Yakitori in Omoide Yokocho (‘Piss Alley’) Shinjuku Tokyo

“Piss Alley”… well so the guide book told me… also known as ‘Omoide Yokocho’.. I don’t know why when I asked people about it, some would start giggling!!! It sparked some curiousity to say the least… I first heard about it whilst watching a programme on NHK World…

I was told.. expect no service in English, which was fine as I can speak enough Japanese, and don’t expect all the places to let you in… some are for regulars only. Omoide Yokocho is a collection of yakitori bars serving sake, beer and grilled, meats and chicken tucked behind the railway line in the northside of Shinjuku.

Omoide Yokocho, Shinjuku, Tokyo

As you walk through the futuristic, glitzy and at times psychedelic lights of Shinjuku, with swarms of people with their see through umbrellas… wandering into these alleys is like going back in time… there are many little shops.. seating only a few people, perhaps 6 – 8, at a time. Some proprietors didn’t make eye contact… you knew they were for regulars only… the air is heavy with intoxicating yakimono smoke…

Yakitori Chef - Omoide Yokocho, Shinjuku, Tokyo

We found place and sat down for a post 2nd dinner snack. They had two seat spare in the far corner of the counter area… squeezing behind the few people who were sitting there and ripping off a few posters in the process with my rucksack.. we sat down and ordered a large hot sake to take away the embarassment…

Yakitori Bar - Omoide Yokocho, Shinjuku, Tokyo

What followed was a bit of a lost in translation moment.. the propietor was a chinese lady speaking Japanese.. I was an Englishman attempting to speak Japanese… I asked for chicken… she offered chicken heart… I asked for chicken… she offered chicken feet… I asked for chicken.. she offered chicken tongue… when I declined the tounge she suddenly spoke or shouted in English ‘WHY!!! its really nice!’.. I declined again and finally she offered up something a little normal.. but followed up with an appetiser of boiled marinated chicken skin…. ) We got some chicken with negi, some wings, garlic and a shisito peppers (it was only a snack after all).. it was good… probably enhanced by the cigarette smoke wafting over the food…. .. so in Tokyo people can smoke inside, but not on the street… :S

The food - Omoide Yokocho, Shinjuku, Tokyo

the guys next to us were pretty drunk… it seemed that most of the people around there were pretty bladdered… anyway I loved the area… it had a lot of atmosphere… something like a home away from home for a lot of the regulars… so the next day we went back for dinner #1 of the day this time…

This time, we went to the place next door to where we were the day before… we sat down this time at a table and I avoided demolishing the walls… my wife and I were chatting away.. when I heard echoes of our voices… no I hadn’t had too much sake but for some reason the guys on the table next to us were mimicking and repeating everything we were saying in English… I looked over, smiled and the one of them took a picture of us!!! so in kind I took a picture of them… don’t know why.. I just seemed the appropriate thing to do… we got talking as they introduced themselves as ‘Mr. West-River’ (Nishikawa-san) and ‘Mr. Salt’ (Sato-san)… which was amusing.. I ordered a beer… we talked about beer… my wife then started a drinking game by getting them a beer… so they got me one… I got them another beer… they got me another with shochu… 5 pints later, more sake and a lot of food later… we escaped while we could on the advice and planning of my good wife…

I couldn’t help noticing that one of them looked a little like Ando from the TV series Heroes… and his mate looked a little like Hiro Nakamura from the same show…