A note on the words: tachinomi means a standing bar, where there are no chairs and you drink at a counter. Nikomi is pork offal simmered slowly in miso, the classic thing to eat at one. Yakiton is grilled pork offal on skewers; nankotsu, the one ordered here, is cartilage, eaten for its crunch and served with karashi, the sharp yellow Japanese mustard. Asa-nomi, morning drinking, is a genre of its own in this part of Tokyo. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Tachinomi Takioka on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want something good to eat today too. This is Hangover Meshi. In the end there is nowhere else to go: Tachinomi Takioka.
It opens at seven in the morning, and only the genuine article gathers here. It is this place or a twenty-four-hour shop, and little else, so it is precious! And so this Ueno drinking session begins at Takioka.
Ten in the morning and already full. By ten the places around start opening one after another, but this is Ueno for you. Crowds from first thing, everybody drinking. Heaven, in short!
It is the first drink of the day, and first thing in the morning at that. Let us go gently.
Right, a beer to start.
Wonderful! A draft beer in the morning!
While I was at it I ordered the nikomi as well. The blurred 1,000 yen note in the background feels somehow very real.
The nikomi is built on white miso and is not especially sweet. The offal has been simmered so long that it is soft and yielding, and it goes with beer like nothing else. At this time of year it gets seriously cold, so you definitely want to order something hot!
While I am here I have to order yakiton too!
So: the cartilage. They bring it straight off the grill, and the crunch of the cartilage against the hot mustard is irresistible!
All told, the nikomi and this were the only things I ate.
We had said we would have a quick drink and move on. Three beers later.
A thoroughly pleasant Ueno morning.
Now, at a place like this the done thing is to drink quickly and leave quickly. So let us eat quickly and go. It was very busy, customers coming and going without a break. When you are drinking in Ueno, waking yourself up with a beer at Takioka really is the best way. Morning in Ueno, and nowhere to go: Takioka. Recommended!
Tachinomi Takioka (Standing bar / Keisei-Ueno Station, Ueno-okachimachi Station, Naka-okachimachi Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
