Food and Drink

Down an old and now more or less disused tunnel, one little bar remains. Catering for the small number of late afternoon drinkers who can squeeze inside, it’s the last business left, but even after several decades of serving drinks and really quite delicious food, the owners have no intention of quitting just yet. A decision that’s much appreciated by both the very regular regulars, and those that merely pop in unexpectedly.

From the outside, this little ramen shop looked like it had tales galore to tell.

And it did. Or more accurately, its elderly owner did. Opening the restaurant at the relatively sprightly young age of thirty-eight, she has been working behind the counter ever since. For fifty years to be exact, doing two shifts a day, six days a week, with no thoughts of retiring just yet.

This wonderfully old tofu shop has appeared on these pages before. On my Instagram account several times as well. But when a store front looks as fantastic as this one does, then resisting further photographs is utterly futile.

And if that wasn’t enough, a peek inside proves that both the owner, and interior, are equally intriguing.

Sometimes it doesn’t get much better than simple food, on a street-side table, in the late autumn sun.

No idea how long this fella has been working here, but presumably it’s been more than just a few years, as his movements were all neatly measured, not the least bit rushed, and perhaps more than anything, looked completely second nature.

Time, and changing times, have resulted in old school off licenses like the one below becoming increasingly few and far between. The alcohol vending machines seen outside have gone the same way as well — especially so the sake ones. But obviously some shops still survive, and it’s all the better when they are as wonderfully retro looking as this one.