Links and Lucua (Umeda)

These days Yodobashi’s legendary Links Dining floor has competition from the nearby Lucua shopping center. This is a tale of two shopping centers – and dining complexes.

The entrance to the tenth floor Lucua Dining area © Angelino Donnachaidh

There was a time when the Yodobashi Camera electronics store in Osaka’s Umeda area felt like something verging on a wonder of the modern world. In 1999, when your author first set foot in Osaka, it seemed to positively dwarf the landscape around it. For more than a decade afterward, it was still very common to see breathless write-ups about it in guidebooks and travel websites describing it by turns as awe-inspiring and grotesque, a temple of raw elemental consumerist power.

But as massive urban renewal projects in the 2010s transformed the Umeda landscape around it, Yodobashi Camera started to feel less and less remarkable and more like just another shopping tower surrounded by shopping towers, most of them newer and bigger and shinier. Still, even as big box electronics outlets became less of a draw in the age of internet shopping, there is one edge that Yodobashi Umeda never lost: its excellent 8th floor restaurant complex.

A map of the eighth floor Links Dining area © Angelino Donnachaidh

This is evident in the fact that by the time Yodobashi had decided to reinvent itself by dropping the “Camera” from its signage and added on a whole new wing called Links – envisioned as an all-purpose shopping and leisure tower – this existing restaurant floor was rebranded as one of the centerpieces of the new multipurpose complex despite having already been there in very close to its current form. The erstwhile Yodobashi Restaurant Floor is today called Links Dining.

Restaurants on the eighth floor Links Dining area © Angelino Donnachaidh

And there is a good reason why the business would want to tie the older dining area to the newer brand name here: it is, and has long been, simply one of the best mall dining complexes in all of Umeda in terms of variety and quality. And that continues to be true despite stiffer and stiffer competition. The “Yodobashi Restaurant Floor” is dead; long live “Links Dining.”

If there is a downside at all, it’s how crowded the floor can get during peak times, though there are several places within it that are worth the wait (the Hong Kong Chon Long Chinese buffet is one of the author’s longrunning personal favorites).

The underground “Barchica” casual dining and drinks floor of Lucua © Angelino Donnachaidh

Fortunately, this is not nearly as much of a problem as it used to be. Whereas Yodobashi Camera’s restaurant floor was once something of an oasis in a desert, Links Dining is a ripe fruit tree in a luxuriant orchard. If for one reason or another you find yourself wanting to quit it for something similar nearby, there is probably no better option than its closest competitor: the nearby Lucua shopping center, accessible across a floating pedestrian pathway from the second floor of Yodobashi Camera.

And not only does Lucua threaten Links’ food mall dominance of the area in terms of variety and quality – it also overwhelms it with sheer quantity. In this regard it is similar to the Hanshin Department Store complex on the other side of JR Osaka station, though with a bit of a younger and trendier bent. Check out the numerous sit-down restaurants on its tenth floor Lucua Dining complex, or head down to its sub-basement (B2) for the more casual Barchica area. Cafes, sweets, and fast food options are scattered on the shopping floors in between.

Diners in both Lucua and Links are spoiled for choice, so you might want to come a little early just to look around and decide © Angelino Donnachaidh

About Angelino Donnachaidh
Angelino Donnachaidh is a Mexican-American father, author, Japanese-English translator, and longtime resident of Osaka, Japan. His works include the middle grade (pre-)historical fiction novel Tamiu: A Cat’s Tale (Winner of the North Street Prize and CWA Muse Medallion), the YA post-cyberpunk heist adventure screenplay Brother (Winner of the HollywoodGenre 2025 Scifi Screenplay Competition), and the upcoming samurai scifi-fantasy action-thriller novel The Mayhem Protocols.

Check Osaka Hotel Availability

Destination

Check-in date

Check-out date

Links and Lucua Information

Nearest transport:
2-minute walk from Osaka Station on the JR Loop, Tokaido-Sanyo, and Osaka East Lines
5-minute walk from Umeda Station on the Osaka Metro (Subway) Midosujii Line
5-minute walk from Osaka-Umeda Station on the Hankyu Kyoto, Kobe, and Takarazuka Main Lines
5-minute walk from Osaka Umeda Station on the Hanshin Line

Links Information

Name in English:
LINKS UMEDA

Name in Japanese:
リンクス梅田

English address:
〒530-0011 大阪府大阪市北区大深町1-1
Eighth Floor (8F)

Japanese address:
〒530-0011 Osaka, Kita Ward, Ofukacho, 1−1−1
Eighth Floor (8F)

Opening hours:
11:00am-11:00pm every day (8th floor only)
Restaurants located in the basement restaurant areas or other parts of the building have their own independent closing times. Please refer to the Links Umeda website for more details.

Non-smoking area: Yes

Website: Official website (English)

Lucua Information

Name in English:
LUCUA Osaka

Name in Japanese:
ルクア大阪

English address:
3 Chome-1-3 Umeda, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-8558
North Gate Building

Japanese address:
〒530-8558 大阪府大阪市北区梅田3丁目1-3
ノースゲートビルディング

Opening hours:
11:00am-11:00pm every day (10F Dining, B2F Food Hall & Barchica only)
(shopping floors close at 8:30pm)

Non-smoking area: Yes

Website: Official website (English)

Near To Here:
Links and Lucua are located in Osaka’s Kita and Umeda district. See our complete list of things to do in the Kita and Umeda district, including places to eat, nightlife and places to stay.

Best Osaka Restaurants
See our list of the best Osaka restaurants for even more ideas about great places to eat in Osaka and our other recommended Osaka food courts, restaurant floors and dining neighborhoods in Osaka.

Where Are These Places Located?

See these places on the Inside Osaka Google map:

• Open the Osaka map
• You will see the list of places on the left hand side. (Click the 3-line icon in the top left corner if not). Scroll down or use the map search (the magnifying glass icon) to find the place you want.
• Click the name of the place in the list. Its location pin will be highlighted on the map.
• Map pins are color coded - BLUE: Hotels / Ryokan / Guesthouses | VIOLET: Ryokan | PINK: Places to Eat | GREEN: Shops | YELLOW: Things to See and Do
• If you’re using the map on your phone, open the map and then search for the name of the place. The map will then zoom in on its location.

Osaka District Map

• Shin-Osaka Area
• Kita Area
• Central Osaka Area
• Minami Area
• Tennoji Area
• Osaka Castle Area
• Osaka Bay Area