Wanaka is one of Osaka's best-known takoyaki stalls, and the Sennichimae branch behind the Namba arcades is the one to seek out. Takoyaki — grilled octopus balls — is the city's signature street food, and Wanaka has been making it since 1965: a batter of dashi, flour, and egg poured into a dimpled iron plate, dropped with a chunk of octopus, and rotated with skewers into crisp-shelled, molten-centred balls.
Order at the counter and eat standing — they come finished with bonito flakes, nori, Worcestershire-style sauce, and mayonnaise. There is usually a queue, which is the point: the cooks turn the batter with the confident speed that the dish demands. Have them with a beer from the machine and move on into the Namba night.