Chitose Namba: Nikusui Menu & How to Order
Tokyo Mate
Chitose main store in Namba, Osaka, is where nikusui was invented, and nikusui costs 900 yen. Here are the menu, how to order from the ticket machine, the wait, the opening hours and the cash-only rule.
Chitose main store basics
Chitose (千とせ) is a long-standing shop in Namba Sennichimae that opened in 1949. It was originally a neighbourhood place known for its niku udon, and these days it is better known as the birthplace of nikusui.
✔️ It closes at 2:30pm, so put it in your lunch plans.
✔️ It is shut on Tuesdays.
✔️ Cards are not accepted, so bring cash.
| Name | Chitose main store (千とせ 本店) |
| Rating | Google 4.1 (1,687) / Tabelog 3.72 (2,251) |
| Awards | Tabelog Udon Top 100, 2022 and 2024 |
| Hours | 10:30-14:30 |
| Closed | Tuesdays |
| Reservations | Not accepted |
| Seats | 18 (shared tables when busy) |
| Payment | Cash only |
| Address | 8-1 Nambasennichimae, Chuo-ku, Osaka 📍 View map |
| Getting there | 3 minutes on foot from Nankai Namba Station, 5 minutes from Osaka Metro Namba Station |
What is Chitose nikusui
Nikusui (肉吸い) is niku udon with the udon noodles taken out and a soft-boiled egg put in.
The broth is made from a mix of katsuo and urume iwashi (a kind of sardine), and it comes together with slightly sweet beef, a soft-boiled egg and chopped spring onion. You can add tofu if you want.
Nikusui started from an off-menu order. The Yoshimoto comedian Hanaki Kyo (花紀京) came in between shows and, hungover and wanting something light, asked for "niku udon, hold the udon". The previous owner made it exactly that way, and that was the start. Word spread from there and it became Chitose's signature dish.
Namba Grand Kagetsu is near the shop, so Yoshimoto performers have been coming here for a long time, and plenty of entertainers still visit.
Chitose main store menu and prices
Nikusui with shotama is the combination people order here.
Shotama is a small bowl of rice with a raw egg on it, eaten with a special soy sauce that has dashi in it.
| Menu | Price |
|---|---|
| Nikusui 肉吸い | 900 yen |
| Nikusui with tofu 肉吸い 豆腐入 | 950 yen |
| Niku udon 肉うどん | 900 yen |
| Shotama (egg on rice, small) 小玉 / 玉子かけごはん 小 | 200 yen |
| Odama (egg on rice, large) 大玉 / 玉子かけごはん 大 | 250 yen |
| Rice (small) ごはん 小 | 150 yen |
| Rice (large) ごはん 大 | 200 yen |
| Pork butasui 豚吸い | 700 yen |
| Pork butasui with tofu 豚吸い 豆腐入り | 750 yen |
| Buta udon 豚うどん | 700 yen |
| Kake udon かけうどん | 450 yen |
| Kitsune udon きつねうどん | 500 yen |
| Tamago udon 玉子うどん | 500 yen |
| Kobu udon こぶうどん | 500 yen |
| Tsukimi udon 月見うどん | 500 yen |
| Tempura udon 天ぷらうどん | 500 yen |
Everyone has to order at least one dish, and ordering rice on its own does not count as a dish.
How to order at Chitose and the wait
Chitose main store is a small place with 18 seats. When I went at 1:30pm on a Monday I got in with no wait.
It was a little past the lunch rush, so there was nobody waiting outside and I was shown straight to a seat.
They close at 2:30pm, and they may finish earlier if the broth runs out. Rather than turning up late to avoid the queue, it is better to go with time to spare before closing.
Chitose main store works on meal tickets. You buy a ticket from the machine at the entrance first, then sit where you are shown. The machine takes 1,000 yen notes and 500, 100, 50 and 10 yen coins.
① Press the button for what you want on the ticket machine.
② Pay in cash and take your ticket.
③ Sit down and hand the ticket to the staff.
Niku udon and buta udon
What I ordered was the niku udon (肉うどん) at 900 yen and the buta udon (豚うどん) at 700 yen.
Eating both, what stayed with me was the broth rather than the noodles.
The katsuo comes through clearly in the broth and the meat adds its own savouriness, and it was good enough that I kept drinking it. It tastes deep without feeling heavy.
The niku udon comes with a generous amount of slightly sweet beef. The meat is tender, and the savouriness coming off it mixes into the broth and makes it richer.
Buta udon is the one with pork. At 700 yen it is 200 yen cheaper than the niku udon, so it was easy to order both and compare.
The udon noodles themselves, though, were ordinary against what you would expect from a Tabelog Udon Top 100 shop. Rather than the bite or the texture of the noodles staying with me, the broth and the meat felt like what makes the food here. For me Chitose main store was less an udon shop you go to for the noodles than a place you go to taste the broth and the meat.
Having tried the broth, I could see why nikusui became the dish this place is known for.
Chitose main store and the annex
There is also a Chitose annex (千とせ べっかん) in Namba.
It opened in April 2012 on the ground floor of Namba Grand Kagetsu, and it is the fourth generation carrying on the taste of nikusui.
The annex is open until the evening, has no closing day and has a wider menu. Compare the same dishes, though, and the annex is more expensive than the main store.
| Item | Main store | Annex |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | 10:30-14:30 | 11:00-20:00 (last order 19:30) |
| Closed | Tuesdays | None |
| Location | 📍 View map | 📍 View map |
| Nikusui | 900 yen | 1,180 yen |
| Shotama (egg on rice, small) | 200 yen | 400 yen |
If you want to eat at the birthplace of nikusui for less, go to the main store. If you are coming later in the day or want more choice on the menu, the annex is easier.
Not a place with a showy menu, but one that stays with you for a single bowl of broth. If you want to taste something old and local in Namba, Osaka, with nikusui and udon, stop by Chitose main store.
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