y31-t775
From Takadanobaba Station, walk towards Waseda Street in the direction of Waseda, and before reaching Nichidatsu Espas, you will find a new izakaya called "Bakuan 99 Sakaba Kintaro! Takadanobaba Branch" located on the basement floor of Ise-Nami Building. There are several branches in Tokyo. The entrance is a bit hidden, with a colorful lantern decoration in the middle of the hallway and a staircase leading downstairs. I visited for the first time around 8 pm on a weekday. The place used to be a 300 yen kitchen. When you open the sliding door manually, you will see a row of table seats inside, with the place being half full. According to the staff, it was unusually empty that day. Smoking is allowed at the tables. There is no seating charge, and items like fried chicken skewers are priced at 99 yen (excluding tax), with all menu items ending in 9 yen. Drinks are also very affordable, mostly around 218 yen, and you can opt for a 2-hour all-you-can-drink option for 1,299 yen. There are also all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink courses available for under 2,999 yen, making it very reasonable. I planned to casually drink and eat, so I ordered individual dishes. <Ordered dishes> - Fried chicken skewers starting from 109 yen per skewer - Chashu Egg for 659 yen - Grilled dumplings for 329 yen - Potato fries for 439 yen - Miso meat-stuffed green peppers for 439 yen - Salt-grilled noodles for 659 yen The fried chicken skewers were exactly that, and I ordered 2 skewers, which had a rich flavor that paired well with alcohol, but they were a bit greasy, so ordering in lots of 10-20-30 skewers might be enough. The signature Chashu Egg dish consisted of thick slices of chashu and a half-boiled egg on bean sprouts, with a savory seasoning that made the chashu delicious and left me wanting more rice. The grilled dumplings and potato fries were safe choices, while the miso meat-stuffed green peppers featured spicy minced meat on raw green peppers. Although it lacked miso flavor, it was tasty. I ended with salt-grilled noodles, which had chewy flat noodles with plenty of pork belly, making it a satisfying dish that could even serve as a lunch. After enjoying the food and drinks for about an hour and a half, we decided to leave. The bill for two people was just under 4,000 yen, which was cheap! Credit cards are accepted for payment. They are usually open until 2 am and until 5 am on Friday nights, so it's okay to miss the last train. The dishes were freshly made, and I will definitely come back again.