it was long.  They have to wait probably for at least an hour for a table.

There are no seating, so everyone have to stand to eat. Luckily, we were the last people for the first serving. I called it serving as they will try to fill all the tables with customers and then they start serving.

Even though they are on Netflix Asia Street Food series, the prices of their food are very reasonable.

If you a look at their menu, most of their food are less than ¥1000 and this are good food. You might think that with the fame, they might jack up their food prices but it is not the case.

We ordered:

Broiled Tuna Cheek Meat ¥600

Grilled Eel ¥900 x2

Fatty Tuna for 2 ¥2400 comes with crab meat and scallop with vinegar

Ark Shell ¥600

We started off with a bottle of Asahi beer. It is self service and good to start the lunch with a few glasses of beer especially during the hot summer.

Ark shell. I didn’t know what is ark shell so I ordered it and it taste like the other shell fish. When I google it, it is similar to ‘siham’ or cockles but the appearance looks more like huge ‘lala’. Since this is fresh, the texture is more bitey but it taste okay.

The fatty tuna comes with crab meat and scallop with vinegar. The tuna is really fresh and you can’t complain the crab meat and scallop with vinegar.

You can actually see how thick are those tuna belly is and this is so satisfying. Here, they give you real wasabi and not the fake powder wasabi.

Grilled Eel or unagi is delicious. We ordered one plate to taste and we ordered another plate as one plate was never enough. Imagine for that price you pay, it is cheaper than what you can get in Malaysia. This is so worth it and the portion and taste is so satisfying.

Please take note that he will complete all the food orders for the first serving and only then he will cook the broiled tuna cheek.

Chef Toyoji is a smart cook. The makes use of the byproduct as his top seller, the tuna cheek. He also uses the flamethrower to cook the tuna. It is not a gimmick as it is the fastest way to grill the tuna.

You probably see him using his hands manhandling the tuna cheeks and that is not a trick too. He dipped his hands into the bucket of ice so he won’t get burnt. Using hands makes sure the tuna cheeks are in pieces instead of using tong.

The broiled tuna cheek comes with the smoky taste due to the burning but the texture is good. You get good chunks of the meat and it taste pretty good.

Lastly, Chef Toyoji will take a short break and start taking photos with his customers and even random passerby. He speaks simple English but he is super friendly.

He thought I am from Thailand but I told him, I came all the way from Malaysia to try his food. The smile on his face tells it all. His dream is to have his Izakaya and it is now so famous, customers come for around the world to try his food.

Overall, I am very impressed with Netflix Asia Street Food Izakaya Toyo Osaka. If you are in Osaka, please drop by at Izakaya Toyo and be there early. Remember to check his Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/izakayatoyo/ as sometimes he will take a break for a short holiday.

Netflix Asia Street Food Izakaya Toyo Osaka

Opening Hours:

Saturday              12–6:30 pm

Sunday Closed

Monday               Closed

Tuesday               1–6:30 pm

Wednesday        1–6:30 pm

Thursday             Closed

Friday                    1–6:30 pm

Address: 3 Chome-2-26 Higashinodamachi, Miyakojima Ward, Osaka, 534-0024, Japan

Phone: +81 6-6882-5768