Takoyaki Street Food, Osaka

Takoyaki — golf ball-sized dumplings of wheat flour batter filled with octopus chunks and cooked in a specialised copper pan — is Osaka's defining street food and an experience that every family should have at least once. The best takoyaki is molten inside and crispy outside; the theatrical flipping technique using two copper picks is something vendors often allow children to attempt at tourist-friendly Dotonbori stalls.