Hyperlocal Tokyo

I returned from Shimonoseki today. I missed lunch and came all the way to Haneda, so I decided to have dinner at the airport. The first terminal I arrived at didn't have any restaurants I wanted to go to... so I took the free bus to the third terminal. **Ogura Haneda Airport Branch**🍢 This is a famous oden restaurant in Ginza. I had been planning to go to the Ginza branch someday, and then I found out they had one at Haneda Airport! I was immediately seated at the counter. The oden was right in front of me. There were various set menus, but since it was my first time, I went for something simple. I ordered the 7-item oden and dashi tea-rice set (¥1,750 excluding tax). Other options included this set plus sashimi or tempura. The rice was tea-rice. The oden ingredients vary depending on the day. On this day, it was daikon radish, chikuwa, thick fried tofu, red konjac, egg, fish paste, and wakame seaweed. There was also udonohana (dried pea flowers) and kinpira (stir-fried vegetables)... I thought this was a drinking menu, so I added a shochu water. I started with the oden, taking small bites. Ah, the gentle broth is the best. It's so comforting. The udonohana and kinpira were also perfectly seasoned. I ate a little bit of rice, but I had to save some for the dashi tea-rice at the end. Ah, this was a truly satisfying set meal. I was quite full, so I might not have been able to finish another dish. The marinated tuna and namero (a type of fish paste) were tempting, though. One thing I noticed was the service. Or rather, the movement of the floor staff. They were facing away from customers, so they didn't notice them coming in, and they didn't notice when the food was ready, so the service was slow. I thought they would never get away with this at the main branch... I watched them with that in mind. This kind of thing is becoming more common these days. Maybe it's unavoidable due to staff shortages. The third terminal has a lot of shops, and there's also the Airport Garden I went to last time, so I want to go to various places.

It was the middle of the Obon holiday season. I imagined the domestic terminal would be packed. Just an assumption. I thought the international terminal, Terminal 3, might be less crowded. I had a set of oden. I thought it would be piping hot, but it wasn't that hot, just right. I especially loved the daikon radish. It wasn't the soft, melt-in-your-mouth kind you get from street vendors, but it was firm and the broth had soaked all the way through. It was delicious. The other ingredients were good too. I think it's reasonably priced for an airport, so I'd like to come back again.

I visited for dinner on a holiday. I ordered a set meal with seven types of oden and dashi tea rice. The oden broth was flavorful and the large ingredients were very light and delicious, with a satisfying amount of food. The rice is delicious plain or as dashi tea rice. The oden has a wide variety of options and can be enjoyed individually as well.

I ordered a selection of oden and a bowl of chazuke (tea rice). The food was average, but I found the staff's service lacking in several ways. 1. When serving the oden, a floor staff member's finger dipped into the broth (twice). 2. When a customer showed signs of leaving, the staff would quickly prepare to clear the table. While not necessarily a bad thing, approaching the table as the customer was heading for the cashier felt rushed and uncomfortable. 3. When clearing the table, the staff would bring chopsticks and a hand towel. They would then place these items on the chair, clear the dishes, and wipe the table. Finally, they would pick up the chopsticks and hand towel from the chair. This might be an efficient operation for the restaurant, but it made me feel uneasy knowing that the chopsticks, which had been placed on the chair (where someone had just sat), were going to be used by other customers. 4. A customer at the next table ordered unagi (eel) donburi. A male staff member in the kitchen exclaimed "Unagi donburi?!" and looked at the customer who had ordered it. Overall, I didn't feel comfortable with the service and was disappointed. I might forget about this experience, but I doubt I'll return.

I visited around 1 pm on a Sunday, after the lunch rush had subsided. The daikon radish and yuba oden were delicious, with a flavorful broth that had soaked into the ingredients. The dashimaki tamago (rolled omelet) served at oden shops was also very tasty, with a slightly sweet flavor that complemented the broth. However, the staff seemed to be mostly young students working part-time, and they started talking about taking a break right in front of us while we were eating at the counter. They even chose oden ingredients for their meal in front of us, chatting with each other like, "○○-chan, what are you going to eat?" It was a bit too casual. Later, when we ordered a piece of anago (conger eel) tempura, the person preparing it (another young part-timer) looked extremely annoyed. I wanted to say, "There are customers right in front of you, you know!" On top of that, the anago tempura was not good at all. The batter was hard, the fish was thin, and it had a strange sweetness. I regretted ordering it. The oden was delicious at first, but the experience was disappointing overall. The service was also disappointing.