Whittling down the best spots to eat such an iconic dish as omuraisu was never going to be easy.

A portmanteau of the Japanese transliteration of ¡°omelet¡± and ¡°rice,¡± this is a staple of the nation¡¯s ²â§à?²õ³ó´Ç°ì³Ü tradition, which is best understood as Japanized Western cuisine. Under this umbrella sit dishes essentially frozen in time since their first creation in the mists of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) ¡ª things like °ì²¹°ù¨¥-°ù²¹¾±²õ³Ü (British-introduced curry), hamb¨¡gu sut¨¥ki (hamburger minus the bun) and katsuretsu (pork cutlet). These immutable dishes reflect a time when not only fashion but also nutrition dictated a change in diet for many Japanese people.

Often Anglicized as ¡°omurice,¡± this dish consists of a fluffy, yellow omelet atop Japanese rice dyed pink from ketchup. Maybe there¡¯s demi-glace sauce ladled over it, or perhaps it¡¯s sitting in a shallow pond of b¨©fu kar¨¥ (beef curry). There¡¯s no other dish that¡¯s both totally outside the popular concept of ¡°Japanese food¡± and also such a quintessential Japanese dish.