UPDATE: This restaurant has unfortunately closed since this article was published.
In seeking satisfaction, not just of hunger but nutrition, it's hard to find a place that walks the line between healthy and filling without paying high prices. Usually places with large portions are using low quality ingredients, and places that present a wide variety of fresh, made-in-store selections charge over a 1,000 yen. Marukin Omachidou is a gem; a resplendent rainbow over a dark sky. Run by a mother and daughter, who likely live just upstairs, you are invariably greeted on entrance by the two busy ladies from their deep kitchen. The restaurant itself is very simple, and cute in its quaint, motherly decorum. If you cannot wait to eat, you can grab yourself a few sticks of oden, of which there is always a variety, or onigiri to munch before your food arrives. The water you enjoy comes from one of the freshest wells in Saijo, where they travel to fill up bottles and bring back to their icy cold refrigerators. The walls are lined with the obligatory volumes of manga. The customers are mostly workers in the area who run down here for lunch, and the remainder are savvy locals who know how to find a good meal.
The main event is, of course, the dishes themselves. Near the register are pictures of the vegetable patch where they are supplied with produce. Hand cut and never frozen, your body will thank you for eating some real food for once. Everything is made in house, and the effect is that you have food both unique in its particular flavor as well as delicious. Ramen, soba, and udon are served cold and hot with several options for each. There are several donburi bowls, as well as the best lunch sets around.
The daily lunch is the crowning achievement of Marukin. The items go in cycles, with the main and side dishes being changed daily. Seasonal foods often show up in accordance with the time of year. Except on curry or hayashi rice days, you can expect miso soup (loaded with extras), rice, a generous salad, a vegetable dish, and the main. Often tofu or spaghetti make appearances as well. The main dish is always something unique to Japanese home cooking. Something like minced chicken in a bell pepper that is then katsu fried, or an asparagus wrapped in pork and then katsu fried. The amount of vegetables tone down the guilt of the hearty main dish. A coffee is brought out for dessert, iced in summer and hot in winter, and everything comes to a lean 690 yen. For a paltry increase in price, you can request, anything to be served in a larger helping.
After a lunch at Marukin you will certainly be full, but not in the kind of way that induces self loathing. It is certainly the all around best lunch option to be had in terms of price, quality, flavor, and portions. The only problem with the otherwise perfect Marukin is this; it's popular, and with good reason. They open the doors at 11:30 am, and often if you come after 12:30 the lunch sets are sold out. You can still order many of the other dishes, but on busy days they can sell out of too many things to remain open and it isn't unheard of for them to start turning away customers as early as 1:30. To ensure that you get your lunch set, it's best to come before noon. The narrow window in which you can eat here is the only disappointing thing about the place.
