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IZAKAYA - Rikimaru Robatayaki Magome is a Rikimaru Group robatayaki izakaya in Umeda, Osaka, where fish and shellfish from the central market are grilled on an open counter in the traditional fireside style, right in front of you. It is the address to pick when you want a lively, old-fashioned Osaka izakaya evening with theatrical counter grilling, just a two-minute walk from Hankyu Umeda Station.
What it is
Rikimaru Robatayaki Magome takes its cue from the historic post town of Magome in Shinshu, a stop on the old Nakasendo road, and the room is styled with that nostalgic wooden post-town feel. The name is literal about the cooking: robatayaki, or fireside grill, is the discipline the whole kitchen is built around.
The centrepiece is a huge open counter where fresh ingredients delivered daily from the central market are grilled in front of you, in the traditional robata manner. The kitchen also cooks daily one-off specials, so the counter never repeats itself exactly from night to night. Alongside the grilling, there is a serving flourish worth knowing about: dishes come out on large wooden rice paddles, known as kai, and at the counter, shellfish are lit and served flaming. It is a photogenic moment, and it is the kind of detail that makes an evening here feel like a show as much as a dinner.
The Rikimaru Group runs the operation, and the group's own signature dishes anchor the menu. This is not a quiet, refined dining room — it is a full-throated robata izakaya built around smoke, fire and counter-side theatre.
What to order
Seafood is the reason to come, and a few dishes carry the house identity.
- Live scallop grilled with butter — the Rikimaru Group's number-one specialty, finished with scallop broth and butter soy sauce. Start here.
- Whole big prawn, salt-grilled — a whole prawn done simply over the fire.
- "Yamitsuki" chicken wings — the name translates roughly to "addictive," and the wings come in a sweet-spicy sauce.
- Sea bream kabuto-yaki — the grilled head of the fish, served whole.
- Live sazae turban shell, grilled in its shell — one of the flaming counter dishes, and the one to have if you want the full theatrical treatment.
- Chicken thigh and tsukune chicken skewers — the standards that any good robata counter should nail.
Beyond the à la carte menu, there are two group-oriented courses built for parties. One is a two-hour all-you-can-eat-and-drink course covering roughly eighty dishes, weighted towards seafood and skewers, with some premium items limited to one per person. The second is a two-hour drinks-only free-flow course, for groups that want to order food dish by dish but keep the drinks running. Both are designed with group dinners in mind rather than solo evenings.
The room
The counter is the best seat in the house: eight counter seats, arranged in pairs, right in front of the live grill. Sitting there puts the whole robata performance — the fire, the flames on the shellfish, the wooden paddle service — within arm's reach.
Beyond the counter, the seating is built for conversation and for groups. There are semi-private sunken-hearth horigotatsu rooms and irori hearth seating, where the table is set into the floor and the hearth anchors the space. A second floor carries more irori and horigotatsu semi-private seating, and that floor can be booked privately for larger groups, comfortably handling everything from roughly two dozen guests up to about thirty-five.
The partitions between the semi-private areas can be opened up, which makes the layout work for parties of around ten who want to feel part of the larger room without giving up their own space. For full-venue buyouts, the shop is open to discussion — worth raising directly if you are planning a large celebration.
Getting there
The restaurant sits at 1-6-8 Shibata, Kita-ku, Osaka City, in the Umeda district, and it is a two-minute walk from Hankyu Umeda Station. That puts it squarely in the Umeda cluster of restaurants and bars, close to the office towers and the shopping arcades, which makes it an easy walk from almost anywhere in the district.
It is open daily, including public holidays, from 4:00 PM to 11:00 PM, with last orders at 10:30 PM. There is no regular closing day, and the only closures in the year are December 31 and January 1. The daily opening makes it a reliable fallback when other kitchens around Umeda are dark.
Who it suits
Rikimaru Robatayaki Magome is built for groups first. The all-you-can-eat-and-drink courses, the private second floor and the option to open up the semi-private partitions all point the same direction: this is a place that scales from a table of a few friends to a party of well over two dozen without changing character.
It suits casual dinners with friends or colleagues, celebrations of almost any kind, and travellers who want a lively traditional Osaka izakaya atmosphere rather than a quiet counter experience. The proximity to Hankyu Umeda Station makes it a sensible meeting point for anyone coming in from elsewhere in the city, and the flames, the wooden paddles and the counter-side grilling give it a sense of occasion even on an ordinary weeknight.
If you are choosing between Osaka izakaya styles, the distinction is straightforward: this is a robatayaki, so the food is cooked over fire at an open counter in front of you, in the old-fashioned manner, and the room is dressed to match. Come hungry, sit at the counter if you can, and let the shellfish arrive flaming.
See the full listing: IZAKAYA - Rikimaru Robatayaki Magome
Explore more
Plan more of Japan around this table:
- Osakana Tokidoki Oniku Umeda Ten: Fish, Sometimes Meat in Umeda
- Robata no Karisuma: Robata-Yaki and Yakiniku in Kokura, Kitakyushu
- Izakaya Daruma Kyoto Kawaramachi: A Riverside Izakaya in Kyoto
- Sushi Tomikawa: Creative Edo-mae Sushi in Kichijoji
Frequently asked questions
Where is Rikimaru Robatayaki Magome and how do I get there?
It is at 1-6-8 Shibata, Kita-ku, Osaka City, about a two-minute walk from Hankyu Umeda Station, in the middle of the Umeda dining and drinking district.
What kind of food does the restaurant serve?
It serves traditional robatayaki — old-style fireside grilling — built on seafood and vegetables delivered daily from the central market. Signature dishes include live scallops grilled with butter, whole salt-grilled big prawns, sweet-spicy addictive chicken wings, sea bream kabuto-yaki, and turban shell grilled in its shell.
What are the opening hours?
The restaurant opens daily from 4:00 PM to 11:00 PM, with last orders at 10:30 PM. There is no regular closing day; it closes only for New Year, on December 31 and January 1.
Can groups book private seating?
Yes. The room includes semi-private sunken-hearth (horigotatsu) and irori seating, and the second floor can be booked privately for larger groups of roughly two dozen up to 35 guests. Full-venue buyouts can be arranged by request, and two-hour all-you-can-eat-and-drink courses make it a natural fit for parties.
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