Jinen Unagidani Minami Dori

Ask anyone in Osaka where to eat sushi without ceremony and the answer is usually Jinen. The Unagidani-Minamidori branch sits in Higashi-Shinsaibashi, three minutes from Nagahoribashi Station and five from Shinsaibashi, on a narrow street of bars and late-night kitchens. It is a sushi izakaya in the full Osaka sense: a long counter where the chefs press each piece in front of you, tables behind, private rooms upstairs, about eighty seats over two floors, and a room that is loud and full nearly every night. On weekend evenings the wait without a reservation is thirty minutes or more, and a queue forms before the doors open.

The reputation rests on one promise that the city has tested for years: high-end quality at everyday prices. The fish comes in daily from selected fishing ports rather than through the usual wholesale route, and it is cut thick; a piece of fatty tuna here is bigger than it has any right to be at the price, and most nigiri is well under ¥650. Beyond the classics there is a line of creative sushi, and beyond the sushi a proper izakaya menu: sashimi platters, seasonal tempura, fish simmered in its own stock, chawanmushi, and a long list of sake and beer. It is a place to order freely, share, and not look at the bill until the end.

Then there is the dish Jinen is famous for. Unagi butter is a piece of grilled eel, warm and glazed in sweet-savory tare, served as nigiri with a thick slice of cold butter laid on top. The butter melts the moment it hits your mouth; the richness of the eel, the sweetness of the sauce and the salt of the butter run together into something that has no equivalent elsewhere. Regulars call it junk food in the best sense. First-timers order one, then order another.

The room works for almost any group. The counter is the seat for watching the chefs and talking to them; tables take families and friends; the private rooms on the second floor seat up to ten and make it a reliable choice for a celebration. Solo diners at the counter are common and welcome.

What to order

• Unagi butter: the signature. Grilled eel nigiri with cold butter on top. Do not leave without it.

• Fatty tuna (toro) and beni-toro: thick-cut, generous, and the clearest proof of the price-to-quality promise.

• Aburi salmon: torched salmon nigiri, a house original.

• Sashimi moriawase: a platter to start, before moving to nigiri.

• Ebi no kara-age (fried shrimp): crisp, fragrant, made for beer.

• Seasonal tempura and ara-daki (fish simmered in soy): the izakaya side of the menu, and the reason to order sake.

• At lunch, the nigiri sets with miso soup and chawanmushi (¥600–900) are the best-value sushi in central Osaka.