Solid bar. Smoking friendly. Japanese tutor ready at the bar if you can speak a little Japanese. Great time. Ikimashou.

First visit 2024.10.(Fri), a little after 7. A small eatery (koryoriya) tucked one street off the shopping arcade that runs from Keikyu Kamata to JR Kamata. Nervously... I stepped in, and the counter was full of older men who looked like regulars.. “Take the table in the back~” the brisk, lively okami showed us in. No menu, nothing... “Today we've got sashimi, new ginkgo nuts, roast beef and such...” The okami runs the place by herself and looked busy, so “A bottle of shochu and just whatever else...” Even before eating on my first visit, I knew I'd be coming back. ・Julienned mountain yam with quail egg yolk ・Sashimi (bonito, tuna, shellfish) Fresh! Tasty ・Grilled new ginkgo nuts in their shells (this was outstanding) ・Pickled olives (so delicious) ・Roast beef (with peeled tomato and lettuce... with wasabi soy sauce) Everything was the best! Soy sauce, wasabi and so on are served straight in the tube. “These get passed around, so can I take it back?” Mama was so laid-back we were laughing the whole time. Kamata's NO.1 koryoriya (though I don't want people to find out...)

+3

The counter was full today. Regulars and old acquaintances were reminiscing. I didn't know them, so I listened to their stories while starting with a draft beer. Delicious as always. Mama boiled peanuts her older brother grew. Packed full and tasty. After that I asked for spinach with sesame dressing. I skipped the mozuku. Because I had it last time. Even I, a spinach lover, was wowed by the sweetness of the spinach. That alone was enough for me to finish the rest of my bottle. When I asked for another of the same, she checked with me that it's 6,500 yen. Until recently it was 6,000 yen. It's a 1-liter bottle so I said OK, and as I was drinking, out came tempura of gutted sardines and shrimp kakiage. The sardines were fluffy and ridiculously good. While we were talking about that, she asked if I wanted cauliflower tempura, so I said yes. It reminded me of the first time I ate it at Tocchan, a standing bar nearby, and chatted with Mama. With that I was stuffed! Couldn't manage ramen, so I went straight home and had a long bath. Jack Daniel's is pricey, so the bill hit a round-number milestone. But I think she gave me a pretty big discount on the food, so I'm grateful. I came again today as a reward to myself. Luckily there was just one seat open at the counter. But nobody minds scooting over so friends can sit next to each other. The customers are all lovely people who cherish that Japanese sense of considering others, even saying "sorry the seat's warm." And Shige Mama's blunt comments are brilliant. Lately she's been putting a menu board outside, and it seems quite a few newcomers like me are coming in. Of course they are. Before, the lights would be on but the door locked, and from outside you couldn't tell what kind of place it was! I think it's improved a lot. I'm glad I kept a bottle here. I'll come again! To praise myself. Today I revealed my real name for the first time and had raw oysters from 仙鳳凰. The best. What is this place! Shige-san keeps bringing out dish after dish she thinks is good. As always, the simmered dishes and her homemade pickled ginger are so tasty. With this much recommended to you and drinking on top, I don't think it would come to just today's 4,000 yen anywhere else. The amount of iichiko she pours is number one among all the places I know. It started raining, so I'm heading home early with my umbrella! As always, everything is delicious! Rewriting the menu board is a hassle, so she leaves it as is, and you choose dishes while she asks which you'd prefer, this or this. I want to eat a lot, so I said all of them, and today again it went over 4,000 yen. But the iichiko chuhai is poured more than half a glass, so overall I'm very satisfied. The conversation flows too, I love this place. First visit in a while, with Golden Week in between. She's started putting a menu board outside. When I told her it makes things clearer, she said first-time customers have started coming in. The customer next to me and I agreed she should also explain how dishes just come out on their own and put up a portrait of Mama. We'll see what happens. Today again I ate everything she asked "want some?" about, drinking iichiko with soda—here that's what chuhai is, a strong one that's about half shochu—while chatting with Mama. Today's hit was the fava beans. These were great! The chestnut sticky rice, a souvenir from a souvenir a customer brought, was also delicious. At checkout she said, "Oh, it hit the round number!" so I asked what she meant, and it had gone over 4,000 yen to 4,400 yen. Right, it was always in the 3,000s, I recalled. Delicious and relaxing, so I thought it was cheap and headed home. The food was so good, the place so comfortable, and the prices so fair that I came back right away. Delicious as always. The simmered sardines that came out last were moving. The potato salad had apple in it, with sourness and sweetness in balance, also delicious! The chikuzenni felt like the first simmered dish this good I'd had in ages. The customers at the table got seconds. For chuhai she served iichiko with soda, but she's so indifferent about drinks that when you order a chuhai she asks, "how do you make a chuhai again?" So the drinks are pretty strong! Strong even for me, and the customers at the table were shouting to make them weaker. She apparently loves golf too, so we got into a lively chat about Hideki Matsuyama. Shige-san is apparently over 70. She looks young. I'll keep coming, so please take care of me! First visit. A lovely place where a woman named Shige-san treats you to her homemade cooking. There's no drink or food menu; dishes come out to suit the customer. For big eaters, accordingly. The food is very good. She buys the ingredients herself, so she says she's confident in them. It's not a cheap place, but at this level of cooking I think the value for money is the best. Bustling with regulars. Soda water isn't on the bill—or rather it's like all the customers split it—a happily easygoing, carefree place in a good way. My first great find in a long while!

+3

Mama-san's homemade home cooking. She was running it solo and looked busy, so I made my own drinks. It was fun, delicious, and cheap. I'll go again.

+1

Pass through the covered shopping arcade, turn onto a side street, and this storefront with its distinctive atmosphere suddenly appears. Drinkers will instinctively be drawn in. When you work up the courage to open the door, the okami greets you with a cheerful, energetic voice that goes straight to your heart. Inside it's homey, like a private house, and you'll feel as if you've come back to your own home. There are about five counter seats and a table for four in the back. If you ask the okami, she'll tell you the day's recommendations. You don't know the prices until you pay, but two bottles of beer, 3 sours, three kakiage, sashimi for three, and a julienned mountain yam starter came to about 9000 yen. The food is exceptionally good and soothes a tired body. There are lots of regulars, all of whom seemed kind. It's such a relaxing spot you could call it the oasis of Kamata.