Oyakodon comes with miso soup for 300 yen. The restaurant in Kamata, Tokyo, is about 5 tatami mats in size. If you observe from a fixed point, you will see that the customers in the back leave before the customers in the front go outside... The authentic Vietnamese restaurant in Asakusa is about 13.2 square meters. Customers come to eat rare dishes. The small size is also the charm of the restaurant. Customers are close to each other, become friendly, and share dishes. The yakiniku restaurant in Kanda is 7.2 square meters, about 13.2 square meters. Customers eat standing around a table. The yakiniku platter includes six types of A5-grade beef rib roast, beef tongue, and fillet for 1,000 yen. With only two charcoal grills, even first-time customers can have a lively conversation, and in the 15 years since the restaurant opened, more than 300 couples have been formed. ■ A "big dream" packed into a small restaurant A three-minute walk from Kamata Station. "Oyakodon Yamaka 1" opened a year and a half ago. The restaurant is small, only 9.2 square meters, about 13.2 square meters. The seating is like a shelf about 10cm wide set up on the wall. Why would anyone bother to come to such a small restaurant... Customer: "300 yen is cheap." "I can't believe I can eat such a delicious oyakodon for 300 yen." This super cheap oyakodon costs just 500 yen. The owner had a big secret dream to serve it in such a small restaurant. The restaurant is barely big enough for one person to stand in front of the counter. It's also difficult to get to the seats in the back. This situation happened every day. During the meal, the phone rings and the customer heads outside. The man near the entrance goes outside. The hot food is served to the table, and while he is eating, the customer from earlier returns. The man goes outside again, still holding the bowl in his hand. To get to the seats in the back, you need the help of other customers. The reason customers come despite all that is because of the 300 yen oyakodon topped with a soft-boiled egg. Don't be fooled by the super cheap price, the eggs are fluffy as if they contain air, and melt in your mouth. The meat is infused with the flavor of the dashi, making it soft and sweet without being cloying. The sweetness that captivates customers is not cloying. The secret lies in the soy sauce. Oyakodon Yamaka 1 Owner Daijiya Takuya (47) "Our soy sauce is a sweet soy sauce made in Usuki, Kyushu (Oita Prefecture)." We don't use mirin, but finish it with sweet soy sauce and sugar, which gives it a sweetness that doesn't linger. We simmer the chicken in the dashi and quickly cook it with two eggs. The fluffy eggs and the moderately sweet oyakodon are complete. The price is set at 300 yen so that even pensioners can easily enjoy it, but... Daijiya: "We're in the red. (The rent) is expensive. We don't use it, but we have a second floor." He says that the rent is the same as a restaurant with more than twice the seating. Despite this, the room on the second floor is not being used. In fact... Daijiya: "We have a ticket machine... High prices and other factors have widened the gap between rich and poor, and there are children who cannot eat. I would like to eventually start an activity where they can eat (for free) on the second floor." The owner is looking for supporters and aims to realize a "children's cafeteria." The "extremely small" restaurant is filled with a passionate desire for the children of the future. ■ In an "extremely small" place... the reason for the increase in the menu Next, we went to Asakusa, Tokyo, a place bustling with tourists. Authentic is a Vietnamese restaurant located in the "Asakusa Underground Mall" directly connected to the subway. This is also an "extremely small" restaurant with less than 13 square meters, but... Customer: "Fresh spring rolls and fried spring rolls" "Green papaya and carp shrimp" "Lemongrass minced meat rice" One after another, authentic Vietnamese dishes are ordered. There are as many as 40 different items on the menu. We will investigate why the menu is so rich because of the restaurant's "extremely small size." A first-time customer said, "When I drank it, it was very thick, and I've never had anything like it before." This is a dish from southern Vietnam that is rarely seen in Japan. The soup is made with purple yam. The purple yam, which is imported from Miyakojima, Okinawa, is characterized by its strong color and viscosity. It is diluted with whole chicken soup. The texture is somewhere between taro and yam, with a gentle chicken soup seasoned with salt and pepper. The most popular dish is the classic Vietnamese dish, pho. The soup is made from a whole chicken and topped with multiple herbs such as basil and mint. Vietnamese noodles are characterized by being slightly flat. The chef is Asami Nakatsuka. Currently, she runs the restaurant alone because the space is small. When I entered the kitchen, the space to move around was only about half a tatami mat, and it was all I could do to turn my body, but the small size of the kitchen was also a reason for the 40 different dishes they make. Nakatsuka said, "Customers ask me, 'Why don't you just serve pho?' but there's nowhere to put it. I keep it in the refrigerator at home and bring it over periodically." In addition, ingredients and seasonings are purchased in bulk. Therefore, if there is only one dish on the menu, there will be an imbalance between items that go down quickly and items that go down slowly, which leads to waste. By increasing the number of menu items, this problem was solved. On the other hand, there are also benefits to the small size. Customers share dishes and interact with each other even though they have never met before. Nakatsuka said, "The distance between us is small, so we can talk. Customers can become friends with each other. They get excited. I think that's really fun." A restaurant where you can enjoy authentic Vietnamese cuisine. The interaction between customers that comes from the small size is also an essential part of the taste. ■Super cheap A5 Wagyu beef...the miracle of a small charcoal grillRokkakai is a stand-up yakiniku restaurant that opened 15 years ago. This place is also only 7.2 square meters, about 4 tatami mats, but customers come one after another and it is packed to the brim. The target is A5 rank Wagyu beef at an astonishing price. In this "extremely small" yakiniku restaurant, a small charcoal grill has produced many miracles. It was a little after 7pm, and there were five customers in suits sitting around a table. Customer: "(Q. What kind of group are you?) We're not a group. We're all alone." There were two charcoal grills in the restaurant. The customers shared these with each other. What we were eating was a yakiniku platter. It included six cuts, including A5 rank rib roast, beef tongue, and kainomi, which is similar to fillet, and cost just 1,000 yen. And then there was veal thymus, often used in French cuisine. How on earth can A5 rank Wagyu beef be offered so cheaply? Rokkakai Group Owner Chef Hayato Morita (45) "We partnered with a farm and started with two cows, but now we have over 500." He entrusts his own cows to a farm in Kyushu, greatly cutting costs. In addition, he buys the "leftovers" of the meat that he wholesales to high-end restaurants in the chain. He buys the parts that are not used there. The restaurant is packed from early on in search of the best meat at a bargain price. On this day, 10 people gather around two charcoal grills. The result is... The waiter: "Excuse me. I'll get some sauce." Instead of the waiter who can't move, the customers do an unexpected "bucket relay." And... The waiter: "I'll get an empty bottle. I'll get two more." Without being told by anyone, he hands over a new bottle of sake from the case. Just like a waiter. It seems like it would be difficult to enter unless you're a regular customer, but this woman was visiting for the first time, and alone. In that case, something like this can happen. Regular customer: "I got married here." The owner, Mr. Morita, has been invited to many weddings between customers he met here. Since opening in 2009, he says that over 300 couples have been born here. Mr. Morita says, "Through communication like, 'The meat is grilling,' some people have found jobs and others have even gotten married. It's great that everyone can communicate over a small charcoal grill." The meat is used up on the same day, so be aware that it may sell out late in the day! [TV Asahi News] https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp