Daidokoya

Attracted by the words “Karaage (fried chicken) mountain set meal” that I found in an Internet article, I went to a restaurant called Daidokoya in Umeda, Osaka. Originally, Daidokoya is a popular izakaya (Japanese-style pub) located in the Osaka Ekimae No. 2 Building, which has a deep atmosphere, but it is open for lunch only on weekdays and offers several kinds of lunch menus, including the “Karaage Mountain” set meal.

But to be honest, I was skeptical about the term “Karaage Mountain”. I had been a little disappointed with a fried chicken set meal at a restaurant I had visited after hearing rumors of “Karaage Mountain”. But how was it really? I will introduce them in the following order, so please continue reading the article to the end…

Daidokoya is a pub with a very Showa atmosphere…

I visited Daidokoya around 1 p.m. on a weekday, walking toward the restaurant through the underground passage from JR Osaka Station. I saw a store full of Showa-era retro atmosphere with a number of red lanterns hanging from the second basement floor. This was the destination of this visit, Daidokoya. The tables are lined up tightly in the open space of the restaurant, and almost all the tables are occupied by male customers who are eating in silence, giving the place a masculine smell. It may be a bit hard for a woman alone to eat at lunch time, let alone at night during the izakaya hours.

The kitchen has a separate room diagonally across from the main restaurant, and according to the restaurant’s Tabelog, it has a total of 60 seats. I barely managed to get a seat at one of the empty tables in the main restaurant, but there were many more male customers coming in after me… Well, I didn’t get to the point where there was a line, since there were only male customers in their prime and the turnover of customers was fast. It might be crowded a little earlier in the day, so be prepared for some waiting time…

This is certainly a cost-effective lunch! How was Daidokoya’s specialty, the Karaage Mountain Set Lunch, when I tried it out?

Let me introduce you to the Daidokoya‘s specialty, the Karaage Mountain Set Lunch (priced at 900 yen including tax). After a little more than 10 minutes of waiting after ordering, the set meal was brought in front of me…

It does not look like a very tall mountain at first glance, but it is indeed a karaage mountain. This Karage Mountain Set Meal comes with a choice of seven seasonings: mayopon, ponzu (Japanese citrus juice) + ichimi (Japanese spice), salt and pepper, salt sauce, nanban tartar, curry mayo, and spicy sauce. Incidentally, this lunch menu allows for a large serving of rice, but at this time, due to bad timing, the rice cooking was delayed, so I ended up with half a bowl of rice. However, I was told that I would be able to get another serving of rice for free later, so it seems that I will be able to recover the extra serving of rice (actually, the customer who came to the restaurant after me was unfortunately told that he could not get a large serving of rice).

The main dish of this set meal was 7 pieces of deep fried chicken, large and small, with the large one about the size of an adult’s fist. There was almost no seasoning, and the batter was rather thick. It is not the kind of deep fried food that is popular in restaurants these days, but rather the kind of deep fried food that makes you feel relaxed and at ease, as if you were at a popular izakaya (Japanese-style pub). The seasoning is salt and pepper, so for better or worse, the taste is simple. However, in this day and age, there is no doubt that the price of less than 1,000 yen for such a large portion is a good deal.

I finished my meal after collecting a large portion of rice and going back and forth between the rice and the fried chicken. My stomach was well satisfied, and if I could get change for a 1,000 yen bill for this dish, it would be a god-cost lunch for businessmen working in the Umeda area, no question. In addition to the Karaage Mountain Set Meal, Daidokoya also offers several other lunch menus, and in fact, every lunch menu includes fried chicken. Maybe this is a message from the restaurant, “When you come to our restaurant, eat the fried chicken first!”

Daidokoya’s weekday lunch menu (prices include tax)

• Karaage mountain set meal 900yen
• Fried horse mackerel set meal 800yen
• Fried shrimp set meal 800yen
• Chicken tataki set meal 800yen
• Fried oyster set meal 800yen
• Dashimaki set meal (limited quantity) 800yen
• Pork shabu set meal 800yen

Note: Free large serving of rice on all lunch menu items.

The nighttime izakaya menu is also unbelievably cheap! To get to Daidokoya, it is a 2-minute walk from the nearest station, Kitashinchi Station on the JR Tozai Line.

Now, Daidokoya‘s night menu was posted by the seat I sat down at, so I’ll introduce it here…

Like this, most menu items are under 500 yen per item (note: tax not included), The night menu is also unbelievably inexpensive. It is truly a friend of the common people and businessmen. The atmosphere is full of retro Showa-era charm, and it is the perfect place to go when you are in the mood for drinking like an old man. By the way, they have Karaage Mountain on the night menu, too. And at 880 yen + tax per item, which is more expensive than Wagyu beef tataki… How much do they want their customers to eat fried chicken, this restaurant?

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…

It takes 5 minutes on foot from JR Osaka Station.