tokyo food file

grand sumo, grand [stand-up] sake

This reminds me entirely of the old days, watching the rikishi they nicknamed The Wolf – Chiyonofuji – in his up-and-coming ozeki prime, taking on (and getting the better of, even) Wajima and Kitanoumi. 

A glass in my hand, peering up at a screen perched under the ceiling, a guy in a dandruff-spotted black salaryman suit smoking acrid Mild Sevens by my right elbow...

Two differences: the TV here is wide-screen, good- (if not hi-) def; and the sake selection is remarkably sophisticated for this back-street watering-hole.

Oh yes, and Hakuho is a couple of days away [this was last Wednesday] from overtaking Chiyo's postwar record of consecutive wins, which he did on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

another sign that calls to me

白圭 is read as 'hakukei' I believe (and not 'hakkei'). In the big scheme of things that's not important. Nor is the simple bar food and booze supplied in this humble basement tachinomi bar.

It's the sign itself that I like. Simple, direct and to the point, and rendered with the barest hint of a flourish.

I'm not going to say more about this place because it's always crowded enough at the best of times. But if you find your way there, say hello.

For those who don't speak/read Japanese, tachi-nomi literally means "standing drinking" — propping yourself up at the counter (or just against a wall or a pile of crates more often).

Here's a piece I wrote for The Japan Times a few years back on classic and contemporary tachi-nomi.

Here's the beef, in vintage style

Up today in The Japan Times...

The Tokyo Food File focuses on Maruni a stylish little casual stand-up yakiniku joint in Shinbashi. What's great is that a) it's in an 80-year-old converted wooden rice store (surrounded by big bland buildings)... b) the decor inside is hip, modern and slightly tongue (or should that be たん?) in cheek... and c) the upstairs floor has been preserved in its original state, and you can book yourself in for meals of nabe, sukiyaki or shabushabu in full retro glory.

Here are a few more pics...

Outside the front door there are a couple of the giant oil drums in their black-and-red livery — one of them topped with a serious-sized sake barrel. That's because you're here to drink! And to cook up your yakiniku in the grills set into the top of the drums.

 

The black cow is the logo of the main restaurant — which is called Shibaura (after the name of Tokyo's central meat market) in Komazawa. It's wagyu (get it?) You've got to love the puppy-dog-tail coat hangers set into the walls, too!

And this is what it looks like upstairs — as if the 70s (and 80s and 90s and 00s) had never happened...