You know how much I like my powers of observation, right? I always maintained I could spot good places from half a mile away in the dark. As a second place for this evening, I realized that we were just around the corner from a really cool-looking place that I’d been eyeing for years but never found myself in Shibuya of an evening in the right circumstances to visit.
Ku is on the street that I like to think of as “Ikebe Music’s street”, because they have 4 or 5 shops there. The general one is OK and big, but undifferentiated. There’s a drum store, a dedicated amp store, and of course a sweet high-end guitar store. But in between, across from the crappy Chinese place and just down from where someone got her last pair of running shoes, is this place. How cool is this? The low entry, the big slabs of stone, the vegetation, the empty bottles?
Moody lights on the stairs inside, since we were ushered past the nice downstairs counter. They don’t offer hookahs, but they might as well.
Because that ashy taste in your mouth might be better than the boring, crap food here. It’s a darn good thing we were already well into the evening and just wanted to sit and talk.
And it’s certainly a cool place to sit and talk, right? Coming up the stairs, you turn a corner and go past two horikotatsu booths before wobbling down the stairs (your mileage may vary, but I was wobbling) into the other seating area – just another two tables. Congenial, stylish, pleasant.
And not at all recommended.
03-3462-5790
As an aside, look at their gurunabi page. When one of their lead pictures to demo their warez is the mixed dessert plate with happy-birthday chocolate plaque, you know you shouldn’t have high expectations. I can say that with the benefit of hindsight.