Friday, November 20, 2015

(942) Memories and skewers


It's called "Omoide Yokocho" (思い出横丁) which literally translates as "Memories' alley" and refers to how the area of Shinjuku station's west exit was after the war; still, it's also known as "Shonben Yokocho" (しょんべん横丁) which means "Piss alley", a rather apt name considering many people leave it completely drunk. At any rate, it's a labyrinth of many very tiny alleys with many very tiny shops serving food and particularly chicken skewers or "yakitori" (焼き鳥). And beer. Lots and lots of beer.



We chose this one called . "Isuzu" (五十鈴)



Besides yakitori, most shops also serve a dish called "nikomi" (煮込み) and means a stew containing lots of different ingredients -usually beef entrails among them.  



Of course the main dish is yakitori but you can also add liver skewers -the parts in between are negi (ネギ) or Welsh onions.  



In the particular place, the deep fried tofu (or atsu-age/厚揚げ) was also good...



...as was the shiitake mushroom filled with minced meat. Actually this last one was wonderful!



When we say these shops are small, we mean it.

 (For a bigger version of this picture both in color and black and white, check my "Japan Arekore" set on Flickr).

0 comments: