Bengaraya

There is a popular oden restaurant called Bengaraya in Fushimi, Kyoto, one of the three major sake breweries in Japan. Although it is not nationally known, it is famous among locals as a restaurant where reservations are hard to come by. I have tried many times in the past to get a reservation by phone, but I was always unsuccessful.

The other day I finally managed to get a reservation at Bengaraya and went to Fushimi, where the restaurant is located, on a summer evening. I really wanted to go there during the cold winter season when the oden tastes better, but anyway, I couldn’t get a reservation, so it couldn’t be helped…

A retro store that blends in with the elegant area lined with sake breweries… This is the popular oden specialty store, Bengaraya, in Fushimi

The oden specialty store Bengaraya is located between Fushimi Momoyama Station and Chushojima Station on the Keihan Electric Railway line. This area is lined with old sake breweries in Fushimi, a sake brewing area, and is lined with historic buildings of brands that sake lovers must have heard of, such as Gekkeikan, Kizakura, and Takara Shuzo, making it a relaxing spot for those who do not drink alcohol.

Bengaraya also has a store that blends in with these historical buildings without any sense of incongruity. According to official information, there are 60 seats (including 8 counter seats) in the Japanese-style restaurant with a retro atmosphere from the early Showa period, but as expected, the restaurant was packed to capacity on the day of our visit. All the customers who came to the restaurant on the spot were refused entry. However, even though it is such a big restaurant, perhaps it was just a coincidence that there were very few waitstaff on that day…especially the floor staff was very few, and it took a long time to get orders through. I wonder if they can do something more about this place…

From the standard oden menu to creative oden dishes, here are the 10 dishes I ordered at Bengaraya that day in order of interest!

Let me introduce in order all 10 items I ordered at Bengaraya on that day. In addition to the standard Japanese-style soup stock, there are several flavor variations such as miso stew and grilled oden, making for an interesting menu structure…

Daikon radish, potato, egg, thick fried bean curd, and glutinous rice cake (Japanese flavor)

I’ll start with the three standard oden items: daikon radish, potato, and egg. (All are priced at 120 yen (tax included). The Japanese-style broth is soy sauce-based and basically sweet, but with a refreshing ginger-like flavor. The daikon radish, which has absorbed the broth to the fullest, is a must-try! But be careful not to burn yourself as the broth is very hot…

The next dishes were thick fried bean curd (110 yen including tax) and mochi kinchaku (165 yen including tax). There is nothing new here, but when eating this kind of dish at an oden shop with a retro atmosphere, you can’t help but feel indescribably good… Hopefully, I would have come here in the winter when it is colder. Well, there will be plenty of chances to do so in the future…

Beef tenderloin and konnyaku (miso flavored)

For the third dish, I ordered beef tendon (350 yen including tax) and ita-konnyaku (165 yen including tax) from the miso-flavored oden. The miso-flavored soup stock is based on Hatcho miso and has a sweet and spicy flavor, but it is not as thick as it looks and is rather light. The surface of the ita-konnyaku has a strong aroma of hatcho miso, and when putting it in the mouth, the aroma spreads softly to the nose. The beef tendon is about twice the size of other restaurants, and there are not only muscles but also lean parts, making it more than worth the price.

Octopus (grilled)

This time, I chose octopus (400 yen including tax) from the grilled oden menu, which is a creative menu item. I wondered if grilled oden could be called “oden” at all. But I put that aside… This grilled oden comes in two versions, one with salt and the other with sauce, and you can tell that it was made with the image of yakitori (grilled chicken) in mind. The salt is quite effective as a primer, and there is a lot of sweet tare sauce on top… The octopus is plump and definitely delicious, but I didn’t feel any kind of “grilled” savory flavor.たね。

Squid

It’s time to head for the closing. Wanting to fill up some space in my stomach, I ordered the squid (550 yen including tax). There was no lower leg part, but there was a whole piece of meat, and it was as hearty as expected. It can be eaten as it is with Japanese soup stock, but the sweet and sticky garlic sauce that came along with it will give a boost to your sake. On the other hand, adding soy sauce to a generous amount of ginger and eating it will give it a tangy, pungent taste that will make your mouth water.

Japanese-style cabbage roll

The last dish we ordered that day was the specialty of Bengaraya, cabbage rolls (550 yen including tax). I was torn between the standard Japanese-style flavor and the summer-only tomato flavor, but I chose the standard Japanese-style flavor this time.

The price of this cabbage roll is quite expensive among all the items on the menu at Bengaraya, but I could understand why when I saw how big the actual cabbage roll was when it came out. It may be hard to tell from the picture above, but it is so large that one of these would fill you up if you were not careful.

The cabbage is soaked in the Japanese soup stock, yet it is boiled to the point that it remains crispy, and the minced meat inside is filled with kuwai (dried mullet), which gives it a chewy texture. As you chew, the mild flavor of the mix of Japanese soup stock, cabbage extract, and meat juices is released in a rush……. I can see why this cabbage roll has become a specialty of the restaurant.

I left the restaurant with my stomach and heart filled with the above 10 dishes. Although some items on the menu are more expensive than others, most of the standard oden dishes are about the same price as those at Hanakujira in Fukushima, Osaka, so it is a perfect cosmetic experience. Hopefully, ordering will be a little smoother…it would be better to have some time to spare when visiting this restaurant.

Examples of other menu items at Bengara-ya (prices include tax)

• Whale bacon 1100 yen
• Saba kizushi (mackerel sushi) 660 yen
• Oyster miso nabe 650 yen
• Salted pork 650 yen
• Beef tongue 600 yen
• Marutama-yaki 350 yen
• Gyoza manju (gyoza buns) 350 yen

The oden course is a good deal for two or more people! Access to Bengaraya is a 6-minute walk from the nearest station, Fushimi Momoyama Station on the Keihan Electric Railway Line!

At Bengaraya, course meals can be ordered for parties of two or more…

As you can see in the menu above, this oden course has so much to offer that a lone customer like me would be envious. Isn’t the price 2,420 yen/person (including tax) too good to be true? It seems you can add an all-you-can-drink option for an extra charge, so I think this is the best deal for a drinking party among friends. To order this course, you need to make a reservation at least one day in advance, but in my experience, it is better to make a reservation about a month in advance in effect.

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…

It takes 8 minutes on foot from the neighboring Chushojima Station on the Keihan Electric Railway Line.

P.S. If you are looking for delicious Oden in Kyoto, please stop by this article below…