Late-Night Oden on Shaanxi Road South: Sake Ichi Oden Recreates Tokyo Alley Vibes with $30 Highballs
Sake Ichi Oden, located on Shanghai's Shaanxi Road South, specializes in chicken broth oden, ramen and tsukemen, with highballs starting at 30 RMB. Open until the early hours, it sits right next to the Jinxian Road bar strip.
It's 10pm, and this spot on the corner of Shaanxi Road South is still glowing with warm yellow light. Steam billows up behind the wooden bar counter, and pots of broth simmer away with a steady bubble. The window seats face straight into the open kitchen, and on warmer nights, a few small tables get set up right on the sidewalk outside—less "restaurant," more like a street stall lifted straight out of some late-night Tokyo alley. This is Sake Ichi Oden, a Japanese eatery centered on chicken broth oden, ramen, and tsukemen.
The house specialty is oden, and the broth takes time to make: a dozen-plus vegetables, kombu, and bonito flakes are simmered into a stock first, then chicken bones are added and slow-cooked for hours, resulting in a milky-white chicken broth that's rich yet somehow still tastes clean. Individual items start at 10 RMB, with chicken, seafood, vegetables, meats, and tofu all available to mix and match, and a choice of chicken broth or the plain stock base.
A few things worth ordering: the soft chicken meatballs (18 RMB), roasted chicken skin (15 RMB), and the bouncy fish roll stuffed with melted mozzarella (18 RMB). The rice cake pouch (15 RMB)—tofu skin wrapped around chewy, sticky rice cake—shouldn't be skipped either. For something more upscale, the menu also offers foie gras (38 RMB) and snow crab legs (35 RMB) as add-ons. If picking your own feels like too much effort, there's a "blind box" option—5 items for 68 RMB or 8 for 98 RMB—with a random mix of meat, vegetables, and other ingredients that changes daily.
For those after carbs, the tsukemen (58 RMB) comes with a choice of spicy or non-spicy dipping sauce, both concentrated enough to really make their presence known. The spicy version has more depth—savory, punchy, with a lingering finish. There's also a seasonal chicken and spring bamboo shoot ramen (78 RMB) currently on the menu, its broth an amped-up version of the oden chicken stock. The pickled bamboo shoots are crisp and well-seasoned, and the noodles come topped with char siu and slow-cooked chicken breast—the chicken breast so tender it actually outshines the char siu. There's also plenty for drinking snacks: wagyu short ribs (78 RMB) and stir-fried chicken gizzards (38 RMB) both make the cut, with the gizzards fried up crisp and heavy on dried chili aroma—perfectly built for pairing with a drink.
Highballs from 30 RMB—this is really the point
The highballs here run on a whisky base, with a flavor lineup that's almost absurdly extensive: sparkling coconut water, roasted sesame, cocoa nibs with orange bitters, shiso peach, and even green tea. Prices start at 30 RMB, and each one comes served in a full pint glass. The tomato flavor (42 RMB) and ginger flavor (38 RMB) are both worth trying, but if you'd rather not gamble, the classic original at 30 RMB is a safe bet.
Sake Ichi Oden stays open until the early hours, right next to Jinxian Road, the bar-packed street it borders. For a late-night bowl of hot soup to line the stomach or just a stop on a bar crawl, it's a convenient option along the way, and takeout works too. On a nice night, grab a small table out front, order a few snacks with a tomato highball, and watch the street go by—that's about as straightforward a way to use this place as any.
