Ichifuji Shokudo

Osaka’s local dish “nikusui” (meat soup) was born from a comment made by a Yoshimoto comedian. You may have already heard of it, as it is already sold in convenience stores as an instant product.

This “nikusui” was born at the long-established udon restaurant “Chitose” near Namba Grand kagetsu… The reality is that it is simply “meat udon without udon,” but not many udon restaurants in Osaka serve nikusuke. Don’t you think it is strange? It is sold nationwide in the form of cup noodles, and there are even recipes for reproducing it on the Internet, but it is not that popular in Osaka, its birthplace…

As far as I know, Ichifuji Shokudo, a popular set meal restaurant in Tenma, is one of the few places in Osaka City where you can enjoy meat suckling. The other day I had some business in the morning in the neighboring Minamimorimachi, and after finishing that business, I visited the restaurant during lunch time…

A long-established diner that is surprisingly popular among young people… Ichifuji Shokudo is a restaurant like this

As I walked toward Ichifuji Shokudo from the Tenjinbashisuji direction, I could see a crowd of people gathered around the restaurant. The crowd was undoubtedly the customers who had gathered to have lunch at Ichifuji Shokudo, and by the time I arrived at the restaurant at 11:45 a.m., there were about 10 people in line from the front of the line.

The wait time from this state to entering the restaurant was exactly 30 minutes. It is still before 12:00 p.m., but the restaurant is quite busy. I honestly did not expect the line to be this long. What was even more unexpected was that many of the customers at this time were young people, including those who were eating and drinking inside the restaurant. Since this area is a business district, I thought there would be a lot of businessmen in suits… but when I actually went there, it was totally different. There were also some female customers alone, and it seemed that anyone could use the restaurant without any hesitation.

Although the restaurant was established in 1959 and has a long history, the interior did not have a retro feel, and it had the atmosphere of a regular, clean, popular diner. Ichifuji Shokudo seats 32 customers. However, the tables are smaller, so the actual capacity may be a little smaller. Also, during busy times, sharing seats is common, so it is probably a bit difficult to use for those who value private space. Also, there is no space for a buggy, so it might be a bit tight for those with small children…

Nikusui Set Meal + Dashi-maki: A classic combination that is very popular among the male customers of Ichifuji Restaurant…

This time, I ordered the “nikusui” set meal with dashimaki egg (priced at 1,050 plus 400 yen including tax). This combination of nikutsushi and dashimaki is probably the standard combination at Ichifuji Shokudo. In fact, 70 to 80% of the male customers at the restaurant that day ordered this combination…

About five minutes after finishing the order, the dashimaki tamago was first brought before us. It is quite large, and the volume is just right for 3-4 people to pick up at an izakaya. Of course, it can also be served as a side dish with rice for one person.

So, I picked up this dashimaki tamago with chopsticks…but it was softer than I imagined it would be that I had a hard time taking a picture. I could feel the softness of the egg just by touching it with chopsticks, and the clear soup stock overflowing from the cross section… When you put it in your mouth, you can enjoy the softness of the egg all over your cheeks, and at the same time, the soup stock trapped in the egg is released at once, filling your whole mouth with a pleasant soup stock feeling. The entire mouth is filled with a pleasant feeling of dashi. There is no sense of high quality, but the overwhelming amount of dashi and the feeling of being pulled is one of the highest levels in my experience. This may indeed be a must-order side dish if you have room in your stomach.

Three minutes after the dashimaki, the meat sucking set meal was brought before us. The set meal consists of white rice, oshinko (Japanese pickles), and one small bowl of cooked food, in addition to the main dish of nikusuke. Although the volume of the nikusuki is ample, it may seem a little sad in appearance for a set meal.

When you actually try the meat soup, you will notice that the broth is a light soy sauce broth based on kelp and dried bonito shavings, as is typical in Osaka. The beef fat is melted into the broth, and although the taste is light, it has a delicious flavor that is very strong. The ingredients in the broth are beef ribs and silken tofu. There are so many ingredients in the soup that it fills up the space left by the udon noodles, so there are rumors that it is much more economical than eating meat udon…

As I continued to eat the meat sucking, a half-boiled egg appeared from the back of the bowl. If you make good use of the yolk of this egg, you can enjoy eating beef in a sukiyaki style.

The set meal at Ichifuji Shokudo is a hearty and hearty nikusui dish, and the tofu, which is optional in Chitose’s nikusui dishes, is included by default. However, if you order the set meal, you will feel a bit lonely compared to the increased price, so if you do not particularly want rice, we recommend ordering the nikkosuki as a stand-alone item (priced at 750 yen including tax).

And if you feel that the nikusuki is not enough, how about ordering the dashimaki tamago as a set? It will probably be enough to satisfy the stomach of an adult male. The price for these two items is a little over 1,000 yen, so I think it is a very cost-effective combination for a businessman’s lunch.

Other menu items at Ichifuji Shokudo (prices include tax)

• Oyako-don: 750 yen
• Meat udon: 750 yen
• Daily special set meal (sold out) 850 yen
• Chicken cutlet set meal: 1000 yen
• Tendon (bowl of rice topped with tempura) 1000 yen
• Yakiniku set meal: 1,200 yen
• Fried shrimp set meal: 1,250 yen

Omelette rice is also a specialty…Access to Ichifuji Shokudo is a 7-minute walk from the nearest station, Tenmabashi Station on the Keihan Electric Railway Line.

At Ichifuji Shokudo, omelet rice is also quite popular. In fact, the restaurant is said to have the “three sacred treasures” of omu-rice: the meat sucker, dashimaki, and omu-rice, which we introduced here. Especially if you order the omu-rice (large), it is said that the volume is half the size of an omu-rice. If you like omelette rice, please order omelette rice at Ichifuji Shokudo. I would be very happy if you could leave your impressions in the comment box below.

Now, here are the details of the restaurant. Restaurant data is here…

It is also a 9-minute walk from Osaka-Tenmangu Station (OsakaMetro Minamimorimachi Station) on the JR Tozai Line.

P.S. If you are looking for delicious Japanese food in Osaka, please stop by this article…