Recently, due to the Matsunoya boom, I had been staying away from this once heavily frequented restaurant. Also, the prices have definitely gone up, and in Osaka, the only dish you can get for under 600 yen is the soy meat ginger stir-fry set, as it seems they have removed the vegetable stir-fry and are now pushing the meat and vegetable stir-fry for 800 yen. Well, you can get delicious rice refills here, so I will still come. Despite being a member of the "not good with spicy food" alliance, I was curious about the spicy noodles, so I ordered the spicy and delicious noodles (with rice) for 790 yen, along with the fried squid for 220 yen. The volume of noodles feels a bit lacking, but with the unlimited rice at this price, it's acceptable. There are plenty of places where a ramen dish alone costs over 800 yen. The toppings are only scrambled eggs and leeks, and the large bowl makes it look a bit meager. As for the taste, the spiciness is manageable even for those not good with spicy food, but I couldn't help but think that there could be a bit more umami, maybe by adding more glutamic acid. It's like they're ignoring the umami by saying it's a "flavor that doesn't get boring" like at Nichi-ya. Until the hot pot season where you can have unlimited refills, I think Matsunoya will do. [Good points of this visit] You can have unlimited rice refills with the spicy noodles and soup.

Today I had a dental appointment at 11:30 and followed the dentist's advice to eat before coming in. I arrived at the restaurant at 10:45 and it was surprisingly empty. It's rare to find a lunch spot with availability starting at 10 am. This time, I decided to go for the most expensive lunch option at this chain restaurant. The food was delicious! I couldn't stop eating. In the end, I had three servings of the large size and two servings of the medium size. It was a great meal!

On a cold day, I was craving hot pot and stumbled upon a sign for a chicken hot pot set meal. I decided to try the one with grated radish in it. When the hot pot arrived, I found that the soup was extremely salty and the chicken pieces were quite small. I guess for the price, it was to be expected.

This place, which has been renovated and looks a bit nicer, caught my eye with its hot pot menu, so I decided to go in. They had a spicy version of their popular hot pot set meal, but I opted for the regular one with fried chicken, which wasn't available before. I also got a small side of mackerel for making ochazuke. The hot pot broth had a different flavor, which was delicious, but personally, I prefer a richer taste for the hot pot. The rice refills are now managed by a machine, but you can only get up to 200 grams at a time, and you can't press the button twice to get a large portion, which is a bit inconvenient. I ended up having multiple refills, and finished off with ochazuke, feeling quite full. Overall, the combination of spicy hot pot and fried chicken was appealing to Yayoiken customers like me.

For dinner alone in Honcho, I went to Yayoiken on Honcho Street. After hesitating in front of the ticket vending machine, I ended up ordering the seasonal limited Chicken Nanban and cold soup with grilled fish set meal. The grilled fish is probably mackerel, nothing special about it. The Chicken Nanban has a very strong sauce flavor, more like sweet mayonnaise than tartar sauce. The cold soup has crushed ice in it and is cold. The miso flavor is just right. Miso goes well with red pepper, so I added shichimi halfway through for a flavor change. Not bad. But, are tofu and cucumber the only ingredients in the cold soup? I feel like it needs a little more variety.

Yesterday, Yayoiken was on TV and I immediately went there. I was planning to eat the Yayoiken set meal, but I got caught up in the new menu. Beef cut steak, beef hormone, and pork belly grilled set meal!! Well, let's go for it. I'll definitely ask for more rice. I never seem to lose weight no matter what.

Located about a 5-minute walk northeast from Hommachi Station on the Midosuji Line, there is a convenient shop with a variety of dishes. Today's special is a meat and vegetable stir-fry set with plenty of vegetables for 830 yen. You can upgrade to barley rice for an additional 30 yen. The fried squid is complimentary with a coupon for dinner, making it a great deal at 0 yen. They also offer a lemon sour for just 90 yen. I purchased 950 yen worth of meal tickets, including the lemon sour. The lemon sour is surprisingly delicious for its price. The fried squid pairs well with it, but the batter tends to come off. The meat and vegetable stir-fry is packed with vegetables, which is satisfying. I added some spicy miso halfway through for a flavor change, and it was delicious. I left 1/3 of the barley rice and finished with ochazuke.

I thought I could have a hearty beef hormone meal at 09:30, but they only serve the morning menu from 07:00 to 11:00. It used to be open at 11:00, so it's a bit disappointing. I had natto breakfast (without egg) x1, changed the miso soup x1. The breakfast miso soup had 5 clams, while the regular miso soup had 10 clams. I also had squid tempura x1, which was free with a coupon from the Yayoiken app. Thank you!

Thank you again for your help today, Yoshinoya. No matter where you go, you can always find it (laughs). There's a poster at the entrance for breakfast, I feel like having it once. The food ticket machine is so modern (laughs). They have started offering takeout now. What should I eat today? It's getting hot, so some items on the menu might disappear soon. I decided on the sukiyaki set meal. The white rice is really delicious! The self-service refill machine makes you think about a lot of things. Rice is high in calories, so dieting will have to start tomorrow. I enjoyed the meal today, it was delicious.

I used to be a regular for Sunday lunch, but I started visiting less often because I got a bit tired of it and there are other options available. I remembered seeing that they offer free dashi, so I decided to visit again. It was Sunday, but the restaurant was almost full during lunchtime. I ordered the beef and vegetable stir-fry, spicy kimchi soup set, and a mini mackerel dish labeled as dashi tea pickles. I was excited to see how many bowls of rice I could have with all these dishes. The beef and vegetable stir-fry was as expected, and I was glad to see that they didn't add cheap bean sprouts as filler. I enjoyed eating the flavorful dishes with lots of rice. Lastly, I poured plenty of dashi over the mackerel and felt satisfied. They had set up a rice refill station due to COVID, but it was not working that day. You had to call a staff member for a refill, and the counter was far from the entrance, with the kitchen located at the back. It seemed inconvenient for the staff, and I thought they could have placed a rice pot at a more accessible spot. Because of this, I rated my experience lower on that day.

There is a urban legend-like saying in the restaurant industry that "Giga portions will never go out of style." With the current economic downturn, especially recently, menus are filled with words like "Giga" and "Tera." Intrigued by the Mega Portion Pounder at a yoshinoya-like restaurant, I decided to visit. I ordered the Giga Stamina Meat Platter (3 times the meat) for 1,990 yen, and the answer is in the photo. With this amount, it doesn't feel cost-effective unless they use high-quality beef. As for the taste, just by seeing the sauce and red condiments provided, you can tell. In the past, word of mouth from acquaintances was the main source of information, but nowadays, it's easy to get reviews of other companies' products. This makes it easy to compare with other companies. However, if there are unavoidable locations or unique characteristics, it's a different story, but well, they are both chain restaurants. It has truly become a challenging time for the restaurant industry.

I was lured in by the commercial and ended up having lunch at Yayoiken Honmachi-dori store. It was packed with people, all thinking the same thing! I remembered that the Chicken Nanban and Miso Katsu Nitsuke set meal was 380 yen? Or was it 480 yen? So, I ordered the Miso Katsu Nitsuke set meal. Free rice refills were included, of course, and the regular set meal portion was substantial with great value for money! The flavor was rich and the rice was delicious! The breading was light and the pork loin was tender and easy to eat, and it even came with a soft-boiled egg! I ended up getting a rice refill without even realizing it, haha. I'm stuffed from lunch now! Thank you for the meal!

Avoiding the three Cs, I went for lunch just before evening at this place I used to visit many times before! It's a chain restaurant, and I remember going to the Shinmachi branch a few times when I was younger. Since it's open all day, I decided to go for it! As expected, there were only about two customers before evening, so there was plenty of space to keep a distance of over 2 meters. I ordered the "Cut Steak Mix Set" which includes cut steak, chicken steak, and shrimp fry. It arrived in less than 10 minutes after ordering, with a sizzling sound from the hot plate. It had a familiar family restaurant look, which I haven't seen in a while! The cut steak was more like yakiniku in thickness rather than steak?! It had a firm texture and was quite chewy, making my temples ache if I ate too much (*≧∀≦*). But it was piping hot, and the Japanese-style sauce was inviting me to eat it with rice! The rice here was deliciously cooked, evidenced by the "crab hole" that appeared in it. This is just like at home♪( ´θ｀)ノ It was fluffy and tasty. The chicken steak was small, tender, and had a fluffy texture that even kids could easily eat. The shrimp fry had a thick, frozen-like coating with a crunchy texture, and the tartar sauce was just tasty. The most unexpected part was the Napolitan noodles, which were chewy and had a good texture. I enjoyed my meal without any trouble with the side dishes until the end! If you ever become a lunch refugee, this place is worth considering.

Tonight, I had a delicious salt-grilled mackerel set meal at Yayoiken, a restaurant that I can rely on for meals at early morning or dinner time. The mackerel was perfectly grilled and shiny, and I enjoyed it with grated radish and soy sauce on top. The set meal comes with unlimited rice refills, and I ended up having a second helping because the first one was a bit small. It was a satisfying meal that made me forget about the fact that I have to stay up all night. A lovely Hinamatsuri celebration indeed.

On a regular night, I went to Yayoiken near Honmachi Station♡ When I come to Yayoiken, my sense of profit and loss kicks in and I eat a lot out of stubbornness like "It's a waste if I don't get a second helping of rice!!". Even though I can eat it anytime, I always end up ordering the fried chicken at Yayoiken. The mayonnaise at Yayoiken, isn't it creamy and delicious!? I feel like I could just eat rice with mayonnaise alone. (I haven't actually tried it, thank you for the meal♡)

You can eat a variety of dishes and choose your favorites, making it a happy moment in your daily life. You can eat to your heart's content and feel satisfied while enjoying pickles on the side. The hamburger, shrimp fry, and chicken tempura are all safe choices, and at this price, it becomes a wonderful lunch. Thank you for the meal.

Ginger pork set meal for 710 yen at the reliable and reassuring Yayoiken. Had ginger pork after a long time. Happy with the mayo.

They are open from 11 am until late at night, so even if you miss lunchtime and go out in town, you can still enjoy a delicious meal at this convenient restaurant. And there is a sense of security that you can't go wrong with any dish you order. On this day, I ordered the "Miso Katsu Stew Set Meal" and upgraded to barley rice for an additional 30 yen. The katsu, cooked in miso stew, comes out sizzling hot on a hot plate, satisfying my hunger. The rice is always warm and delicious. (I always feel disappointed when the rice is not tasty at a restaurant, so I am grateful that Yayoi serves delicious food every time.)

Limited time lunch menu ===========