We were looking to eat some hamburger steak in Osaka when we thought about Rakeru. Do you remember when we were in Tokyo and ate at Rakeru? Well one year after that visit, we stopped in at a Rakeru in Osaka! This location is conveniently located at Namba City which is a huge mall located near Dotonbori. There’s lots to see and shop inside the mall and we highly recommend getting some ice cream here for dessert.
But first, let’s talk about Rakeru!
THE RESTAURANT
As with all their locations, the inside is very cute farm chic. This aesthetic could be so tacky but somehow they manage to make it kitschy and likeable. We see a lot of people aged about 20-30’s enjoying a meal here with friends or significant others, not a lot of families. We were the only tourists at the restaurant but no worries, they have English menus. Even if you spoke no Japanese, the servers are very good at taking your order and serving you.
THE STARTERS
Two little additions we got with our food is a cold matcha drink and the corn soup. Note that the matcha drink doesn’t come with sugar and you’ll have to get your own. It is a very refreshing drink so be sure to check it out! The corn soup came out nice and hot. It was very creamy and the garlic croutons were yummy.
This buttered bun came with Ari’s meal but it deserves shout out and recognition. This is Rakeru’s signature bun and it is the fluffiest bun ever. It came out piping hot and with generous dollops of butter inside. The bun has a hint of sweetness. That savory butter paired with the sweetness of the bread makes a magical combo. If you want some more of these buns, you can buy them to take home (trust us, we wanted to load 20 bags of these into our luggage).
THE FOOD
Ari opted for a very comforting and reliable dish: hamburg omurice demi glace sauce. If you’re ever wondering where to get hamburger steak in Osaka, come to Rakeru.
Rakeru’s food is always reliably good. The beef here is juicy and flavorful, no excessive chewiness in the meat. The demi glace sauce is not overly salty and has a deep richness of beef flavor. The egg on the omurice is devilishly softy and fluffy. It is like eating pillowy clouds with rice.
Howie also wanted to eat hamburger steak for dinner! He opted for spaghetti instead of rice. This dish comes with corn and potatoes but he didn’t like the potato. It was hard and had no flavor (it was unbuttered and unsalted).
Speaking of the pasta and meat, he absolutely loved it. The pasta isn’t handmade but it is in a delicious tomato sauce that is very homey and garlicky. The hamburger steak itself was done as perfectly as mine.
We very much like coming to Rakeru because the prices are always reasonable (under 2,000 yen per person) and the food is consistently good. Rakeru is always a place we make time to stop at on every trip to Japan. With locations across Japan, it’s easy to stop by one of their cute restaurants. If you ever go to Rakeru, drop a comment letting us know what you think!
