Meizanbori umeya — Restaurant in Kagoshima

I have had a lot of oden in my life. I never thought I would ever see olive oil and black pepper added to it and the result was surprisingly good. I also never thought I would ever get to try avocado oden. I was skeptical initially but thought I should give it a try. While I was not blown away by the result, it was nonetheless very interesting and an admirable attempt at creativity with a dish that has traditionally admitted little variation or creativity.

Creativity and freshness of ingredients are the name of the game here. The olive oil and the black pepper used in the dishes were all top notch. The black pepper was clearly not what you can get from a supermarket. You could clearly taste it even among other ingredients in the konjac noodles dish. The dashi was also outstanding. The flavor was subtle but you could tell it was very well made. It is not as sweet as the dashi usually used in oden. Other worthwhile mentions include the chicken meatballs, the chicken gizzard, and beef tendon. The latter two were the most tender I have ever tasted in an oden.

But what was the most surprising of the evening was the claypot rice with saury. The saury was so fresh and the dish had the perfect balance of flavor. Not to mention that the rice was very well cooked. I think every table around us ordered it and it should not be missed.

The last thing to mention was the decor. It was simple but atmospheric. It was dark when we went and so I could not see clearly. But I think the restaurant was located in a traditional Japanese house.

One of the previous reviews mentioned that they suspected they were overcharged. We spent all evening guessing how much the bill would come to. We guessed around ¥20,000 given the amount of food we ordered. We ordered close to 20 dishes. Some of them were not shown in the photos. But it only came up to ¥11,030. It was the best meal we have ever had in Japan in terms of price-cost performance. They could have easily charged me 50% more and I would have been happy with the meal. So if anything, I think they undercharged me. I did wonder if that previous reviewer had missed the ¥500 per person cover charge. But then a ¥1,000 discrepancy hardly warrants the outrage expressed in that review.

For those of you who have cross checked their score on Tabelog and were a bit put off by the 3.2, I honestly don't know the explanation for it. But this place deserves at...

Oden is not something I'm familiar with as a tourist and our experience dining here may mean that I'm forever spoiled for what it should be like. Fantastic food, served beautifully in a modest setting by the lovely hosts. We also had a chance to sample the local Kagoshima spirits and they were excellent. Beautiful food, beautiful setting, excellent hosts, far more than we were expecting in this area. Long may they delight.

Language may be difficult for foreigners, we were able to get by with rudimentary words and a translation service. Don't be deterred, just go in respectfully...

Many locals in this oden shop and the ambiance is full of warmth. I purposely paid a visit as I heard so much good reviews on their food. Indeed, the avocado oden is to die for and black pork shabu is tender and flavorful. Radish is juicy and soft which is comforting in this chilly weather. The shop owner and waitress are kind and patient. Despite my broken Japanese, we managed to make some conversations. They really made my day and I feel lucky to dine in this humble izakaya.

Reservations are recommended as they can go full...