Shinpachi しんぱち食堂 @ Shinjuku

This is the breakfast for champions – probiotics, proteins and non-GF carbs. Only in Japan where you can get a beautifully grilled fish and rice washed down with miso soup for breakfast.

Shinpachi Shoduko しんぱち食堂 is a chain restaurant with three branches in Shinjuku alone. They strive to provide grilled fish meals complete with rice, miso soup and tsukemono at affordable prices and tasty like home cooked by your mother. Like the breakfast set I ordered was only ¥539 (SGD 5), now that’s really affordable!

I came early in the morning for breakfast, and there were only three persons working in the restaurant, two person in front of the house serving customers, one at the back grilling the fish. Don’t worry if you do not speak Japanese, all the ordering are done through a tablet that has English/Chinese/Korean language options. You just pick and choose what you like and place the order.

朝さば文化干し定食ご飯並盛 Dried mackerel and rice breakfast set

Every order of grilled fish comes with a portion of Japanese produced rice, miso soup and locally sourced pickled from a reputable source. And during breakfast, some of the sets are available at SGD 5 which you can add sides for between 30¢ and $1.

The cold-room dried mackerel さば文化干し is different from the usual sun-dried ones as it condenses the flavours of the mackerel and yet retains the freshness of the fish. Unlike sun-dried ones, the fish does not shrink and it has a juicy texture when grilled. Something similar to wet aging vs dry aging for beef.

Every meal comes with rice, and they use only Japanese produce rice. You pay less if you ask for a smaller portion of rice. And the meal also comes with miso soup and specialty pickles which change periodically. Like today, it was spicy pickled daikon and cucumber ピリ辛大根胡瓜漬 from Asahi Tsukemono Miso KK 旭漬物味噌株式会社 founded in 1915 大正4年.

For $1, I added the negitori (minced tuna belly). It was about the size of a pingpong ball and was very tasty.

Another add-on item was the sesame pickled green beans, which for breakfast only cost 30¢. And it was very good too.

I love sardines, and they have two options in the menu – three pieces of small sardines or the deluxe version of a single large sardine. I ordered the latter as an ala carte to complement the set breakfast. It did not disappoint.

Once you are done, just pick up the number card at your seat and pay at the self-service machine at the door. This shop opens 365 days a year and only close for one hour between 3-4am to reset the restaurant. Highly recommended for that morning breakfast that is nutritious and affordable if your hotel does not offer breakfast.

Shinpachi Shokudō Shinjuku Tonanguchi
炭火焼干物定食 しんぱち食堂 新宿東南口店
3 Chome-35-5 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0022, Japan
東京都新宿区新宿3-35-5澤田第2ビル1階

Visited Aug 2024