A hidden izakaya in a back alley in Morishita. The friendly master and his wife run the place. We had a private drinking party this time, but they somehow seated us at the counter. - Morishita Beer - Chicken sashimi 550 yen A must-order dish. It's served with garlic soy sauce and it's delicious. - Grilled chicken skewers: - Regular meat 150 yen - Chicken with garlic 200 yen - Pork belly 200 yen - Scallop 350 yen These grilled skewers are served on plates without skewers. We always order the regular meat and chicken with garlic. Delicious and cheap! - Shanghai seafood yakisoba (1 serving) 800 yen We ordered this for the first time this time. It's incredibly delicious! The portion is huge. Stuffed! Total: ¥2,770

Hamburger set meal for 730 yen. It came out in 6 minutes. In addition to the main hamburger, there is cold tofu, pickles, and seasoned seaweed. Next to the hamburger are coleslaw and spaghetti salad. The hamburger is moist and delicious, with no meaty smell. I regret underestimating this lunch at an izakaya. However, I hope they improve the seasoning of the spaghetti salad. The dumplings seem to be recommended, so I'll try them next time!

I have used this place for lunch before, but it was my first time coming at night. It's a place where regular customers gather. I recommend the boiled dumplings and a drink called "Morishita Beer," which is a chu-hi made by mixing beer. The potato salad, yakitori that is not on skewers, and other snacks that are made fresh each time were all delicious. I will definitely visit again. Thank you for the meal! ^_^

I had always known about this restaurant, but the appearance of the place never really made me want to go in. It looked a bit run-down, with a small entrance that seemed hard to get into. I always thought it was a place for local regulars, mostly older gentlemen from the neighborhood. However, after reading some reviews on Tabelog, my interest was piqued, and today I visited for the first time. I went around 18:10 on a weekday, and there were no other customers. The owner and his wife were having their dinner. When I mentioned it was my first visit, the owner recommended their water dumplings. Their yakitori is served on plates instead of skewers. - Morishita Beer 300 yen: A carbonated shochu drink that resembles beer. It was surprisingly tasty. - Grapefruit Sour 300 yen - Tori Tsubo (chicken skewer) 550 yen: Lots of chicken breast with garlic, delicious! - Homemade Gyoza (water dumplings) 500 yen: The recommended water dumplings were soft and delicious, but the sauce was a bit too strong. - Yakitori Tsukune (chicken meatball) 200 yen: Huge! Like a chicken hamburger. - Yakitori Tebasaki (chicken wing) 130 yen: Juicy and tasty with salt, pepper, and lemon. - Yakitori Shogiku (chicken thigh) 130 yen - Yakitori Tori Ninniku (chicken with garlic) 180 yen: Chicken meat and garlic served together, with the garlic in pieces. The chicken was tender and delicious. - Yakitori Sasami (chicken tenderloin with shiso) 180 yen: Smoking is allowed, but luckily I was the only customer so the owner started smoking! The walls were covered with photos of actors who had visited. Apparently, actors from the nearby Meiji-za theater come here to drink. Right now, they said that Gok Hiroshi and Hikawa Kiyoshi are performing, so maybe I'll see them if I pass by? In the last hour or so, since there were no other customers, I ended up talking with the owner about baseball the whole time!

Review for August 2020. We had a fun drinking party with friends from Waseda and Tsukuba. We just arrived at Mori Shita, a yakitori and dining establishment we reserved at Next from 16:00. After leaving the long-established cherry meat restaurant, Minoya, we walked about 5 minutes from the intersection near Morishita Station, with some of us already feeling a bit tipsy. Six of us arrived at Next. We toasted with lemon sours and highballs, and kept adding alcohol called gasoline. We lost count of how many drinks we had, but we had a great time with the friendly and lively atmosphere led by the red ※ couple. By the way, the landlady here used to be in a theater company when she was young, and actors like Naoko Kawashima, Masao Ishino, Masachika Ichimura, and even Lou Oshiba used to visit. Lou Oshiba, did she look like him in the past? Alright, shall we go to Next 2? Of course, we'll end up at Ebi-chan's shop. Thank you for the meal, we'll come back if there's another drinking party in this area. Food log rating [3.16], number of reviews [5]. As of January 2022.

An izakaya located a short walk from Morishita Station towards the Sumida River. The name is Morishita, and it's a small, inconspicuous place on a narrow street. It may be a bit hesitant to enter as it's not clear if they are open from the outside. During lunchtime, there were no other customers. The owner and his wife? were watching a Western movie. The restaurant is old but equipped with various sound systems, and it seems like actors are regulars as there are many snapshots on the wall. The air conditioning may not be working well as it felt a bit stuffy. They offer dishes like hamburg steak, ginger pork, meat and vegetable stir-fry, and salted mackerel, all priced at 700 yen including tax. I ordered the ginger pork for 700 yen. It came with seasoned seaweed, cold tofu, pickles, miso soup, and rice on the table. The miso soup tasted like pork miso soup, and although there wasn't much meat, the konjac was plentiful and the broth was flavorful. The ginger pork was made with thin pork loin and had a unique taste with a mustard-like flavor, but it was decent in portion and taste. Many small restaurants like this often have subpar rice, but here the rice was delicious, which was a big plus. They also offer set meals at night for the same price, which is impressive. They have a happy hour until 10 pm, where alcohol is mostly 300 yen, making it a good place for drinking with set meals. They have a lunch point card where you can get a 300 yen discount after 10 uses, showing their efforts. Given the changing situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they may want to create a more welcoming atmosphere for lunch (brighter interior, open entrance, stronger air conditioning).

The atmosphere was lively.

A cozy izakaya located in a back alley just a 1-minute walk from Morishita Station A1 exit on the Toei Subway. I stopped by after work. The exterior gives off a nostalgic vibe of old Tokyo's downtown, and the compact interior has a L-shaped counter with 7 seats and 2-3 tables. I was the first customer, and the master and the hostess were busy making gyoza at a table. I sat at the end of the counter, and the master recommended their homemade boiled gyoza. I ordered a draft beer, boiled gyoza, 5 negima skewers, and 2 tsukune skewers. The gyoza was indeed delicious. The yakitori here is cooked in a pan instead of being skewered. I leisurely enjoyed Morishita beer and shochu highball before leaving. I definitely want to visit again.

Located in a difficult-to-find alley off a street near Morishita Station, this restaurant is a favorite among my colleagues. I decided to check it out and found that they offer various set meals like ginger pork and hamburg steak for 680 yen including tax. Fried rice, chicken rice, and yakisoba are priced at 580 yen. The prices are very reasonable. Upon entering at noon, I was greeted by a faint smell of cigarettes. The place was mostly filled with blue-collar workers from the neighborhood, leaving me to squeeze into a seat at the end of the L-shaped counter. The cramped space consisted of 6 seats at the counter and 2 six-person tables. They served barley tea in glasses poured from a 3-liter bottle of shochu (laughs). A friendly Chinese couple worked efficiently in the narrow kitchen. The walls were covered with pictures of celebrities, but you had to look closely to recognize them (laughs). I ordered the hamburg steak set meal. Priced at 680 yen, the set included pickles, miso soup, a mini side dish (cold tofu), seasoned seaweed, extra rice, and a main dish of simmered hamburg steak, along with salad and mayonnaise pasta. The hand-formed simmered hamburg steak tasted like something my mother would make, so it was decent. More regular customers, including women, continued to arrive. However, I left early to avoid smelling like cigarettes. Despite not seeing a menu for "yakitori," I recommend giving this place a try knowing what to expect.

3-chōme, Shin-ohashi, Koto-ku. During lunchtime on a weekday, while riding my beloved bike, My Bicycle, along Shin-ohashi Street, I come across a sign for a certain izakaya. I park My Bicycle and check out the menu displayed on the sign, which features reasonably priced lunch options. As I walk towards the narrow alley where the sign is located, I find myself in a cramped area surrounded by residential buildings. Upon opening the sliding door, I find a cozy space with an L-shaped counter on the left and two small tables for 8 people on the right. The establishment is run by the master, the mistress, and one middle-aged woman of continental descent, making a total of three staff members. The walls are covered with photos and autographs of celebrities who have visited the place for nighttime drinking parties, which is quite surprising considering the location in the downtown area of Morishita, Koto-ku, and the fact that it is just an ordinary izakaya (excuse me). The mistress explains that the establishment is mainly frequented by celebrities who have come to work or practice at the nearby Benisan Small Theater or Meijiza. While it may be a hidden gem for celebrities, sharing my experience might take away from its hidden gem status. The lunchtime clientele consists of salarymen from the neighborhood, young office ladies, and middle-aged women, among others, representing a wide range of age groups. At lunchtime, we are first served with a Chuhai glass filled with oolong tea. The sight of everyone drinking alcohol in broad daylight is quite amusing. The portions are generous, with lunch sets including pork miso soup with taro, cold tofu, pickles, and flavored seaweed, all for under 700 yen, which is a great deal. Here are a few menu items I have tried multiple times: - Ginger pork set for 680 yen: Comes with four slices of pork loin, shredded cabbage, and salad spaghetti. The ginger pork sauce is sharp and goes well with rice. - Meat and vegetable stir-fry set for 680 yen: Includes cabbage, carrots, onions, wood ear mushrooms, spinach, and diced pork. The stir-fry is cooked quickly over high heat, providing a colorful and crunchy texture. The well-seasoned dish goes perfectly with rice. - Hamburg steak set for 680 yen: A homemade hamburger steak cut in half. The juicy steak is complemented by a sauce that combines a Japanese-style flavor with demi-glace sauce. - Special gyoza set for 530 yen: Thin-skinned dumplings filled with a generous amount of minced meat, making them juicy. Topped with a refreshing homemade sauce with plenty of green onions. The nighttime menu ranges from 400 to 600 yen, with all drinks priced at a flat rate of 250 yen, making it a promising option for evening outings. You might even have the chance to meet your favorite celebrity when you visit at night. Why not pay a visit with a faint hope of meeting them?

They serve their own sauce, which is quite good. The braised pork ramen comes with a small piece of meat that is completely submerged in the soup. The thin noodles have a light soy sauce flavor but lack firmness. The homemade hamburger has a good texture, but the taste is not bad. It's a relaxed atmosphere for a weekday lunch. Each table has small plates and a packet of seasoned seaweed, which is a unique touch. Around 1 pm, I was the only guest left, and suddenly a male staff member sat at the counter next to me and started smoking. It would have been better if he had sat further away so the smoke wouldn't bother me while I was eating. Ultimately, it's a matter of consideration. The seaweed incident and the staff's attitude of taking shortcuts can negatively impact the guest experience. This type of customer service may not be suitable for those who dislike such behavior.

The shrimp dumplings and the grilled chicken skewers that weren't on a stick were delicious! (^-^)/

Koto Ward