On the road again…this time taking the train down to Shibuya to celebrate a last night as a resident of Tokyo before taking up residence at the New Otani. I still can’t believe I stayed at the New Otani.
You’d also think this was the Tozai line, because almost every train trip I’ve taken in my life (by %) started on the Tozai line. But it’s not, it’s the Ginza line. You can tell because the stripe over the door is yellow.
And you should know where this is without asking. Pulling into Shibuya at twilight, seeing the buses, the crowds, getting ready to pick up underage girls at 109 and then drinking until dawn, that’s what it’s all about!
Unless you’re me, and then what it’s all about it meeting Poshand and looking for a place to eat. Someone came later since she was working.
Here it is. I’ve never been a fan of standing and drinking (the two kanji of the sign), and while I’m a fan of DINING, I certainly don’t think standing and dining go together. So I was skeptical. But I liked the back-alley appeal of the place, and it was early so it wasn’t crowded.
Plus it looks pretty stylin’, doesn’t it? They’ve done a thing like at my favorite bar, Fal, where the wood is chipboard, but some stain and varnish and soft lighting makes you think it’s polished oak. And the brassy fittings help.
You know what, maybe they actually made good on it – this looks pretty ‘dining’. I mean, putting some sauce on the sashimi and calling carpaccio is sorta destined to annoy me, but it was good. And macaroni salad is a lame thing to serve, but it was tasty, and that tomato coloring in the mayo is just a little kick. The tuna steak buried under the salad is nicely grill-marked, and the burnt mackerel with the green sauce is really pretty. So yeah, this is pretty cool now that I think of it. Wow, blogging sure can open your horizons.
It looks very dignified and refined at this semi-official link. Not quite THAT good.
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