Odayasu

Odayasu (小田保) is a Tokyo restaurant brand specializing in tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets) and fried seafood, operated by the private limited company Yugen Gaisha Odayasu. It began trading in 1935, the year the Tsukiji wholesale fish market opened, and built its reputation as a veteran eatery inside the market itself, in the Uogashi Yokocho lane. The name combines 'Odawara-cho', the old name of the Tsukiji district, with the founder's name. Although it is fundamentally a tonkatsu shop, Odayasu is often described as a fried-set-meal restaurant because its menu ranges widely across Japanese and Western-style fried dishes and small plates, using seafood bought fresh in the market. Its signature strength is battered-and-fried market-fresh fish and shellfish, part of the hearty genre known as 'market food' (ichiba-meshi). The shop itself names aji fry, ebi fry, tonkatsu and karaage among its popular items, while media have highlighted other dishes: the Asahi Shimbun has treated crab croquette as a signature, the BS Fuji program 'Ueno Shokudo by dancyu' featured its katsu-ni, and the gourmet outlet Tokyo Main Dish has presented its fugu katsu-don and its winter-only oyster and scallop mix fry. When the Tsukiji market relocated to Toyosu, Odayasu opened a Toyosu branch in the seafood intermediate wholesale building of Block 6, the area with the largest concentration of restaurants, and also opened a second shop at Tsukiji Uogashi, the fresh-produce market in the Tsukiji outer market, in order to keep 'the taste of Odayasu' in Tsukiji. The brand is known for the quality of its frying technique and for drawing a continuous queue until its 13:30 last order, with a clientele that runs from locals to overseas tourists. It is also famous as a shop loved by the professional baseball player Hideki Matsui.

Odayasu traces its origins to 1935 (Showa 10), the year the Tsukiji wholesale fish market opened, when it began operating inside the Tsukiji on-site market. The shop presents itself as a veteran establishment that 'still conveys history today'. Its name was formed by combining Odawara-cho, the old name of the Tsukiji area, with the founder's name. Within the Tsukiji market the shop was located in Uogashi Yokocho. For decades Odayasu served market workers and visitors as a tonkatsu shop that also became known as a fried-set-meal restaurant, offering many Japanese- and Western-style fried seafood dishes and small plates made from ingredients bought in the market. Its particular selling point was frying the market's fresh seafood, a style of substantial 'market food'. Over time it gained a reputation for frying technique and for the queue that formed continuously until its 13:30 last order, attracting both locals and overseas tourists, and it became famous as a shop loved by the professional baseball player Hideki Matsui. A major turning point came with the relocation of the Tsukiji market to Toyosu. Odayasu opened a Toyosu branch in the seafood intermediate wholesale building of Block 6, the block with the largest concentration of restaurants in Toyosu Market. At the same time, in order to keep 'the taste of Odayasu' in Tsukiji, it opened a second shop at Tsukiji Uogashi, the fresh-produce market in the Tsukiji outer market. The brand thus continues to operate in both the new Toyosu market and the old Tsukiji area.

• 1935

  Odayasu begins operating inside the Tsukiji on-site market, the year the Tsukiji wholesale fish market opens.

• Operates for decades in Uogashi Yokocho within the Tsukiji market, building a reputation as a veteran tonkatsu and fried-food shop.

• Opens a Toyosu branch in the seafood intermediate wholesale building of Block 6 after the market relocates from Tsukiji to Toyosu.

• Opens a second shop at Tsukiji Uogashi in the Tsukiji outer market to keep 'the taste of Odayasu' in Tsukiji.

Long-established, market-born tonkatsu and fried-food specialist known for hearty 'market food' and skilled frying, serving locals and tourists in Toyosu and Tsukiji.

• Tonkatsu

• Aji fry

• Ebi fry

• Karaage

• Crab croquette

• Katsu-ni

• Fugu katsu-don

• Oyster and scallop mix fry

1. 1小田保 - Wikipedia (Japanese)ja.wikipedia.org
2. 2Odayasu - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Odayasu official websiteodayasu.net