Samurai Cook

The sushi making experience was fun. The location was easy to find and Shohei has a beautiful apartment overlooking South Osaka so we got a wonderful view as an added bonus. Shohei is a patient chef and walked us and our 5 year old through all the steps and even helped the 5 year old with the cutting, prep and making of sushi components. One piece of advice would be that if you have particular types of sushi then let the chef know ahead of time. We assumed the sushi would be fish whereas the chef had 3 different types in mind, a beef, a no-fish chirashi bowl and a imitation crab & egg sushi.

The host, Max, a Japanese who speaks fluent English, gave us a great tour in nearby fresh market followed by a customized cooking experience in nice kitchen studio. He was very entertaining and we enjoyed every moment. Highly recommended this activity to everyone who are keen to learn more about Japan through food and cooking.

Max took us to the local marketplace and bought unique ingredients to make ramen and gyoza! While the market touring, we enjoyed walking the history of Osaka's local market! Max explained all about the different stores they have and their highlights! I was so impressed that some stores are over 250 years old and they are running it for 8 generations! Not just eating and cooking but we've had very new way to experience Japan!

Max was very patient and informative throughout the guiding and cooking. We've strolled through nearby local marketplace and had so much fun. Max guided where to buy all the traditional Japanese ingredients and what I was surprised is that the wagyu beefs were so cheap to buy! I'd recommend getting that to cook!

We learnt so much about the history of takoyaki, karaage and yakisoba. The experience was great fun learning all the tricks of making amazing takoyaki! Our teenage kids had a lot of fun flipping the takoyaki and became an expert at the end! We were so full for the rest of the day. We would highly recommend this class.

Japan isn't the most vegan friendly place, but this class offered both vegan and vegetarian options, which put my partner and me at ease. The host was very informative, and we had an exotic experience cooking takoyaki (without the octopus). I'd thoroughly recommend this class particularly to couples, it's a great bonding exercise. Going alone could be fine but it'll be a lot of food as you will also enjoy Yakisoba and Karaage (we had fried tofu).

My husband and I received the cooking class as a gift for our wedding which we thoroughly enjoyed. Max was very friendly and welcoming, teaching us not only to make Takoyaki but also sample some delicious Karaage and Yakisoba. The class was very relaxed and informal making it an enjoyable experience. Max was not only a great host for the cooking class but also willing to provide wider advice and recommendations for Osaka. Thanks so much!

Our time making sushi rolls with Max was very fun. His english is very fluent and he was able to provide lots of info about different types of sushi and about Osaka in general. I would definitely recommend this class!

Everybody loved it! Max has a great sense of humor and he teaches in very fluent English and knows about Japan, maybe almost more than the natives. We had no such language problems and enjoyed his bicultural stories. He had lots of patience and gives you historical background about each ingredients - and he teaches our kids how fun cooking is! Just simply amazing.

Max was so thoughtful and taught us how to cook the BEST dishes we had in our entire trip in Japan. He was such an excellent teacher and chef! Max also provide us Japanese cheesecakes and tea, which was so delicious! I loved how he taught us not only the traditional way but the short cuts and cheats or substitutions we can use.

If you're trying to find an authentic and exotic Osaka experience around food- THIS IS THE ONE!!! Thank you Max for making a class filled with laughter! We had a lots of fun! Our 3 kids (age 8, 11 and 12) were enjoying the most at your place during the trip! We really wanted you to have 100 stars!!! Your cooking lesson was the most favorite activities we've done during our travel in Japan.