Kaiba Sushi Osaka, a Modern Sushi Restaurant in Central Osaka

Kaiba Sushi Osaka (海馬) is a modern sushi restaurant in the fashionable district of Horie Tachibana (Orange Street). It was one of the restaurants that we found to escape the crowds because we were (unintentionally) in Japan at the most crowded time imaginable. In 2019, the usual Golden Week holiday in Japan was extended by extra holidays because of the abdication of the Emperor and the coronation of the new Emperor. The only positive thing for us was the historical significance of being in Japan and experiencing the transition from the Heisei era to the Reiwa era.

Horie Tachibana is a retail and residential area that is a short 15 minute walk away from the touristy area of Shinsaibashi. It is easy to locate this area by searching for the Orange Street sign. Instead of large shopping mall and big neon signs, this place has small fashionable shops and restaurants including a Supreme store which looks like any other sportswear shop to me, but is apparently an appealing brand to the young and trendy.

Kaiba Sushi occupies two floors of a shophouse. There is a Kaiba Tempura nearby which the GPS keeps directing us to instead. This sushi restaurant is busy in the evenings and reservations are highly recommended. Fortunately we asked for counter seats at the time of reservation. They quickly filled up in the evening.

Kaiba Sushi Osaka Menu

Kaiba Sushi is known for their sushi but they also serve cooked food items as well. Here are some pictures of their menu. They have an English menu but it did not look as comprehensive as the Japanese ones. There are also some daily specials which we mis out on because of our language handicap.

It was fun watching the chef prepare the raw fish right in front of us. The speed at which he worked was incredible. While Kaiba Sushi Osaka serves high quality sushi, it is not of the top end. Hence we did not have to pay through our nose for our dinner there. For example, the sashimi platter with five kinds of seafood cost 1,900 yen. Very reasonable. We proceeded to order different types of sushi thereafter. I cannot remember what we ordered but they were very good – not as wonderful as Shinji in Singapore, but quite close. And at a fraction of the price.

Kaiba Sushi Osaka sashimi platter — Kaiba Sushi Osaka Sashimi Platter

We rounded up our meal with a couple of cooked items – a mixed tempura platter and a simmered fish head. They were also very good. Sushi Kaiba Osaka is certainly a place we will want to visit again.