Tokyo Izakaya : Daitoryo

Welcome to another round of good drinks... Okachimachi (Tokyo)
You find everything you need between Okachimachi and Akihabara...
We'll not be reviewing all of Tokyo's casual bars, but this one was also an interesting example in the field of good affordable spots for a few drinks. Believe it or not, it's again in the Ueno and Okachimachi sector. But anywhere you dig in Tokyo there's an unlimited pool of noteworthy eateries, and it's no surprise that the Michelin guide has awarded so many stars in Tokyo (even if we're obviously not dealing with the same category of restaurant in these stories).
Apart from the noisy shopping alleys of Ameyoko, Okachimachi is also where you find an atypical depato (department store) with lots of good deals : Takeya is spread on several builldings east of the Yamanote line, easily recognizable because the main building is purple from bottom to top. A bit messy at first glance, it has almost everything you can need and countless clerks will help you locate the right building or story for your intended purchase. I went there to buy a couple of Japanese saws which I've been using regularly for years in the countryside. There's something with a japanese saw, you have a hard time using another type of saw after you tried one once : is it because of the unique mixed-teeth design or the patented hardness of the Japanese steel, I don't know, but you can saw wood like you would cut into butter with these tools. With their frail appearance, flexible thin blade and their old-style rattan handle you wouldn't suspect what a terrific job they can do including on relatively thick trees. I usually buy double-edge Ryoba-type (両刃) saws. I tried to buy some on amazon.co.jp as the prices are good too but for some reason they don't ship the saws out of Japan, even though they're very easy to ship as they're light and the blade can be taken apart from the handle.
Takeya had like I expected some good deals and I stocked, buying two saws at 1350 Yen apiece. I later bought another model in Tokyu Hands, Tokyu Hands being another specialty depato located in Shibuya.

The long sitting bar at Daitoryo There's another thing that explains the high number of tachinomis and izakayas in a particular neighborhood like Ueno and Okachimachi : the proximity of a large train station. It happens that Ueno is a major train hub in Tokyo and that's why there are a lot of standing bars or izakayas like this one, which by the way looks much like a standing-only tachinomi turned into a sitting izakaya bar : same order and proportions, just that seats have been added to make patrons more comfortable. Workers and employees go en masse to these bars in the evening before taking their train home, and because the station is nearby they can calculate their stay so as to enjoy the bars to the very end. That's also coincidently near these major train stations that you will find the famous capsule hotels, as they were set up there mostly to house the salarymen who missed their last train home because they overstayed in their tachinomi or izakaya. By staying in these cheap capsules, they could recover from their excesses and be back at work the next day without problem. See this page about one such capsule hotel which is located near Shinjuku, another major train hub of Tokyo. Pouring This time, it's a fully mixed-gender venue, one where you can bring your mate without imposing her the rude ways of these standing-only tachinomya where she would follow you reluctantly and thinking this is the last time she yields to your bachelor's ways. Here you can have a conversation, I mean it's no less noisy than the standing-only, but you're relaxing on your seat and not in the situation where you're virtually ready to leave at the second. Here, the world makes a pause and your horizon may be more gentler than running after the last train...
I didn't pay attention to what the waiter was pouring to this couple next to us here, but I don't think it was just cold water.... Kei and Mao we really a good star that evening because we had for table neighboors this young couple who was very friendly to us : Kei heard us speaking French and began the conversation, he had been living one year in Creteil near Paris when he was younger and he was speaking quite good French, which helped us break the ice although B. and our friend Mamada could exchange in Japanese if needed. His French was very useful in his job, he said, as he was working in a company in the area, which is dealing with jewelry and accessories. This company was sourcing its items in France and Italy and his fluency in both languages gave him leverage. He gave us some of the grilled Japanese sausage and it was delicious. All the while around us there was lots of laugh and noise with all the patrons including the salarymen having fun.
As you can see Kei and Mao were having a mug of this green drink called Aojiru, shame on me again for not having tried that (even though I may find it sommewhere in Paris I guess). I wonder if the success of Aojiru in Japan is somehow related to the health worries linked to the Fukushima consequences. Tripes in Japan At one point we ordered a plate of tripes, something I'm particularly fond of. That's quite funny to find this dish in Japan, I'd have thought it difficult to find out of France or at least out of Mediteranean Europe. There was sake to go with it, but to my shame I didn't take the pain to ask Mamada what we ordered. Just one thing, we had a good time drinking it and everything was fine (the ultimate tasting note, isn't it ?). The only one I have a trace of is this Sawanotsuru (pictured on left) which comes from Kobe, and this is because I shot a picture its nice small bottle...
We had also some spinach served with a sugary/salty dressing, I liked that, very unusual. On the whole, Mamada said that from several details he noticed on the menu he could say that the restaurant was Korean in style, and the tripes were among the type of dishes favored by Koreans.
If you read Japanese, click on the picture on right to see the menu with the side dishes, there are plenty of them, grilled on charcoal fire, be it chicken, fish or beef, with prices from 180 Y, 300 Y, 350 Y to 450 Y, many being actually at 350 Y (100 Y cost 0,92 € or 1,12 USD). Here is another venue where you'll not bankrupt yourself.

The interesting thing about this izakaya is that according to Mamada initially there was another, much smaller, izakaya named Daitoryo, which was always packed but really too small. This first izakaya still exists and it is located in the vicinity, but the owners decided to open this larger version with more comfort and amenities, and it became very successfull too and tends to be packed. Erika and Yoshi We couldn't believe our good star that evening : after chatting with Kei & Mao and enjoying their conversation, they left the restaurant and then came in their place another couple (people were lining near the door, waiting to have a seat) who happened to be also very friendly although not fluent in French. Yoshi told us that he was working in an Udon restaurant near Nippori, a neighborhood which happened to be where we were staying at, at Mamada's place. He was chef there if I remember. We alas were caught by the following chat and forgot to ask where exactly his restaurant was located in Nippori. His girlfriend was lovely too and they told us about a very secret restaurant they had visited recently, centered on an excellent selection of sake, coming with food prepared like jewelry. More on this later.... Scene in Shibuya (Hachiko crossing)

Daitoryo Tokyo Taito Ueno 13-1-6 Location on map (right on the other side of Takioka) Street view of Daitoryo (the previous business before the creation of this venue, actually)

Comments

[Vicente]

Really Tokio is amazing.
Congratulations for your article and for your excellent blog.

[Kathleen Imber]

you need help in the presentation of your blog....it is referenced but the design is completely incompatible with
the web..I can help you design it better if you like. I live in France and I speak English fluently.

[Adam]

very nice article writing!
interested to read more