Hatagaya

One stop over, where the locals drink

Hatagaya is the next stop from Sasazuka, and for the year Daniel lived nearby it was effectively an extension of home. Koya does the kind of quiet, precise food that never makes it onto lists, and Sanita, run by Kenny, is the bar every other bar on this site gets measured against. If you want to drink where actual Tokyo residents drink, this is the page.

Hatagaya is one stop from Shinjuku on the Keio New Line, and along with neighbouring Sasazuka and Nishihara it forms a quietly excellent food-and-coffee pocket that Tokyo magazines keep 'discovering'. Low buildings, a friendly shotengai, and a surprising density of good counters: this is where young chefs open first restaurants because the rents allow it.

The evening routine here writes itself: dinner at a counter, a slow drink at a bar where the owner steers the conversation, the short walk home. As a visitor you can borrow that routine for a night, and you should.