Simple and modern wine bar Bongout Noh

Here is another wine bar that was opened by an owner of successful Izakaya. Casual, stand-up bars in French bistros have a long tradition, so when the popular Shibuya stand-bar Buchi decided to open a branch featuring wines rather than sake, it kind of made sense. Rather than just serving a handful of snacks to go with their wines, the kitchen here offers nearly 100 different items, with consistently high quality. You can also choose from more than sixty wines, with some twenty by the glass. And the fun keeps going every night till 3am, perfect for late-night clubgoers and other neighborhood nightowls. The wine list comprised of mostly French wine with few others and are reasonably priced, nearly all the wines run between Y2500 and Y4500. Food is priced mostly around 700yen and the menu include various French and French inspired food: duck terrine, zucchini fritters, grilled game bird served with yuzu-kosho and spicy miso, grilled white asparagus, frog's leg,... etc

The decor at Bongout Noh is simple and modern, with a roomy counter bar and a few tables facing floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the street. A couple of corner tables include railings that you can perch on, and if you get tired of standing around there's a full-service dining room in back, with slightly higher (but still very reasonable) prices and an even bigger wine list of over 100 bottles.

Address: 2Fl Miyagi Bldg 1-10-12 Shibuya Shibuya-ku
Website:http://www.gatai-psd.co.jp/noh/

Map:http://www.mapion.co.jp/c/f?uc=1&grp=all&nl=35/39/27.774&el=139/42/35.809&scl=5000&bid=Mlink

Tel: 03-5464-0858

Hour:17:00~27:00

Japanese Izakaya's French sister

"When Tokyo dreams, the city dreams in French"

Japanese admiration and fascination for France can be observed anywhere from the countless posh French restaurants, luxuriously decorated hotel lobby, the Channel and Louis Vuitton flying around Tokyo to the new French-maid fantasy cafe that emerged from Akihabara, an Otaku mecca. Relations between Japan and France have long been friendly, and exchanges take place in a wide variety of fields from politics, economy, art, culture and gourmet.

So it is quite natural that the owners of Izakaya Fujiya, a popular spot for after work salarymen, opened its sister store Winebar Fujiya. 2 years ago, the owners renovated their original liquor shop into a fashionable wine standing bar. It is quite a small pub and it gives off a warm comforting atmosphere. Since it is located just 2 minuites walk from the Shibuya station, there is always a diverse crowd of people.

Although the food, atmosphere, and the crowds are completely different from the original Fujiya Izakaya, one thing that the wine bar and the izakaya have in common is the price. This wine bar Fujiya serves descent wine and delicious appetizers for very reasonable price. Glass wine (300yen~), bottle wine (1300yen~), appetizers such as german potato, cheese plate, prosciutto, italian salad, and stewed pork are all priced 300yen or 400yen, with the exception of Miyazaki Beef Steak 1300yen.

Address: Shibuyaku, Sakuraokacho 2-3

Tel: 03-3461-2128

Hour: Weekday 17:00～23:00 Saturday 17:00～22:00

Recommendation: prosciutto (300yen) , Guinness (550yen), Stewed pork (500yen)
Map:http://www.mapion.co.jp/c/f?uc=1&grp=all&nl=35/39/13.604&el=139/42/17.827&scl=5000&bid=Mlink

A Real Japanese Pub in Shibuya

Vibrant, lively, fun, faddish, crowded, cramped, and busy...the streetwise love it! Shibuya is another shopping and entertainment district situated in the west of Tokyo. Since the emergency of "kogal culture" in the the 1990's, Shibuya, especially center streets and countless department stores, is filled with youngsters. But, here in the Pub Fujiya, you will find good old Shibuya.

Now, if you are up for real Tokyo Shitamachi style bar, and you can forget about all the grossy push attractiveness and stand by salarymen drinking, eating, and communication with Japanese, this is the right place for a visit.

Descending the stairs that leads to the underground floor, you will see the crowd of salary men standing by the counter that surrounds the kitchen. The peices of paper pinned to the wall all around the store are the menu. The menu is large and there is no English translation so it would be wise to bring your Japanse language book to make some order. The menu consists mostly of special of the day, from sashimi, salad, stewed fish to tempura. As for alcohol, they have the usual suspects: beer, sake, shochu, and chu-hai (the shochu cocktails).

When I went with my friend, we ordered a large bottle of sapporo beer (shockingly cheap 450yen), mixed vegetable tempura (200yen), tuna sashimi (350yen), boiled tofu (200yen), fried pork (2ooyen) and walked out satisfied with only 1400yen bill! The food was all freshly cooked in the open kitchen, the portion was impressively big, and the service is very good. No wonder it's the hot spot for afterwork salarymen. It's cheap, tasty, and a lot of fun.

Address: Shibuya Sakuraokacho 2-3 B1F

Tel: 03-3461-2128

Everyday is a fiesta in One Coin Girl's Bar in Shibuya

Maffick One coin Girl's Bar opened in the east of Shibuya station in June, 2006. The interior is decorated gorgeously with red, black and gold as base color with big projector and chandelier (Japanese eternal fascination with chandelier also shows in here) and its theme is fiesta! Despited its fanciness, the bar is a one coin bar, which means that the drinks and food are worth one coin of 500yen coin. While the name is little deceiving since there are, in fact, some drinks and food that are actually priced 1000yen, most of the food and drinks are priced 500yen.
The 500yen food menu consists of standard drinking food: fried chicken, fried caramari, baked potato, steamed clams, ... they would keep your thirst for 500yen cocktails, wine, beer, and schofu for sure.

It's a perfect place to stop by for few drinks and snack to take a break from the busy streets of Shibuya.

Location: Shibuya-ku, Shibuya 2-9-8 Matrix One bldg B1

200yen Draft Beer Anyone?

At Tasuichi, literally meaning "plus one", everyone feels comfortable to ask for plus one of their draft beer. For just being 200 yen, Tasuichi's fresh Kirin draft beer is amazingly cheap and delicious. When you want to drink other drinks, don't be afraid and try their great collection of shochu and sake that are all priced 500 yen.

Tasuichi, a standing sports bar with 200yen beer, 500 yen drinks, and traditional Japanese bar food draws in everyone from Shibuya gals, salary men, couples, and gaijins. Yes, this bar is always packed with foreigners whenever I walk by. This gaijin-friendliness must have something to do with the ¥200 draft beers on the menu and the full-contact sports on the TV...
200 yen beer is truly magnetic for just anybody around.

Aside from traditional Japanese bar food of edamame, tofu, stewed beef and all, Tasuichi is proudly presenting tsukemono -pickled vegetable- from many different regions of Japan. Priced from 300 ~ 400 yen, the pickles are another cheap fun way to taste different regions of Japan.

Location: Shibuya-ku utadagawa 33-14 １F
Website: http://www.tasuichi.co.jp/shibuya.html
Recommendation: 200 yen beer + 300 yen tasuichi tebasaki (buffalo wings) + 400 yen Senmai zuke (Kyoto style pickle)

Map: http://www.mapion.co.jp/c/f?uc=1&grp=all&nl=35/39/27.691&el=139/42/01.018&scl=5000&bid=Mlink

Drinking and Eating for 300 yen in Shibuya

Shortly after my arrival in Tokyo, I learned that Tachinomi -standing bar- has gained quite popularity in Japan. Cheap, casual, fun bar where people don't have to worry about paying for entrance fee or for otoshi ( some izakaya automatically bring a small bowl of appetizer called tsukidashi or otoshi, which are often added to your bill at checkout). It is much like Western drinking pub where one can enjoy going to a pub for just "couple of pints" freely.

Although many of such standing bars have very standard menu of Japanese beer, sake, shochu, and some appetizers, Coins bar in Shibuya has unusually large selection of drinks and food, both Japanese and Western. Olive, edammame, cheese, nachos, kimchi, caesar salad, tsukemono (vegetable pickles), rice balls, dumplings ... the list goes on. The drink menu also include beer, shochu, cocktails, wine, chuhai, and liquors. And just for a reminder, they are all for 300yen.

In the middle of Shibuya, 5 minuites from Shibuya station, this stylish bar equipped with DJ booth serves 300yen quality food and drinks. Open from 16:00 to 23:30, if you can successfuly walk straight to the station at the closing time, you might even get lucky enough to catch the last train home! Or you can wonder off into the crazy streets of Shibuya for more fun.

Location: Shibuyaku, utadagawa-cho, 36-1 Noa shibuya bldg B1F
Website: http://www.suntory.co.jp/gourmet/shop/0334633039/index.html

Map: http://www.mapfan.com/index.cgi?MAP=E139.42.1.0N35.39.32.0&ZM=9