Buzz
Despite the awareness that the water pot at Otafuku restaurant in Tokyo has been continuously simmering for decades, patrons still eagerly flock to savor its essence.
Otafuku Restaurant's Enduring Tradition of Boiling Water for 74 Years
Otafuku Restaurant, located at 3F Nakaden building, 1-2-6 Hanakawado, Taito-ku Tokyo. Open from 17:00 to 23:00 on weekdays, with extended hours from 12:00 to 14:00 on weekends and holidays, closed on Mondays.
Originally founded in Osaka and later relocated to Tokyo around 1945, the restaurant boasts 50 seats, with meal prices starting from 3,000 yen (approximately 650,000 VND) and a la carte set menus priced at 5,400 yen (over 1.1 million VND).
The main oden dishes include vegetables, seafood, tofu, makiyuba (fried tofu rolls), shinodamaki (a crispy mix of meat, vegetables, and fish wrapped in fried tofu), ganmodoki (fried vegetable and tofu balls)... Additionally, patrons can indulge in various fish and meat dishes, including whale meat.
With a history spanning over a century, Otafuku Restaurant stands as Tokyo's most ancient oden eatery. This establishment has been open since the Meiji era (1868 – 1912), and the chefs have a unique practice of never discarding the broth. Instead, they pour out the broth for nightly cleaning, then refill the pot, sealing it until the next morning. This broth, left at room temperature, has been in use since 1945, as the original copper pot was lost that year.
In reality, broth can retain its rich flavor if chefs know the proper preservation techniques. Some restaurants in China also claim to possess broth pots that have been preserved for centuries, passing from one generation to the next. However, this information is unverified, whereas Otafuku's broth pot history is well-documented.
By Monster
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Reference: Travel guide by Mytour
MytourOctober 30, 2023
