Meijiken Shinsaibashi

One day at lunchtime, I was strolling around the Shinsaibashi area and happened to find a Western-style restaurant with a long line of customers. This restaurant is called Naniwa no Aji Shinsaibashi Meijiken. According to the restaurant’s website, it was founded in the first year of the Showa Era (1926), which means that this year (2024) marks the 99th anniversary of its establishment. I checked online and found that the restaurant was awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide Kyoto/Osaka 2017… I had no idea that the restaurant had such an impressive history and track record.

I heard that omelet rice is very popular at Meijiken. Speaking of Shinsaibashi, there is a restaurant called Hokkyokusei that claims to be the birthplace of omelette rice. Shinsaibashi is now a sacred place for omelette rice. If that is the case, it is as good as decided what kind of omelette I should eat here. One weekend, I went to Shinsaibashi to see what kind of omelette rice I could eat…

Actually, it was a rather large restaurant… A Taste of Naniwa, Shinsaibashi Meijiken is like this.

I arrived at Naniwa no Aji Shinsaibashi Meijiken around 10:30 a.m., 30 minutes before opening time. When I arrived, there were no customers waiting in the storefront, and I was a little disappointed when I saw the scene from afar…

When I actually arrived at the store, I found a name book in the storefront. If you write your name here, you don’t have to wait in line for a long time. On this particular day, I was the sixth from the front. Well, I guess you could say that I was confirmed to enter the store as soon as it opened. When I left the store and came back 5 minutes before the opening, there were about 30 people in the store. As one would expect from such a popular place, be careful not to arrive too late in order to shorten the waiting time.

When I entered the restaurant, I found four chefs working hard to make omelettes in the kitchen, which was rather spacious. There were eight counter seats along the kitchen (perhaps to prevent infection, the seats between people were being used as luggage storage) and three tables for four people… but in fact, the restaurant has seating on three floors, with a total capacity of about 100 people. I didn’t notice it from the outside, but it is actually quite a large restaurant. It is not a normal Shinsaibashi Meijiken restaurant to have a long line outside even though it has such a large seating capacity.

I ordered the most popular omelette rice and 3 skewers set at the long-established Western-style restaurant, Naniwa no Aji Shinsaibashi Meidi-ken in Shinsaibashi, the holy land of Omelette Rice! How was the taste?

Let me introduce the most popular menu item I ordered at Naniwa no Aji Shinsaibashi Meijiken: Omelette Rice and Kushikatsu 3-piece Set. After less than 10 minutes of waiting, here is the dish that arrived in front of me…

On a large white flat plate, there are the main dish of Omelette Rice, boiled cabbage, and three kushikatsu (skewers). The Omelette Rice is served in a large portion (price: 1130 yen including tax + 200 yen for a large portion), which looks about 1.5 times larger than the standard size ordered by another customer.

The cross-section of the Omelette Rice looks like this. The thinly fried egg on the outside is well heated, in the traditional style of old-fashioned one. The rice inside looks like ketchup rice without any ingredients, but in fact, there are several ingredients such as minced beef and onions mixed into the rice in the form of a paste. It’s hard to notice this without knowing in advance…

The sauce on the rice is a larger portion, so it has a risotto-like texture. The sauce is not as thick and rich as ketchup, so the rice does not become sticky even with a large amount of sauce, and the grains of rice melt in your mouth. To be honest, the difference in taste is not so great, but the acidity of the tomato sauce was light and easy to eat. You can easily eat it as it is, just like tomato risotto.

On the other hand, the tomato sauce on the outside of the thinly fried egg was very rich. It looks shiny and luxurious, but when you put it in your mouth, it releases a tomato acidity comparable to that of ketchup, and because it is thickened, it feels sticky and entangled around your tongue. When this sauce touches your tongue while you are eating a light tomato risotto, you suddenly feel as if you have been hit on the head by the acidity. You will adjust the acidity with this sauce as you continue eating, but by the time you finally finish this Omelette Rice, your body will almost certainly be covered in tomatoes.

The three skewers that came with the omelet were thinly sliced beef. The bite-sized pieces were easy to eat, and the crispy batter made them feel like a snack. At first I thought, “What?” But I guess it is just like in Osaka. I didn’t have to think about the details of “no dipping in sauce twice” and so on…

I left the restaurant after thoroughly enjoying Meijiken’s famous Omelette Rice and kushikatsu. I have had Omelette Rice with half-boiled eggs several times before, but this is the first time for me to have rice that is thicker and risotto-like. I want to go back to eat omelet here again. But then, I’ll have to train my stupid tongue to be able to properly taste the ingredient paste as well…

Examples of other menu items at Naniwa no Aji Shinsaibashi Meijiken (prices include tax)

• Beef stew 1,900 yen
• Fried Shrimp 1,500 yen
• Pork chap 1450 yen
• Iron plate hamburger steak 1,400 yen
• Teppan skewers 1,300 yen
• Curry with pork cutlet 1240 yen
• Macaroni au gratin 1080yen

Note: With the exception of a few items on the menu, take-out is also available.

There is also a nearby restaurant called Horie Meijiiken, but… To get to Naniwa no Aji Shinsaibashi Meijiiken, it is a 4-minute walk from the nearest station, Shinsaibashi Station on the Osaka Metro Midosuji Line (Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line).

About a 10-minute walk west of Aji Shinsaibashi Meijiiken, there is another Western-style restaurant with the same name, Horie Meijiiken, in Minamihorie. Looking at the menu of this restaurant, you can find the same omelet rice and kushikatsu (skewered pork cutlets), and you can feel a connection with Shinsaibashi Meijiken, but apparently there are some complicated circumstances and the management is completely different. If you are thinking of visiting Meijiken in Shinsaibashi, please make sure you are not mistaken. However, I am sure they will serve you the same delicious Western-style food as the other restaurant, since Meijiken in Horie seems to be quite popular as well.

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…

It takes about 10 minutes on foot from Namba direction.