Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011

The past few years on Tokyo’s booze circuit have been marked by a steady gouging of prices, as budget izakaya and tachinomiya scrap it out for the affections of an increasingly tight-fisted drinking public. But while it’s encouraging to see so many places now offering glasses of beer for under ¥300, those savings have to be coming from somewhere—and more often than not, they’re being made on the food menu.

Not so at Tokudawara, a standing bar in Kita-Senju whose reputation belies its diminutive size. There’s space for about a dozen people at the counter here—fifteen if you don’t mind getting really cozy with your fellow imbibers—and it’s full to capacity most evenings. The reasons for that soon become clear: though almost everything on the menu is priced at a flat ¥315, it’s damn fine stuff.

We start with a glass of Ebisu (¥315, natch) and have a squint at the handwritten food menu, which changes daily and is teeming with seasonal treats. Tokudawara taps into the koryori style, a Japanese analogue of tapas, and the helpings are dainty but worth savoring. We try some expertly prepared katsuo sashimi (served with karashi mustard rather than wasabi), tenderly grilled salmon, and an intriguing, slightly bitter fukinoto (butterbur sprout) tempura (all ¥315). If your bill tops ¥3,000 per person, you’ll have had a lavish night.

Unusually for a traditional-style standing bar, Tokudawara is entirely nonsmoking, and the music is all oldies and rock’n’roll—at one point in the evening, we’re jolted back to earth by the original version of “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.” Well, it beats The Black Eyed Peas.