I always make it a point to go to Haneda airport in plenty of time before my flights in order to enjoy oden and dashi-chazuke at Ginza Ogura 銀座 おぐ羅.

This is another type of Japanese cuisine less recognised by foreigners.  Ginza Ogura only serves oden – fish cakes and vegetables slowly braised in the finest dashi broth. The umami from the broth is in every one of the oden item – be it daikon (radish), tamago (boiled egg), tsumire (sardine meatball), konnyaku or chikuwa (tubular fish cake).

Their honten (original store) is in Ginza, but luckily for us we can enjoy the same quality in this store in Haneda airport, and unlike typical airport restaurants, they are priced the same as the downtown store.

煮穴子一本天ぷらとおでん盛りのだし茶漬け御膳

Fried whole conger eel and oden set

茶飯お櫃ご飯・煮穴子一本天ぷら・おでん７品盛り・小鉢２品・漬物・薬味３種・おぐ羅のだし・デザート

If you have never tried dashi-chazuke だし茶漬け before, it is the comfort food for Japanese, equivalent to chicken noodles for the Westerners. You start by putting some of the rice into the bowl, pick your favourite topping, and then pour the hot soup onto the rice and topping. Each set comes with tsukemono (pickled vegetables) such as pickled cucumber, takuan (pickled radish), and umeboshi (sour plum), and tsukudani (pickled nori) and arare (rice crackers) for added crunch.

7 items of Oden おでん７品盛り

(from top clockwise) だいこん radish, わかめ wakame seaweed, 玉子 egg, 大玉 fried fish cake, こんにゃくkonnyaku, 厚揚げ deep fried tofu,  (middle) ちくわ chikuma fish cake.

Oden, for the unaccustomed, looks like a plate of very bland boiled food. Unfortunately I have had it like that, but when it’s good it is absolutely delicious. The stock is the best part of the meal, and you can ask for a refill (of the soup) if you want.

Deep fried anago 煮穴子一本天ぷら

And with this premium set, you get a large piece of anago tempura. While they specialise in oden, their tempura is very good too.

If you happen to have a flight from Haneda airport, come earlier. This place is in the Edo Walk on the upper floor before immigration. It is open 24 hours and you can eat heart warming chazuke for breakfast or light snack before the flight. Usually there is no line but food is very good. You should not miss trying this restaurant especially during the winter season, when the oden can really warm the cockles of your heart.

Ginza Ogura Haneda 銀座 おぐ羅羽田国際空港店
〒144-0043 東京都 大田区 羽田空港 2 6 5 東京国際空港国際線ターミナル4階
Tel : 03-5755-9920

Date Visited : Sep 2019