Osaka, one of Japan's largest cities, has long been extolled as the "Nation's Kitchen," but there's much more than just okonomiyaki and takoyaki! There are also local vegetable varieties like Namba green onions and Tennoji turnips, which have been cultivated since the Edo period (1603-1868).
Umeda, in Osaka's northern Kita ward, is a lively shopping area lined with office buildings, department stores, and shopping malls. The world's top-class restaurants and popular gourmet destinations beloved by locals are gathered here. This time, we're introducing five restaurants with menus centered on fresh vegetables. Whether you're traveling or just heading into town, they're sure to satisfy you in terms of both flavor and nutrition. Let's take a look!

Original, NY-style salads: GATE2 FIELDER’S CHOICE

GATE2 FIELDER'S CHOICE is a New York-style salad specialty shop that takes its name from the baseball term. After opening in Osaka, the restaurant immediately became popular with the locals. When you visit, you'll find that the salads are not just great meals, but also a kind of fashion!

The restaurant interior is inspired by New York's Yankee Stadium. Fresh, seasonal vegetables are carefully selected from the market each day and combined with fiber-rich ingredients like beans and nuts for a filling meal that isn't hard on the stomach. When you order, you meal will be prepared on the spot, and in just a few minutes they'll whip up a fresh, tasty, and nutritional salad. Next, you'll be able to select your choice of dressing. It's perfect for a meal here, or for take-out.

Aside from the salads on the menu, you can also select ingredients and put together your own original salad. There are also options like tortilla-wrapped sandwiches, rice bowls with 16 different grains mixed in, and vegetarian-only menu items.

Marumo Kitchen: Enjoy both rice bowls and pork soup!

Tasty and affordable, rice bowls, or "donburi," have long been a popular meal for Japanese office workers and students who need a quick meal right away. Marumo Kitchen is a chain store famous in Japan for its healthy rice bowls and café menu. Its menu is extensive, full of different ingredients, and of course delicious. The restaurant is particularly popular for its interior, especially comfortable for dining, and had locations in each of Japan's major cities. There even are two locations close to Hankyu Osaka-umeda Station: one on the B1 floor of GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS's Minami-kan (South Building), and one on the B2 floor of HANKYU SANBAN GAI's Minami-kan (South Building). The GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS location is spacious and open, perfect for taking your time to enjoy a meal, and the SANBAN GAI location has the relaxing atmosphere of a café. Both are bright, clean, and relaxing spaces, perfect for enjoying an Instagrammable, nutritious, colorful, and tasty rice bowl.

Marumo Kitchen's menu has three categories: seafood ("umi gohan"), meat ("manzoku gohan," or "satisfaction meals"), and Tomato Hayashi Rice ("tomato hayashi gohan"), with around 20 options in total, each of which comes with small dishes of food and a dessert. The most popular of these is the "Luxury Seafood Bowl" ("zeitaku umi-no-sachi gohan"), packed full of salmon, tuna, scallops, and more; and the "Pork & 7 Vegetable BBQ Bowl" ("buta niku to nana shu yasai no bbq gohan"), with its charcoal-roasted pork and seven types of veggies. Seafood-lovers and meat-lovers can't miss these.

An even more important point is the reason locals keep coming back to Marumo Kitchen. There's a secret technique for this! It's found in the miso soup ("tonjiru" pork soup) made with pork and vegetables. The broth is full of pork and veggies, including not only daikon radish, but fresh green veg, too. The ingredients change seasonally, so you won't tire of it even if you eat it every season of the year! You can even add toppings of your choice, like pickled tuna, cod roe, fried chicken, slow-boiled egg, and so on. If you don't feel like dining in, take-out is also an option. Be sure to note this one down if you're a fan of Japanese rice bowls!

Rojiura Curry SAMURAI.: Savory vegetable soup curry from Hokkaido!

Curry is a Japanese comfort food. Soup-style curry in particular is a dish that originates from Sapporo, Hokkaido, and is considered a kind of soulfood by Sapporo people. Based out of Sapporo, Rojiura Curry SAMURAI. is famous for its soup curry, and now the only place you can taste it in the Kansai area is here in Osaka!

Located on the 7th floor of GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS's Minami-kan (South Building), Rojiura Curry SAMURAI. has a rustic, woody and spacious interior, perfect for relaxing and enjoying your meal. It's most notable characteristic, though, is its soup. Using vegetables sent directly from Hokkaido farms, the restaurant's own homemade spices are added, together with bonito flakes, dried sardines, chicken and pork bones, which are then simmered for 48 hours. This fresh, richly-flavored soup brings out the authentic flavors of the vegetables and spices without any use of oils, flour, or artifical flavorings.

When you order, first select the desired spiciness of your soup. We recommend the "1/2 Chicken with Pork and Vegetable Curry." You can enjoy both soft chicken meat and stewed pork together with a variety of vegetables for a meal that's filling, nutritious, and very tasty.

RIVER CAFE: A café with a six-vegetable soup that's not only nutritionally-balanced and delicious, but also photographs well for social media

After enjoying some shopping in Osaka, you'll probably want to take a break with something tasty! When that happens, the popular 180-seat café-restaurant RIVER CAFE is the perfect choice! Even during crowded mealtimes, you won't have to worry about long wait times.

A basic Japanese meal consists of rice, soup, and three small side dishes, but RIVER CAFE offers a richer version of this type of meal. There are about 20 different main dishes on the menu. Among these, if you're a chicken-lover, you should definitely try the "Chicken & Vegetables with Black Vinegar Sauce" ("waka tori to tappuri yasai no kurozu an"). Or, if you'd like to try a variety of different things at once, try the "20-Color Blissful Mouthful Gozen Meal" ("shifuku no hitokuchi juunisai gozen")!

RIVER CAFE's 12 side dishes are carefully prepared using seasonal ingredients, and are beautifully prepared in colorful, bite-sized amounts that are sure to whet your appetite when they arrive at your table. There are 12 side dishes, but more than half of them are prepared using 2-3 different types of ingredients. For example, there is wasabi yam topped with sea urchin, or seared salmon topped with avocado and salmon roe, sweet rolled egg lightly fried and topped with pollack roe for an added touch of color, and so on, making for a total of more than 20 varieties if you eat them all! Not only can you enjoy a variety of flavors and textures, but you can enjoy a good balance of your daily nutritional needs with ingredients like milk, eggs, fish, meat, and vegetables. If you eat here and post a picture of your meal, your friends are sure to be jealous!

Ka-you: Direct from the source! Enjoy the deliciousness of the ingredients as they are

As soon as you step into Ka-you on floor B1 of NU chayamachi, you'll find yourself surrounded by earthy colors and warm, soft lighting that will leave you feeling at ease as you head to your seat for your meal. Ka-you has its own farm in Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture, and works together with local farms, ranches, and fisheries. All the ingredients they use are carefully selected and shipped directly to Osaka that morning, so they're very fresh! Every foodie who's a fan of Japanese food will know that Shiga Prefecture is known for its Omi wagyu beef and Omi rice. If you visit Ka-you, you can savor high-quality Omi rice and a salad bar with a variety of Omi vegetables to your hearts' content! Lunchtime meals begin at 1,100 yen.

None of the menu items are excessively seasoned, so you can enjoy the original goodness and flavor of the ingredients. Aside from reasonably-priced lunches, Ka-you is also a great choice because of its high-quality course meals. If you visit on a birthday or anniversary, try the "Omi Vegetables and Omi Wagyu Beef Steak Course" ("omi yasai to omi gyu no suteeki koosu"). It's the perfect change to enjoy all the deliciousness of Shiga.

About the malls

The following Umeda, Osaka shopping malls were featured in this article.

GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS

GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS is directly connected to Osaka Station, and is divided into three areas: the Minami-kan South Building, Kita-kan North Building, and Umekita Plaza. The facilities are home to over 200 shops with fashions from across the world, lifestyle-related goods, dining, and cafés. We've carefully selected three restaurants from GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS's Minami-kan (South Building) to share in this article.

Click here to see more about GRAND FRONT OSAKA SHOPS & RESTAURANTS

HANKYU SANBAN GAI

HANKYU SANBAN GAI (literally, "Hankyu street number three") is not actually a street, but a shopping center built within Osaka-umeda Station on the Hankyu Railway, and it's huge. It includes popular fashion brands, restaurants from Japan and overseas, and just about anything you can think of.

Click here to see more about HANKYU SANBAN GAI

NU chayamachi

This is the landmark tower for the Chayamachi area of Umeda, Osaka. "NU" stands for "North Umeda." You can find the latest fashions, popular select shops, and various types of restaurants.

Click here to see more about NU chayamachi

*Due to the influence of current societal conditions, some shops may have different business hours.

*Information in this article is accurate as of the date of posting. There is a possibility that details regarding these products and services have changed, or that some shops have since closed.