A note on the words: oden is a traditional Japanese winter dish where ingredients such as daikon radish, tofu, and fish cakes are gently simmered in a light dashi broth. Otoshi is a small appetizer served at the start of a meal, shungiku no goma-ae is garland chrysanthemum greens tossed in sweet sesame sauce, and aji is horse mackerel served raw as sashimi. Odama, mitsugushi, nimi-shiitake and suji are names on this shop’s oden list; the article does not say what is in them. Shirako is fish milt, the soft roe, which they said was on only some nights.
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Ogura on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. This time, a drinking session with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. It has been chilly lately, so we figured somewhere we could warm up would be nice, and looking around for oden we found this place in Ginza, “Ogura”. Location-wise, it sits roughly between Ginza and Yurakucho, I think? Just off the main street after coming out of Ginza Station, in the basement of a multi-tenant building. It has that good old Ginza feel, which is very nice.
Going down to the basement, there is a green noren curtain. Further inside, it was packed tight with customers! Popular indeed.
This time we were shown to a table in the back.
That said, it is a small shop, so it was a tiny table where you sit shoulder to shoulder, but when it comes to oden, sitting like this and nibbling away little by little over drinks really hits the spot. Though come to think of it, sitting at the counter where you can see the oden items looks like it would be even more fun.
Oden assorted platter for one — 1,760 yen
Aji sashimi — 2,200 yen
Iwashi maruboshi — 880 yen
Shungiku no goma-ae — 880 yen
Probably partly because it was so crowded, they asked us to order things other than oden first. So we decided to start by ordering some snacks besides oden.
Looking around, there were people in suits who looked distinctly well-off, ha, and Ginza hostesses dotted here and there. I see — it was quite early, around 7:00 PM, so it felt like dohan (a hostess dining with a client before her shift), perhaps? If a restaurant is used for dohan it is usually a solid hit, so expectations were rising.
Now, first came the otoshi.
Toasting with highballs,
Here is the aji sashimi. It does carry a fair price, but it is delicious.
It is bone-dry and firm, but as you chew, the savory umami and saltiness spread out with a rush. It goes incredibly well with drinks. Feels like you could polish off a whole glass with just one fish.
This shungiku dish was extremely good. The sweetness, the aroma of sesame, and the distinctive slight bitterness of garland chrysanthemum greens were truly exceptional.
And as for the oden, they have this wide a variety.
Daikon, tofu, atsuage (thick deep-fried tofu), ganmodoki (a fried tofu fritter), konnyaku, mochi-kinchaku (mochi in a fried-tofu pouch), shirataki-bukuro (shirataki in a pouch), a cabbage roll, tsumire (a fish ball), egg, odama, mitsugushi, hanpen (a light, airy fish cake), grilled chikuwa, chikuwa-bu (a wheat-gluten roll), wakame, zenmai (royal fern), suji, duck and burdock, nimi-shiitake, ginnan (ginkgo nuts), potato.
There are about 23 varieties. We were told they also had fish milt as a limited item, so we each picked what we felt like eating.
For our first round we chose egg, daikon, tofu and potato.
I hadn’t heard much about having potato in oden, but it had thoroughly soaked up the broth and was delicious. Daikon is an absolute staple, of course. Tasty.
The tofu was also exquisite. It made me want to put it over rice and eat it.
Here is the fish milt. Fish milt in oden…? was my initial thought, but
when you think about it, it often goes into hot pots. Taking a bite, it was fluffy and creamy and delicious!
Next, hanpen and shirataki-bukuro.
The shirataki noodles inside the pouch were well-seasoned and tasty. Soft, airy hanpen is also something you only truly appreciate in oden.
It was delicious! Truly satisfying!
And so, after nibbling a bit more on oden at the end, that was it. We didn’t eat a massive amount, but it was a place with a very high sense of satisfaction. When it is cold out, nothing beats oden in flavorful dashi. It makes total sense that it is so popular. I feel like I remember seeing something written about being able to get takeout here too, and bringing your own pot from home to have it filled seems completely viable.
Ogura (Oden / Ginza Station, Hibiya Station, Yurakucho Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
