A note on the words: a lemon sour is shochu, lemon and soda — the standard Tokyo drinking-house glass, and the thing this shop builds its list around. Shirasu are tiny whitebait, boiled and eaten by the spoonful. Shiraae is a dressing of mashed tofu. Tataki here means meat seared hard on the outside and left raw within. Otoshi is the small appetizer you are charged for on sitting down. Monaka is a wafer shell with a filling inside.
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Spice & Creative Kono Ippai no Tameni on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Right, this is Hangover Meshi. Fancying a quick drink, I went into a place that caught my eye under the railway arches, or so I take them to be!
The staff mentioned that the outside terrace is a little cheaper during happy hour, but since I wanted to drink at leisure, I asked to be shown to a seat inside.
It is a place with a good atmosphere built largely around wood, and there is something like a bar counter as well, which is nice ^^
Kuroge wagyu, 1,400 yen
Thick-cut beef tongue, 1,400 yen
Lamb tataki, 950 yen
The Kono Ichiban Banzai! platter (for two, 1,680 yen; for three, 2,480 yen)
Youba-style wagyu, 690 yen
Fluffy-egg ebi chili, 1,280 yen
Tochiaika strawberries dressed shiraae-style, 880 yen
Piled high! Cilantro and shirasu, 620 yen
Carrot Karamucho, 450 yen
I had been thinking “Kono Ippai no Tameni” — for this one glass — is an interesting name, and it seems to be a place built around spices.
Every item on the menu has a spice character to it and looks extremely good.
Since I had come in mainly for the drinking, I decided to keep to light snacks and enjoy the craft lemon sours!
First, of course, the grown-up lemon sour.
Mmm, a lemon sour rich in lemon fragrance and delicious. They appear to use rice shochu, and its distinctive character is fun too.
It is not sweet, either. I may well like this.
Cilantro and shirasu! It is nothing but cilantro and shirasu, and yet it is extremely good.
It is perfect with a drink. Once you start you somehow cannot stop. Who knew the fragrance of sesame oil, shirasu and cilantro went together this well!
And this is the otoshi ^^ A soup and a one-bite monaka.
Lamb nachos.
The meat on top is lamb, and it is cracking, ha. Guacamole and chili-seasoned lamb. Is that not delicious.
The chips are light too, and just right with a drink.
The serious lemon sour with celery added, at the same price!
Is the celery grated in, I wonder? An enormous celery character ^^ Anyone who dislikes celery would find this absolutely impossible, ha.
It is celery, straight up. That said, the bitterness of the celery combined with the sourness of the lemon is, if anything, delicious, you know? ^^
Cherry tomatoes steeped in peach liqueur — and eating one, it is sweet and tastes of peach ^^
Somehow it has the naturalness of a sweet fruit that was always meant to be that way, ha. This is delicious.
Here it is! Clamato.
A shochu highball cut with clam-stock tomato juice — clam plus tomato — with plenty of spice over the top.
In Mexican places, too, people drink it with a heap of Tajin on it! I adore Clamato, so this drink was the biggest hit of the night!
The sense of fruit juice in it is enormous and it is delicious. This one is serious!
One way and another I stayed a fair while, and it is comfortable! And though I ordered only a few snacks, every one was good. Above all it is a pleasure that there is such variety in the drinks. There are plenty of lemon sours alone, and the spiced sours are good too. Having Clamato is simply superb. For a light drink in Koenji this is a place I recommend highly! I shall go again.
Spice & Creative Kono Ippai no Tameni. (Izakaya / Koenji Station, Shin-Koenji Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.6
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
