My first day on assignment in Tokyo presented me with
the most bizarre dining experience of my life. Actually, it's up there
with most bizarre experiences of my life in general.
After meeting Simon Richmond earlier today and
checking out some sights and eateries around Shinjuku, we met up with Simon's
friend Jean (a Rough Guide contributor and Tokyo resident) for dinner in the Shinbashi area
of Tokyo. Walking through the rainy side streets of this
brightly lit part of town, we entered a tiny restaurant - it all seemed normal enough. Yet despite the fact that Tokyo is often known for it's oddities, not in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined
what was in store for us behind that inconspicuous little door. This is
where normality ended and hilarity ensued.
Once we were seated at our table, the owner of the
restaurant, Mr. Kagaya, used a remote-controlled Anpanman doll to deliver our
warm refresher towels. Upon ordering drinks, we were required to select
the style in which we would like them delivered; Japanese, American, Chinese,
English or Brazilian. We opted for 'English style', while the tables
around us went for Brazilian and French. The 'Brazilian style' drinks
were delivered by Mr. Kagaya dressed up as what appeared to be some
kind of crustacean. 'French style' involved Mr. Kagaya creating
on-the-spot portrait sketches of table members, while our 'English style' saw him use a Teddy
Bear to carry the tray of novelty beer glasses to our table - the novelty being
that one glass made a belching sound every time it was moved, and the other vibrated at such a rate when picked up that it was nearly impossible
to drink from it without spraying beer around the room.
The restaurant offered three menu choices that, not surprisingly
at this point, were hilarious and gave no indication of what food was involved with each choice.
We ordered the "Hey master, you know what today I'm feeling free. Get me
something 'wow' me, 'bang' me. You know what I'm talking about!" dinner
set... and of course, the order had to be sung rather than spoken.
Between fits of laughter, we ate a delicious meal of chicken, fish and
vegetable dishes.
By the end of the meal, we'd long relinquished any
sense of normal restaurant procedure, so when our bill was delivered in the
cleavage of a Barbie doll and Mr. Kagaya donned a frog suit to bid us melodic farewell, I really shouldn't have been surprised... but I was.
Absolutely check this place out if you're in Tokyo! Reservation details and directions can be found here.
Photos
