Craft Beer Works Kamikaze

Craft Beer Works Kamikaze has been pouring in Kitahorie since 2012 and remains one of the names Osaka beer drinkers mention first. Guides put the tap count at somewhere between 23 and 27, which makes it one of the larger selections in the city. Japanese craft forms the backbone of the list, with Osaka's own Minoh, Yo-Ho and a rotating cast of regional microbreweries alongside a smaller run of US and European imports. Styles move from light, fruity saisons to big stouts, and the bar runs occasional brewery tap takeovers; Daisen G Beer from Tottori is one brewery that has had the lines to itself.

Pour sizes run unusually wide: 200ml, half-pint, US pint, imperial pint and even a one-litre German maß. If you can't decide, start with a flight of four 100ml pours. Beer and food menus come with English, some English is spoken behind the bar, there is no table charge and there is free wi-fi.

The kitchen leans Italian. Pizza and pasta are the staples, and one guide singles out a tomato and tripe pasta, while the hand-cut chips, crisp outside and soft within, are regularly praised as among the best in Osaka. Fried chicken is on the menu too, so it works as a place to eat properly rather than just snack.

The room is narrow and warmly decorated, built around a long wooden counter of about ten seats, a couple of which face the beer fridge, plus five or six tables for roughly twenty more. It is non-smoking and draws an even mix of locals and visiting beer fans, with a relaxed but lively feel.

It sits on the ground floor at 1-22-21 Kitahorie in Nishi-ku, about three minutes on foot from Nishi-Ohashi station on the Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi line, with Yotsubashi station on the Yotsubashi line also close. It fills up early in the evening, especially at weekends, and walk-ins can be turned away, so booking ahead by phone is wise.