One of the ways you can enjoy drinking is going bar hopping at back street. There are several streets which gather a lot of bars in Tokyo such as “Harmonica Yokocho” in Kichijoji, “Nonbei Yokocho” in Shibuya, and “OK Yokocho” in Akabane.  I would like to introduce one of the bar streets called “Omoide Yokocho” in Ikebukuro, West entrance.

When you go through the gate which has merry light-ups, you can see the spit-roasting eel restaurant called “Kabuto” in front of you. This restaurant is a landmark of this block. There are so many heavy drinkers sitting side-by-side in this counter table even at the opening time. You had better order “Hito-tori,” so you can get a small portion of each recommended menus. If you ordered this, you will automatically get seven different sides of cooked eel. You are done with appetizer by eating these and drinking Kinmiya Shochu(distilled beverage.)

 You should go to “Tsuru-kame Shokudo” next. This place is like a dining hall that has been helping for long time to make college students around this area full. That’s why you can get a lot of food for cheap. There are so many funny named menus such as “Baka de Aho de Furamenkin” (garlic flavored beef tempura) and “Baka-konpoja” (Fried beef sinew sanded with chicken tender) those of which named after the Spanish words. One of my favorite foods is “Soy head” which is soy beans seasoned with curry powder. It is the best food to drink with.

After you are done eating plentiful food and snacks that go well with alcohol, it is time to go to finish up drinking. When you go downstairs to take you underground with drunken staggering, there is a bar named “Minoru.” It is old established bar that you can feel a nostalgic atmosphere. You can get food that tastes like mom’s home cooking, and drink highball which is the main drink in this bar.

 These bars are only one minutes’ apart by walk. This small world will make you dead drunk. This bar street is paradise for heavy drinkers.

■Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho

Address：1-1-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Kiwako Kurashima（”Koten Sakaba” Editor in Chief）

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