Kani Douraku on Dotombori, Osaka is probably Osaka‘s most recognizable restaurants. The front of the restaurant is adorned with a giant six and a half metre mechanical crab.
Dating back to the 1960s, the monstrous crab moves its arms, pincers and even eye-stalks. The crab has inspired many other mechanical crabs as well as other creatures including squid, octopus and fish around Japan.
Kani Douraku is one very popular restaurant on the Dotombori area. It has a huge menu and of course crab is its signature cuisine. Prices are said to be very reasonable, and lunchtime meals are even cheaper than the busy evening service.
Kani Douraku can be found complete with mechanical crab in quite a few centres in Japan, Tokyo alone has around 20 of the restaurants including glitzy Ginza and Shinjuku, all serving the freshest seafood including these very tasty crustaceans.
The crab is modelled off a horse hair crab or kegani which are prized for their tender meat and rich flavour. Their internal organs are also a delicacy, all prepared in dozens of different ways.
Kani Douraku Official Website:
http://douraku.co.jp.e.at.hp.transer.com/multilingual/#en
