A note on the words: shio-kyabetsu is raw cabbage served in wedges as a drinking snack, usually with a salty or tart dressing. Tempura is food fried in a light batter, and tentsuyu is the thin dipping broth of dashi, soy sauce and mirin that goes with it. Maitake is a frilled, earthy Japanese mushroom, and karaage is Japanese fried chicken — marinated, dusted in starch and fried in bite-size chunks.
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Non-chan on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
So, Hangover Meshi. It always goes this way when I am bar-hopping in Ueno — just drifting around with no plan. I peeked into a bar that happened to catch my eye, and what do you know, one of the outdoor tables was free! Let’s stop in for a bit! And in we went. This is another pleasantly lively place. Drinking in a rough-and-ready spot like this is its own kind of special, isn’t it.
There is a small electric heater, but being outside it is plainly cold — though the drinking warms you up, so it does not bother you much.
Customers leave and others come in, then leave again and more come in. The tables turn over fast!
First a highball, and then a few snacks.
Well, these are your standard French fries.
Just fried and nothing more, but even something this simple is an excellent drinking snack, isn’t it.
And quietly, the fact that they come with plenty of ketchup is rather nice.
And then, the snack that sits at the opposite pole from French fries: shio-kyabetsu.
You might think 399 yen for cabbage is steep! But cabbage prices have shot up lately. If anything, 399 yen for this starts to feel fair. Crunch away with the tart dressing that comes with it.
The assortment of tempura skewers. Rather than plain tempura, they skewer things first and then fry them in batter, which makes them easy to eat.
Squid skewer, okra skewer, shrimp skewer, maitake mushroom skewer, white fish skewer and more. They bring tentsuyu along with it, and you dip them in — tasty, ha. Maybe the atmosphere is doing some of the work, but they are plainly good!
And then, the chicken karaage! Each piece is a good chunky size, and juicier inside than I expected.
The outside was crisp and straight out of the fryer, too, so it was pretty tasty. Satisfying!
It is a busy, buzzing place, so getting a little loud and carried away seems to be no problem at all.
Because it is so lively, just drinking and talking somehow starts to feel fun on its own. It is cheap, and I think it makes a fine place to drop into partway through a wander. Nothing bad to say about it!
Non-chan (Izakaya / Keisei-Ueno Station, Ueno-okachimachi Station, Okachimachi Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.0
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
