The Expo is a foodie’s paradise! Many people visit just to sample the array of delicacies from around the world!
Today we’ll look at the Expo’s selection of amazing food made with cutting-edge technology. So come savour these delicious creations that will whet your appetite for the future of food!
*This post was written based on information gathered in late April. Menus and prices may change depending on business needs and the season.
Inside the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion is the “AIR WATER NEO MIX STAND”.
When you order a mixed drink with a MYAKU-MYAKU themed shaker bottle, a robotic arm springs to life to begin preparing your drink. The robot’s fluid movements are truly like something from out of the future!
Shake it yourself before drinking. “The robot is cool, but what about the taste?” you ask? It’s fruity and a delicious balance of sweet and sour! The size of the drink is also quite large, making it perfect for staying hydrated in the summer.
The AIR WATER NEO MIX STAND is a great deal because for just the price of the drink you also get an up-close look at a futuristic robot in action and you get to take home the colourful, reusable MYAKU-MYAKU shaker bottle!
Did you know that mixed drinks were first made in Osaka? They were originally thought up as a way to use unsold ripe fruit. Be sure to come try this refreshing drink that’s both futuristic and sustainable!
Also inside the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion is “NISSEI Mouthful Creations,” a soft serve ice cream store run by Nissei.
One of the Expo’s special supporters SAKATA Misaki from the pop group NMB48 recommended Nissei’s “Soft Serve Ice Cream Machine of the Future” on our official blog!
The machine can automatically serve one of three flavours: vanilla, strawberry, or a vanilla and strawberry mix. After ordering, place the cone handed to you by the store staff into the machine. Then choose your favourite flavour and tap the screen under the machine to start the automatic dispensing process.
Inside the machine, Nissei’s animated characters, Nikkun and Seichan, busily prepare to make the ice cream. The anticipation builds as the mountain of ice cream gradually grows taller and taller. Soon, the machine door opens and the beautifully formed spirals of soft serve appear. After setting the cone, the whole process takes only 50 seconds!
The “Vanilla and Strawberry Mix” flavour has an almost perfectly symmetrical balance of vanilla and strawberry – a testament to the robot’s mechanical precision.
This soft serve ice cream was created so that people with milk and egg allergies can also enjoy it. “How does it taste?” you ask? It’s so creamy you’d never guess it’s made without milk or eggs! The refined sweetness of the vanilla and the sweet and sour taste of the strawberry fill your mouth with every bite, and the cone (which is made with rice flour) is crunchy and has a wonderful smell!
A variety of freshly baked sweets from Juchheim are also available in the food truck area near the East Gate Plaza.
The AI baker THEO is in charge of baking them all! They say that THEO has “apprenticed” to Juchheim’s bakers and has studied baking data from each of them, so THEO is able to automatically bake Baumkuchen just as well as a human baker.
One of the many delectable items on the menu is the “Kikori Cake,” a combination of Baumkuchen, vanilla ice cream, coffee, and matcha. The contrast between the cold ice cream and the fluffy sweetness is irresistible!
There’s even a cute face on the container! This is the logo for reusable tableware, and if you take it to a nearby return point after you’re done eating, you’ll earn EXPO Green Challenge points. *Note: The EXPO Green Challenge app is only available in Japanese.
“Takoya Dotonbori Kukuru” is located in the “Sustainable Food Court Osaka Noren Meguri – Food and Festival EXPO,” on the west side of the Expo site.
Behind the staff grilling the takoyaki, waiting for his turn in a matching uniform, is none other than the robot in charge of toppings, Kukuru! When a staff member passes him the cooked takoyaki, he skilfully squirts sauce and mayonnaise on them.
“Kukuru’s toppings look great, but what about the takoyaki itself?” you ask? They’re large and fluffy, with octopus chunks inside that have just the right amount of chewiness!
Takoyaki can be ordered in a set with a drink (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options are available). When it gets busy, we recommend using the outdoor tables in front of the food court or the reserved seating area inside in front of the store, which costs JPY¥550 for 50 minutes (same-day reservations are also available).
⇒Click here to reserve a seat.
At “Lapoppo,” which has multiple locations including food trucks in various places around the Expo site, you can try the very popular and very photogenic “MYAKU-MYAKU Yaki” (a kind of waffle cake in the shape of MYAKU-MYAKU filled with sweet potato or other fillings).
At the food truck area in the Future Life Zone near the West Gate, you can enjoy “EXPO Soda” with colourful red and blue popping boba pearls. MYAKU-MYAKU looks very cute cooling off in the soda!
At the “Sustainable Food Court Osaka Noren Meguri – Food and Festival EXPO” on the west side of the Expo site, you can enjoy MYAKU-MYAKU Yaki with sweet potato flavoured soft serve ice cream. The freshly baked MYAKU-MYAKU Yaki goes perfectly with the rich sweet potato flavour, making you forget the heat and feel revitalized!
But that’s not all! At the “Lapoppo Farm ~Sweet Potato, Strawberry and Apples Farm to the table~” restaurant, located near the Forest of Tranquility, you can enjoy your meal while admiring the numerous plants in the restaurant’s movable container garden farm.
Being surrounded by greenery makes for a very pleasant dining experience, and it is fun to imagine what kinds of delicious sweets the crops around you will be used in once they mature. If you’re interested in the SDGs, be sure to check out Lapoppo, located next to the Forest of Tranquility.
Which taste of the future would you like to try?