Help me plan a date in Osaka to surprise my partner

6 comments

1. The Encore! Coffee Roastery seems like an interesting place. They have a variety of classes, including specialty coffee tasting.

   [Encore! ](https://encore-coffee.com/workshop/?srsltid=AfmBOorfjkbJScw1yGCAc8F-nOiHezGpSgiSwsKelOKPWvr4JwMtkdUF)

2. Coffee – Melbourne Coffee. Is expensive, but is actually a decent cup of coffee and brunch isn’t bad there either, a taste of Australia 💜 Otherwise if you don’t care too much about great coffee, Tasogare is great for the vibes. Good date place, nice furniture and in a good location too.

   Museums – hard not to be touristy, but nakanoshima has 2 art galleries and the osaka science museum all next to each other in the same square. Science museum is a particularly good date spot cause it’s interactive, and there’s a planetarium show too.

   Vinyls – Honestly denden town has a bunch of record and CD shops hidden amongst all the anime stuff that you can find some unique stuff. Bookoff is still number one on price tho. There are some cute bars around doton that play vinyl over drinks and are a good vibe, I usually go to one on a date so i can chat and vibe.

   Hiking – a casual walk to Minoh Falls is always nice, same with the walk up Fushimi Inari and they’re both easily accessible from the city. Actual hiking tho? Like trail-ish you’d probably have to go a little farther, but there are some nice ones in Hyoogo that are maybe an hour or so on the train.

   I’m not sure on liquor tasting beyond trying different sake, and have yet to attend a true jazz club here, but live music isn’t hard to find. so i’m sure someone could recommend.

3. For hiking, you have a lot of options:

   – You can go east to Ikoma. There’s tons of trails there. You can get off at 枚岡駅, 生駒駅, 額田駅 – all about 30-40 minutes from Namba. You can go even further to Nara which has some nice trails with deer hanging around.
   – You can go north to Minoh Station and visit the falls. Much more like a nice walk than a hike.
   – You can go northwest to the Rokko Mountains. Get off at 芦屋川駅 and hike to Arima Onsen or get off at Shin-Kobe and there’s tons of trails there.
   – You can go northeast to 交野山, which is a popular local one.
   – You can go south/south-east to Mt. Kongo, Mt. Iwawaki, or Mt. Yamato Katsuragi – those are some of the taller mountains in the area, very popular on weekends.
   – You can go south-east to Mt. Myojin (明神山). It’s popular for couples and known as a “Lover’s Sanctuary”

4. Glitch is pricey but great for coffee.
   Liquor tasting – you could do cocktails at nayuta. The drinks are great but it’s pretty crowded these days. alternatively, it’s a bit far, but Fushimi Sake Village in chushojima, Kyoto is great for nihonshu tastings.

5. The Abeno Harukas, in Tennoji, has a Marriott hotel with a lobby bar for good food and drinks while admiring the views. Go downstairs to the art museum. It changes regularly and only takes 30-45 minutes to see everything.

6. I have two tiny bars that I love taking people to that cater to both English and Japanese.

   There is this tiny bar close to Dotonbori called French Drop, it’s a darklit little club but it’s actually a magic bar. The guy who runs it has been doing magic for 20 years and the walls are lined with autographs from local and international artists saying they’re impressed. They run shows in either English or both in English/Japanese and he’s really good, sleight of hand and gets you involved and it’s unclockable. They also run shows during the day.

   There is another tiny bar near Sakaisuji Hommachi station called Groovy and the owner there runs a moody bar, with a huge stack of vinyl records and a very cool life story. He speaks great English and makes amazing cocktails, and takes requests on music (decent jazz selection!). This one doesn’t open during the day but far enough into the night so someone working 9-6 could go.

   I recommend both, great places run by great people and have never let me down.

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