Benten no Sato Reopening in 2023

Benten no Sato, a popular restaurant in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture, was once revered as a “paradise of egg on rice”. Although the restaurant was regrettably closed at the end of August 2022, it was renovated and revived on July 1 of the following year.

When I visited the restaurant five years ago, I was shocked to find that the all-you-can-eat raw egg set meal was available for only 450 yen, and it left a very good impression in my memory. When I heard that the restaurant had been revived, I knew I wanted to go back, didn’t I? So, one holiday morning, I went to the new Benten no Sato, which had reopened one year after its reopening. I will slowly introduce what the new Benten no Sato is like…

There are some changes from the previous restaurant… The new Benten no Sato is a restaurant like this…

Now, there are some changes from the previous Benten no Sato. First, the hours of operation. The new store is only open for lunch on weekends, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, which makes it a much more difficult place to visit than the old one, which was open from 9:00 a.m. on weekdays. Well, we should be thankful that it is back. In fact, there is a sign at the entrance of the restaurant that says “Due to staff shortage…” It must be very difficult to keep the restaurant open. I hope that they will continue to operate, even if it is only for a short period of time.

Next, let’s talk about the main dish, the egg and rice set meal. This set meal used to cost 450 yen including tax, but the price has almost doubled to 890 yen. However, whereas in the past only the raw egg was refillable, the current set meal allows refills of rice in addition to the raw egg, so for those who like to have multiple refills of rice, I would say that it is even more cost-effective. There is also a change in the soy sauce used for tsukkakegohan (TKG), but I will tell you about that later, so please continue reading the article…

Before the opening of the new Benten no Sato on a certain weekend, here’s what the queue looked like…

I arrived at the new Benten no Sato around 10:00 AM one weekend morning. I had in my mind that the restaurant would open at 9:00 a.m. before closing time, so I went there to have a TKG for brunch.

To my surprise, there were already three people in line ahead of me, all of whom had brought their own portable chairs and looked like they were ready to wait for an hour. Even I, with my stubbornness, couldn’t go this far. Not only that, but I could tell that the customers shopping at the neighboring store were also closely monitoring the line. In fact, as soon as 10:30 a.m. arrived, everyone started lining up at once, and the line quickly grew to over 20 people long.

However, on this particular day, the restaurant was very accommodating and opened its doors at 10:40, much earlier than the official opening time. There is a counter at the back of the restaurant where we pay our bill and receive our set meals before moving to our seats (no advance seating allowed). There are 24 seats for customers at tables only (all sharing seats). Customers who miss the first round are supposed to wait in line from the counter along the left wall of the restaurant, and as soon as a seat becomes available, the first customer in line pays the bill and takes his/her seat with the set meal. There is room for about 12-13 people in line inside the restaurant, so if there is a line outside the restaurant, you should be prepared for a significant wait at that point.

The price has doubled, but… how was the new Benten no Sato egg and rice set meal when you tried it?

Let me introduce you to the new Benten no Sato egg and rice set meal (price: 890 yen including tax). Here is the image…

One set includes rice, miso soup, two pieces of fried chicken and kelp tsukudani. Apart from this…

Three folate eggs, Mizuho Farm’s signature product, are included. These eggs are said to contain 2.5 times more folic acid than eggs sold in supermarkets. The more you eat, the more you recover from fatigue. Isn’t that wonderful?

I cracked these eggs to make TKG! But the shells of these eggs are very hard…it is quite difficult to break them. The hardness of the shell also shows the condition of the hen that laid the eggs. Even though it is an all-you-can-eat raw egg, I think the quality of the eggs is unquestionably high.

Now, let me introduce one more thing that has changed in the new Benten no Sato egg and rice set meal. The soy sauce used for seasoning. There used to be three kinds of soy sauce on the table: normal, garlic flavored, and sansho flavored, but now There is only one type of soy sauce. In addition, there was sesame oil on the table, which I did not know how to use at first. When I saw this, I was a little disappointed too, thinking, “Hmmm, no change in flavor…”…

I saw another customer put sesame oil in the beaten egg, so I tried it myself! It was the biggest surprise of the day. In addition to the rich flavor of the original folate egg, the savory aroma of sesame oil wafted through the air… I knew I had to try this at home! I thought.

Refills of rice and eggs are available as soon as the bowl is brought to the counter (specify the desired number of eggs to be refilled). In the end, I consumed 5 bowls of rice and 7 folate eggs in this one meal. I think the cost was probably higher than the previous egg rice set meal… So, for those who love TKG and are big eaters, I highly recommend the egg rice set meal at Benten no Sato!

Other menu items at Benten no Sato (prices include tax)

• Miso soup refill 50 yen
• Refill of fried chicken (2 pieces) 150 yen
• 3 kinds of condiments (shichimi paste, garlic chili pepper, garlic yuzu kosho) 100 yen
• Chicken Soboro (minced chicken) 100 yen
• Korean seaweed 100 yen
• Folic acid egg mayonnaise 50 yen

Folic acid eggs can be purchased at the store next door…To get to Benten no Sato, take the Hankyu Bus No. 126, Higashi Nose Line, bound for Kibogaoka 4-chome, from Hankyu Ikeda Station on the Hankyu Takarazuka Line, get off at Maki bus stop, and walk 6 minutes.

Next to Benten no Sato, the parent company Mizuho Farm has a store (Mizuho Farm Nishibetsuin Branch), where folate eggs used in the egg and rice set meal can be purchased. They contain 2.5 times more folic acid than regular eggs, making them an efficient way to consume nutrients that are often lacking in our daily diet. Several kinds of soy sauces for egg rice are also available, so you can recreate the same quality of egg rice at home. Since you have come all the way out here, why not take home a variety of foods, including folic acid eggs?

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…