Hokkyokusei Osaka: Omurice Menu, Prices & Wait Times
Tokyo Mate
Menu and prices, the queue and reservation system, and opening hours at the Hokkyokusei Shinsaibashi main store. Also covers where the name North Star comes from and what makes the main store different, as the place known for inventing omurice.
When I got there 10 minutes before opening, the line outside was already long. This is the classic style of omurice, rice wrapped in a thin sheet of egg rather than a fluffy half-cooked one.
Hokkyokusei and the original omurice
Hokkyokusei (北極星, North Star) is a yoshoku restaurant founded in Osaka in 1922.
OSAKA-INFO, the official tourism site of the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau, introduces Hokkyokusei as the yoshoku restaurant where omurice was born. The story of that dish goes back to 1925. A regular customer with a weak stomach was eating omelettes and plain rice, so the shop wrapped ketchup rice in egg for him, and the name omurice came from joining omelette and rice.
One of the Shinsaibashi main store’s features is the space itself. It sits in the middle of a busy shopping district, but once you are inside the building there is a Japanese garden and tatami seating, and you can eat looking out at the garden.
Where the Shinsaibashi main store is
The Hokkyokusei Shinsaibashi main store is about a 5 minute walk from Exit 25 of Namba Station, an easy stop if you are covering Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi together.
| Name | Hokkyokusei Shinsaibashi main store (北極星 心斎橋本店) |
| Ratings | Google 4.2 (5,733) / Tabelog 3.43 (1,403) |
| Hours | 11:30 to 21:30 (last order 21:00) |
| Closed | No regular closing day / closed 31 December and 1 January |
| Reservations | Online seat reservations 15:00 to 19:00 ➡️ Reserve at the Hokkyokusei main store |
| Payment | Cash and credit cards accepted / QR code payment not accepted |
| Address | 2-7-27 Nishishinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 📍View on Google Maps |
| Getting there | 5 minutes on foot from Exit 25 of Namba Station |
| Official SNS | ➡️ Hokkyokusei Instagram |
Besides the Shinsaibashi main store, Osaka has several other branches including Kintetsu Namba Station, Lucua Osaka and Kitahama. This article covers the Shinsaibashi main store.
Reservations and waiting
✅ Online reservations
The Hokkyokusei Shinsaibashi main store takes online seat reservations.
- Reservable times: 15:00 to 19:00
- Party size: 1 to 6 people
- How to book: online only (no phone reservations)
➡️ Reserve at the Hokkyokusei main store
✅ Waiting in person
On 8 August 2026 I arrived at 11:20, ten minutes before opening, and there were already people waiting ahead of me. On the day I went, everyone lined up outside in arrival order until opening, then went in in that order.
Once the shop is open, you take a numbered ticket from the tablet just inside the entrance.
The QR code on the ticket lets you register for a call notification by LINE or email, so you get an alert when your turn comes.
Hokkyokusei menu and prices
The Shinsaibashi main store has a wide range, from the basic omurice to versions with curry sauce, hayashi sauce or beef stew.
✅ Basic omurice
The basic omurice is ketchup rice wrapped in egg and served with tomato sauce.
| Menu | Price |
|---|---|
| Chicken omurice | 1,280 yen |
| Mushroom omurice | 1,280 yen |
| Ham omurice | 1,280 yen |
| Beef omurice | 1,480 yen |
| Crab omurice | 1,720 yen |
| Shrimp omurice | 1,720 yen |
✅ Curry and hayashi omurice
There are also omurice dishes served with curry sauce and hayashi sauce. The half and half omurice lets you have hayashi sauce and curry sauce together on one plate.
| Menu | Price |
|---|---|
| Hayashi omurice | 1,580 yen |
| Beef curry omurice | 1,580 yen |
| Pork cutlet curry omurice | 2,130 yen |
| Pork cutlet hayashi omurice | 2,130 yen |
| Beef stew omurice | 2,980 yen |
| Half and half omurice | 1,980 yen |
Trying the omurice myself
We ordered one chicken omurice and one hayashi omurice.
Before going, the omurice I had in mind was the kind where you cut it open and a soft half-cooked egg spreads out. Hokkyokusei’s is not that. It is closer to the traditional Japanese omurice, rice wrapped in a thinly fried sheet of egg.
So for me, expecting a thick fluffy egg, it was honestly a bit of a letdown. On the other hand, if you want to see what an old-style Japanese omurice is like, that classic form is itself a reason to come to Hokkyokusei.
✅ Chicken omurice
Chicken omurice is the most basic thing on the Hokkyokusei menu. A thinly fried sheet of egg wraps the ketchup rice, with tomato sauce on the side.
✅ Hayashi omurice
Hayashi omurice comes with hayashi sauce instead of tomato sauce. The sauce had a deeper flavor than the chicken omurice, with a nutty butter aroma to it.
We ordered the chicken omurice at 1,280 yen and the hayashi omurice at 1,580 yen, and the two of us paid 2,860 yen in total.
Hokkyokusei FAQ
Q. Are Hokkyokusei and 北極星 different shops?
A. They are the same shop. 北極星 means North Star, and Hokkyokusei is how those characters are read in Japanese.
Q. Is the Shinsaibashi main store the same as the Kintetsu Namba Station branch?
A. No. The Shinsaibashi main store and the Kintetsu Namba Station branch are separate locations. The main store is also walkable from Namba Station.
Q. Can I reserve the Shinsaibashi main store?
A. Yes. You can book a seat between 15:00 and 19:00 online through the official reservation page. It takes 1 to 6 people and does not accept phone reservations.
If you want a taste of a dish that has been going in Osaka for a long time, Hokkyokusei down a Shinsaibashi side street was worth stopping into once.
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