Dec. 15, 2022 UPDATE
musubi Kyoto – Oden, Tempura and Sake
- おでんと天ぷらとお酒musubi kyoto -Traveler Friendly
Basic English explanations of dishes available
Menu
Japanese
Languages spoken
Japanese
Story & Recommendation
musubi kyoto – a bar offering the tastes of dashi stock and Japanese sake
musubi kyoto offers not only delicious tempura and oden made with fantastic dashi stock but unique and original takes on these Japanese classics too.
Only recently opened in October 2019, the person behind musubi Kyoto is long time Japanese chef Hiroshi Hasegawa.
When Hasegawa decided upon opening a restaurant of his own, he wanted to have the people of the world enjoy the fantastic flavors of dashi soup stock. This led him to opening a restaurant centered around oden, as oden is basically just a dashi stock stew.
The first step to creating food packed with the umami flavors of dashi is being particular with the ingredients. As an example, in order to find the right vegetables, Chef Hasegawa personally visited wholesalers and markets and upon hearing from the farmers themselves, decided whether he would buy from them or not. The result of this plus the painstaking perpetration that follows is an oden that’s packed with flavorful ingredients and umami filled dashi stock.
Another huge draw of musubi kyoto is their original oden.
With dishes such as Daikon and Porcini Mushroom Cream Sauce and konjac and Ground Meat Miso Bolognese, musubi offers a new and exciting sort of oden that combines different elements from Japan’s culture of dashi.
In addition, as the name Oden, Tempura and Sake would suggest, musubi also have another specialty that shows off Chef Hasegawa’s incredible skill, tempura.
Just like the oden, musubi Kyoto uses unique ingredients for their tempura, too, allowing those dining at musubi to enjoy the expectedly different flavors of the ingredients.
Derived from the notion of “connecting people, food and time,” the name musubi comes from the Japanese word musubu, meaning to connect. With a floor space of only around 16 m2, Chef Hasegawa’s considerate and welcoming demeanor is felt throughout the restaurant. Thanks to that warm and welcoming atmosphere, already, only one month after opening, musubi Kyoto is so popular that it already has regulars.
If you’re looking for a cozy, at-home restaurant where you can enjoy the flavors of dashi on your plate and in your food, then musubi Kyoto is for you.
1Recommended
Oden
/ ¥150– (inc. tax) *above is a platter of various oden ingredients
As it is in their name, musubi’s signature dish is as you’d expect, oden.
Oden is a form of Japanese cuisine where different ingredients are stewed in a pot of dashi stock.
Oden contains ingredients such as daikon and egg, as well as konjac, beef tendon and fried tofu. When ordering, from those on offer you choose just the ones you want.
As each painstakingly prepared ingredient soak up the delicate flavors of dashi stock, oden provides umami of both the ingredients themselves and the surrounding dashi stock.
Ordinarily, when ordering oden, you get a few different ingredients. However, if you’ve never tried oden, then classics like daikon, boiled egg, chikuwa fish cakes and konjac are a sure-fire choice.
Whether you’re the type to try a range of ingredients, or just stick with the ones you liked, how you enjoy the delicious flavors of oden and dashi is really up to you.
Oden pairs perfectly with sake as well, so we highly recommend having a glass with your meal.
2Recommended
Daikon and Porcini Mushroom Cream Sauce
/ ¥410 (inc. tax)
The Daikon and Porcini Mushroom Cream Sauce is oden stewed daikon radish covered in a creamy porcini mushroom sauce. The aroma of the porcini mushrooms fills the air the moment the dish hits the table and is nothing if not heartedly appetizing. In addition to the flavors and aromas of the mushrooms, the sauce also contains the sweetness of braised onions and umami of the dashi stock. The sauce is truly the result of capturing and concentrating only the very best elements of each ingredient.
The sauce also contains a hidden ingredient as well, dashi stock. The use of dashi here as well allows the sauce to match exquisitely with the already dashi filled stewed daikon.
Out of all of musubi kyoto’s original oden dishes, this is our particular recommendation.
3Let's Try!
Chicken Tempura
/ ¥870 (inc. tax)
The Chicken Tempura is your classic crispy fried tempura chicken drenched in special musubi kyoto sauce. The thick cuts of meat make for a mountainous dish that scores top points in the satisfying category. The first tempura-fried then again fried chicken has a uniquely thin and crispy batter. Then, after coming out of the fryer, the chicken is doused in a thick, special sauce. The sweet, fragrant sauce and chicken tempura are a match made in heaven and will have you going back for piece after piece.
How to Order
Musubi Kyoto doesn’t have an English menu, so if you can’t read Japanese, please ask the chef what’s on the menu. While Chef Hasegawa isn’t too confident with conversing in English, he will do his best to provide basic explanations of the dishes and ingredients.
Also, as musubi kyoto is entirely run by Chef Hasegawa himself, when busy, there may be a wait for your food. If you can, order some sake and relax with your drink and the food already served while you wait.
- Order Tips -
We highly recommend enjoying your food with a glass of sake. On the restaurant counter are bottles of sake, so if you see one that catches your eye, then definitely let Chef Hasegawa know. You can also ask for recommendations and get the perfect sake for the dish you ordered.
Nothing beats Japanese sake with a plate of oden and tempura!
