This bar opens at 12:00 noon, but the best time to visit is around 2:00 pm. It’s not that crowded, and you can enjoy a nice view of leafy Inokashira Park. Other than Yakitori, you can enjoy many other cheap and tasty dishes, such as filling Shumai (steamed pork dumplings), grilled corn with a nice flavor, sashimi chunks of tuna, and some vinegared dishes. Order what you want depending on your mood and you might get a little tipsy as you drink your second glass of shochu. Try the Tokyo’s popular bar!

<Checks>
Glass of shochu (220 yen) x 2; Tan (tongue, 80 yen); Hatsu (heart, 80 yen); Shiro (white giblets, 80 yen); Grilled corn (250 yen); Steamed pork dumplings (330 yen) Total: 1,260 yen

Kaku-uchi - Of those standing bars, this is the ultimate style where you can have cheap drinks served in the inside of a liquor shop. Overall, you can drink and have snacks at sale prices or even cheaper. The Kaku-uchi drinking style is a sort of old-fashioned style. Many drinkers cried out over this fading style of drinking, but recently, it has come into the spotlight again.

Hirotaka Nishiyama, the store manager, who manages it alone, reveals the root of its hospitality, saying, “We have managed this store here more than 100 years, and at one time this store even had a bar. I’ve been brought up seeing such a history.” Every regular customer like him by calling him “Shacho” (president).

You can get filled to satisfaction while drinking and by spending only just 1,000 yen. This store does not have any dilapidated atmosphere that can be ordinarily experienced at other cheap bars or pubs. If some customers get noisy, other regular customers give some friendly advice before the store manager does so. But everybody who enjoys drinking here is basically kind and gentle, for instance, they kindly tell the store system to first-time customers and teach how to make a delicious Hoppy drink (mixing Hoppy with shochu makes a beer-flavored drink). It is one of the best parts of enjoying drinking here to learn how to get drunk “in a smart manner” from the Kaku-uchi masters.

<Checks>
A large bottle of Sapporo Lager (350 yen); 500-ml Takara Shochu High-ball (250 yen); Corned meat (300 yen); Tofu (150 yen); Boiled field mustered (Free) Total: 1,050 yen

The mainstream of “Senbero” bars includes such old-style classic standup pubs or Izakaya bars. But now the Tokyo’s bar culture is much better than you think. There are spots where you can enjoy some wine in a sophisticated atmosphere.

Located near Sangenjaya Sta., two stops from Shibuya Sta. on the Tokyu Den-En-Toshi Line, an Italian bar, z-b, serves a glass of house wine for just 290 yen! The chef’s special western fusion dishes are also served at reasonable prices from 300 yen. You can surely enjoy drinking at low price.

“In my image was an Italian bar in New York or something like that typically seen in movies” the bar master says. Unlike ordinary cheap Senbero bars, z-b offers a cool and stylish space for customers. He also says “Our bar looks like an expensive restaurant, so some young ones hesitate to come in.”

We ordered a popular menu, fish & chips, when we visited this bar. The fried fish they served with chips was not whitefish but salmon, which was very tasty and filling. The volume of each dish here is pretty large, while you can enjoy inexpensive bottles of wine as well. Our recommendation is to share drinks and food with three people, which surely offers a fulfilling experience of the “Senbero” drinking style.

<Checks>
A glass of red wine (290 yen) x 2; Fish & chips (600 yen) Total: 1,180 yen