Back in 1895, Rengatei in Ginza opened its doors as a Western-style restaurant.
The restaurant is known as the first restaurant in Japan to be called a Western-style restaurant, as dishes such as pork cutlet, other fried foods, omurice (omelet rice) and hayashi rice (hashed beef with rice) were made at the restaurant. And the restaurant still continues to provide Western-style dishes to many patrons that come to dine at the establishment.
Entering the restaurant, the bottom room was packed and what caught my attention is the traditional look of the restaurant and the jazzy atmosphere.
As the waiter took me upstairs to a more relaxed area, the restaurant quickly filled up not long after I ordered my lunch.
Having read that Rengatei was the first restaurant to make omurice, I had to order it. As whenever I am in Japan, I love eating it.
And to my surprise, it was different than any other omurice I have eaten in Japan.
Most of the time, omurice is served with the rice and other ingredients inside the egg, but Rengatei mixes the egg with the rice.
I admit that for the price, you don’t get a lot on your plate especially when looking at it, it looks quite simple when compared to other offerings of omurice dishes from restaurants such as Pomunoki.
But while the restaurant is steep in tradition from its historical roots, one should not come in with high hopes, but one should come in expecting to eat comfort Japanese food from one of the oldest restaurants in Tokyo.
