Taiyoken Fukushima

Taiyoken Fukushima is a Chinese restaurant that is a regular on the popularity ranking of fried chicken. It is a long-established Chinese diner established in 1965, and is currently continuing its business after being replaced by the second generation. It has been introduced in the media, including the Osaka TV program “Narumi and Okamura’s Too Much TV,” and as a fried chicken lover, it is a restaurant that I cannot avoid, but the distance of “one stop from Umeda” has been a psychological barrier that has kept me from going there…

But I had not been able to go there for a long time… “This is not good! I decided to take a train to Fukushima, one of Osaka’s most popular gourmet areas, for lunch on a weekend when I had a craving for fried chicken. How was the chicken fried chicken, one of the most popular in Osaka, really? If you are curious, please continue reading this article to the end…

A cozy Chinese restaurant in an alley lined with rows of restaurants…Taiyoken Fukushima is like this…

I arrived at Taiyoken Fukushima around 11:00 a.m., 30 minutes before opening time. Since it was a weekend, I felt that I was a little late to arrive 30 minutes before opening time…. But when I actually arrived at the store, there were no customers ahead of me, and I ended up getting the pole position without incident. I was a little disappointed, but I thought I was lucky and sat down on a chair in the storefront to wait for the opening time.

The alley where Taiyoken is located is actually quite amazing. Across the street from Taiyoken, there is a popular ramen store, Moeyo Mensuke, which is one of the most popular ramen stores in Fukushima, and a little further back, there is Izumo Osaka Fukushima, which serves the famous insta-image-worthy eel ball bowl… Yes, the alley where Taiyoken is located is one of the best gourmet streets in Fukushima, lined with restaurants with a long line. The alley where Taiyoken is located is one of the most famous gourmet streets in Fukushima, lined with restaurants with long lines. Taiyoken is located on such an amazing street, and although it was losing out to the surrounding stores in the crowd 30 minutes before opening, it had formed a respectable line of about 15 to 6 people by the time the restaurant opened. Even looking at the length of the line, it was by no means inferior to the popular restaurants in the surrounding area.

When it was time to open, I went inside… Taiyoken Fukushima was much smaller than I had imagined. The interior has the atmosphere of a Showa-style retro Chinese restaurant, and the number of seats is listed as 16 by the restaurant’s food log information, but in reality, the number of counter seats has been reduced from 8 to 6, for a total of 14 seats. The space is about the size of a small ramen shop, and to be honest, it feels a bit oppressive. In a restaurant like this, it is better to eat quickly alone and walk away. The alleyway around the store is also narrow, and I think it is better to avoid visiting the restaurant when you are carrying a large baggage.

Chicken Karaage Set Meal: How does the “Mountain” set meal at Taiyoken’s Fukushima branch taste?

Let me introduce you to the target of this article, Taiyoken Fukushima’s famous “Chicken Karaage” set meal. After about 5 minutes of waiting after ordering, the fried chicken set meal was served over the counter and looked like this…

The set meal includes 5 pieces of chicken karaage, rice, soup, chilled tofu, and pickles for 790 yen (tax included). Lunch at this price is very reasonable nowadays, but it is not a “fried chicken mountain” at this price, is it? This time I ordered a large serving of rice, but from a man’s point of view, the rice was not that impressive, and the volume of the rice seemed to be equivalent to the price.

Let’s try the fried chicken… The batter is relatively thin and has a crispy texture. The batter is relatively thin and crispy. It is not the same as the fried chicken at Chinese restaurant Wakamizu in Higashi Mikuni or Ramen Ko-san in Taisho Ward, but it is much easier to eat. The chicken meat inside is also nice and tender. However, I was expecting the fried chicken to be drenched with juice from the marinade due to the color of the fried chicken, but when I actually put it in my mouth, I found that there was almost no seasoning. The aroma of sesame oil, green onions, and chicken broth is just as it is….

So, this karaage is to be seasoned with table-top seasonings. There are two kinds of seasonings for fried chicken in here, salt and tare…

This tare (sauce) was especially good for karaage. It is a soy sauce sauce with sweet vinegar, and it makes the dish look like abura-gon-chiken. You can use this sauce as it is, but I recommend dissolving the hot pepper in the table-top seasoning. The sauce alone tastes a bit sticky, but by dissolving the hot pepper paste, the stickiness disappears and the taste is refreshed, allowing you to eat more easily as if the limiter has been removed.

The taste of Taiyoken’s karaage set meal is as good as you would expect from a regular on the popularity ranking of Osaka’s karaage! I thought, “That’s what you’d expect from a popular fried chicken restaurant in Osaka! If you can eat it for only 790 yen, you must have people lining up to get it. However, considering the average size of an adult male, I still felt that the volume of the dish was a little insufficient. I would have ordered one more lunch if I were you…

Incidentally, it seems that this fried chicken is also available at the “Dojima Gracce” Italian restaurant, which has several branches in Osaka City. Fried chicken with a glass of wine in hand at an Italian restaurant…it might go surprisingly well with that.

Lunch menu at Taiyoken Fukushima (prices include tax)

• Sweet & Snack Pork Vinegared Pork Set Meal: 790 yen
• Egg spring roll set meal: 790 yen
• Nagasaki Sara Udon 790 yen
• Nagasaki Champon 690 yen
• Egg spring roll & fried chicken set meal: 1180 yen
• Egg Spring Roll & Sweet & Snack Pork Set Menu: 1180 yen

Note: Free extra large rice during lunch time.

Take-out is also available at lunch time! Access to Taiyoken is a 2-minute walk from the nearest station, Fukushima Station on the JR Kanjo Line.分

Unfortunately for family customers, Taiyoken Fukushima actually has a restriction that children are not allowed in the restaurant during lunch time. This rule was established because the restaurant is too small and dangerous, but since it is a very reasonably priced lunch restaurant, it is a headache for those who are thinking of having lunch with their children, since they have fewer options.

In such cases, why not take advantage of Taiyoken’s takeout? Fried chicken, sweet-and-sour pork, egg spring rolls…each is available as an individual dish or with rice for this price. If you choose to take out with rice, the price is only 10 yen more than eating in the restaurant, but if you consider it as the cost of the container, it is perfectly acceptable. If you call ahead and make a reservation, they will make your order on time, so if you live nearby, give them a try.

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

From Shin-Fukushima Station on the JR Tozai Line, it is only a 4-minute walk.

P.S. If you are looking for delicious Chinese cuisine in Osaka, please drop by this article below…