SHINJUKU/KABUKICHO: MEDAKA Izakaya Revisited... Cheap Beer Campaign Extended!!

April 40, May 50, June 60, July 70, August 80 and September 90yen for Beers/Whisky Hi-Balls/Sours!  

I had 2 great guests visiting from Hawaii and what better place than to check out Medaka on an unusually cold rainy Tokyo April evening... Staton is a Spiritual Advisor so if you are interested in learning more pls visit her website  http://www.statonann.com/

Today's automatic Ootoshi 400yen "aka Service Charge"... Came out to 2,000yen for the 5 of us.

Meet John a Digital Designer... with two of the best camera bodies - Canon 7D and Canon 5D Mark II.  http://www.john-garcia.com/  A foodie and Photographer... my kinda guy.

What a great idea to light up food in a low light setting!  iPhone flashlight app!

Staton giving "Kawa-Ebi" a try.

Ebi-Mayo

4 Kinds of rolls for 900yen... Negi-Toro, Tekka (tuna), Ume-Shiso with Wasabi and Mentako.

One of Johns amazing lenses.

Had my Lumix LX5 (that I accidentally dropped this night) and my Olympus PEN e-PL1 with a Sigma 19mm f2.8 lens.  

So 3.5 hours of drinks and what John spot on called Izakaya food "Beer Food" the total came out to 7,350yen for 4-5 people.  16 Beers, 13 Orange sours, 1 lemon sour, 1 chu-hi and 1 hi-ball.

Another enjoyable night at Medaka. 

Shop: Medaka Izakaya

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13150823/

Address J: 東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-3-6

Address E: Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Kabukicho 1-3-6

View Larger Map

HATAGAYA: Ryukyu Sakaba for tasty Okinawan! Beer Food! Thanks Groupon :)

1,980yen for dinner and drinks... sounds great! But where's Hatagaya?

http://www.groupon.jp/cid/60932?recom=NO

Located just 2 stops from Shinjuku and neighboring a long walkway is Ryukyu Sakaba.

Seems the restaurant is housed in an old home and they used the existing wooden structure... a nice tropical feel inside.

Lots of choices on the all-you-can-drink Nomihoudai Menu... and they had Orion Beer! Quickly finished off 2 mugs... then went directly for some Okinawan Awamori.

Umi-Budo always so great (sea grapes)... some Mimi-Ga (sliced seasoned pig ears).

The tiny fish on the tofy was a bit fishy and boney.

I've never had salad with Ikura (orange fish eggs) before... the dressing was similar to Bagna càuda and so tasty.

Very tender and seasoned Sooki pork thats commonly used as a topping for Okinawan Soba.

Curly fries!  Tasty tasty

Awamori!  We had too many of these... phew.

Taco Rice.... more Orion Beeru

This night we had 2 DSLRS (Nikon D7000, Pentax K-01) and 3 compact cameras (Canon S90, S95 and Lumix LX5)... food and photography can't beat that.

Some counter seating.

Overall this place was great.  Tropical atmosphere, very flavorful food that went well with beer/awamori, service was quick and the Okinawan BGM soothing.  Unsure if I'll go back due to the location but definitely worth a visit!

Restaurant: Ryukyu Sakaba

Shop Website: http://ryukyu.lolipop.jp/

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1318/A131811/13027398/

Address J: 東京都渋谷区西原2-30-1

Address E: Tokyo, Shibuya-ku, Nishi Hara 2-30-1
MAP:

View Larger Map

SAKURADAI: Kouka Chinese Restaurant for a cozy late night dinner

I always had a curiosity about this little neighborhood Chinese restaurant because it consistently had a steady flow of customers... only 2 shops down there is another Chinese spot thats usually empty.

Decided to try this weeks "Service Teishoku" that consisted of 5 different dishes for 800yen. 

Counter seating facing the Chef.

Comfy counter seats.

Japan's baseball season has begun... game playing in the top monitor.

Help your self water.

The chef was a bit hunched over and I had a feeling that part of the attraction here was in support of this guy.  There was a warmness to this shop... 

And so little did I know how far 800yen can take you in a tiny neighborhood Chinese restaurant that is Kouka... my 3 sides first came...

Followed by the main dish... Chinese cabbage with Chicken in a tasty creamy spicy sauce.

Order wasn't complete yet...

And another dish arrived... 

This was honestly waaaay to much for me at midnight... phew.  But overall it was a great late night dinner.  Just felt like home cooking.  I'll definitely be back to try out another weekly special.

Just 3 shops down from Ramen Jiro

Shop: Kouka Chinese Restaurant

Nerima-ku Website: http://s-nerima.jp/wp/3446

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132101/13062826/

Address J: 東京都練馬区桜台1-5-1

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Sakuradai 1-5-1

MAP:

View Larger Map