Goodbye, Bengal.

For all its focus on the newest anime and latest electronics, Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood also has a lot of local history. Sadly, a tasty piece of that history is disappearing, with the news that an Akihabara curry restaurant that’s been in business for 50 years will be filing for bankruptcy.

Bengal was officially founded in 1973 and started serving customers at its Akihabara curry restaurant in 1974, while also operating as a spice wholesaler. It was in business for so long that eventually the owners of the building that Bengal was a tenant in decided to demolish the structure, so Bengal ended up relocating to another location in the neighborhood.

▼ Bengal’s original (left) and new (right) locations

▼ A video taken at Bengal’s original location showing its interior, food, and happy customers

However, things haven’t gone well for Bengal since the move. The new location is larger than the old one, and with that came higher rent, as well as higher labor costs as the restaurant expanded its staff post-move. Then came the pandemic, which hit Bengal hard. Though the company’s restaurant sales have been slowly recovering, the rebound hasn’t been swift or substantial enough to offset the company’s losses, and its spice wholesale business hasn’t bounced back in any significant way.

▼ Some plates of Bengal curry

Since November 30, the shutter has been closed at Bengal’s entrance, with a written notice posted that says “Due to circumstances, we will be temporarily closed today.” It now looks like the “temporary” part of that is going to become “permanent,” as on December 18, Bengal received authorization from Tokyo District Court to begin bankruptcy proceedings.

According to the filing, Bengal has 40 million yen (approximately US$258,000) in debt owed to 19 different creditors, and with so much money due to so many different people, it’s unlikely that a settlement that saves the restaurant, in its current form, is going to be worked out.

It’s a disheartening turn of events for fans of curry in general and Bengal in particular, but there is, perhaps, a small ray of hope in that Bengal’s bankruptcy doesn’t seem to have been the result of people not liking the restaurant’s curry. Instead, it looks like the problem was a combination of an overly ambitious expansion, the widespread restaurant industry downturn of an unexpected global pandemic, and an over-reliance on strong performance from its spice wholesale operations. Considering that curry itself remains extremely popular in Japan, both with locals and inbound foreign tourists (of which Akihabara has no shortage), perhaps there’s a chance for Bengal to come back with a new, more modestly sized Akihabara eatery, without the spice wholesale side business.

For now, though, it looks like the end of Bengal’s 50-year run of serving up curry in Akihabara, in yet another reminder that if there’s a restaurant you love, it’s important to support it.

Source: Yahoo! Japan News/Teikoku Databank via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Bengal
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