A laaate lunch put me in mind of these places in the basement of the building across the street that stay open all hours. They’re ‘tea rooms’, or kissa, as you like, and this looked like the most likely contender – at least on the smokey atmosphere dimension.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t smoke and I don’t want to smell like smoke. I don’t even think anyone here was smoking, but after less than 30 minutes inside, I managed to come out smelling like I had been.
I wish I knew what it is about these places that appeals so much to the Japanese character. There were plenty of customers (this is after 3 PM), and a steady stream of leavers and comers. All ages, business people, civilians.
You know the weirdest thing about this place? The thoroughness with which I enjoyed my lunch. That’s a ‘hamburg sand’, meaning two tiny, oddly-flavored beef patties (hmmm, maybe not all beef in retrospect) with various sauces, on white bread. The a bowl of mixed salads, tuna and egg. And canned fruit. Geez, this is all childhood comfort food for me (minus the white bread, which I didn’t eat then and still think is weird now). No wonder I liked it.
Decent value too. Weird.
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Sometimes when you were young and went out to eat in a restaurant, you asked for a special treat – meaning could you have your sandwich on white bread. Occasionally that happened!!!