You might have heard of Omoide Yokocho by another name – Piss Alley – charming hey!
Piss Alley is a small area adjacent to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo with about 70 small eating establishments crammed into a space not much larger than a soccer pitch.
I arrived just before 5pm so the area was still quiet and probably only a third of the restaurants were open. Those that were open were doing a roaring trade with a number having people standing around waiting for a seat.
When I say small, I mean small, think a room only slightly larger than the size of your bathroom with a kitchen area, a counter and around 10 or so seats.
I chose Echigoya as there were about half a dozen people already dining and there were a couple of spare seats. And it was damn hot and I needed a beer quick!
Yakitori was my fare of choice and I chose a variety of chicken and pork skewers along with a long neck.
I sat in front of the charcoal grill as my skewers were cooked. As they were handed over the counter I eagerly devoured the tasty dishes.
The meat dishes and beer were very reasonably priced, I guess that’s what happens when you are fighting 70 other restaurants for customers.
This is an area to invest more time in exploring which I will on my next trip to Tokyo.