About food in Japan

beer & cafe BERG, Shinjuku (新宿) the last small shop at Shinjuku Station

I do not know any other restaurant like Berg, nor how I can explain the type of the restaurant.

The small cafe is only 30 seconds from East exsit of JR Shinjuku station or on B1 (underground) floor of Lumine Est shopping complex.

Beer & cafe Berg opens from morning, serving breakfast. For lunch time, It offers Japanese style curry set, German plate (ham, salami and bread on a plate), with option of a glass of beer or wine. On evening, it looks like a cozy bar.

For a half of the floor standing bar counter occupies, while small chairs and tables each for two people stay close each other in the small restaurant. Japanese business men in gray suites, students in jeans, a lady reading a book hang on the counter, enjoyeing their meal with beer or wine on evening.

 

At least what we know about Berg,

it is an indipendent (non-chain affiliate) cafe

aiming at "cafe culture" mix of German, French and British style

leving from profit-first management way.

At the small restaurant,

morning coffee is prepared by the coffee master,

authentic German style sausages, the best feature of Berg, is done by the sausage master

bread with wild yeast is baked by the baker master everyday.

Although many of single menu at Berg cost less than 500 yen, quality of food & drink is very important for the owner and its clients, of course. 

 

The menu board is organized with photos of each plate and the staff are very friendly.

SO don't hesitate to jump in the crowd of beer & cafe Berg just for a glass of beer with sausage, breakfast or Japanese style curry lunch.

The blog title "The last small shop at Shinjuku Station" is taken from a book with the same name in Japanese and telling about the unique management style of Berg. Exactly as the book's title, it is the last small shop at the vital and very busy Shinjuku station. 

 

Restaurant name: beer & cafe Berg

Address: 3-38-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.berg.jp

 This is the message from beer & cafe Berg that we can find on the paper sheet, to understand more (or less?) about the cafe.

 

Shari The Tokyo Sushi Bar, Ginza (銀座)

Do you know what "shari" means in Japanese?

"Shari"(シャリ) is cooked and vinegared rice which is used for Sushi. It is said that superior skill of Sushi cook masters appears as good quality of shari that supports main actors, seafood on top of it. Good shari is made by delicate adjustment of heating and cooking rice, mixing a certain amount of vineger with rice etc. The work is too skilled and delicate to be ignored when you have sushi at nice and traditional sushi restaurants.    

So Shari The Tokyo Sushi Bar, the modern Japanese restaurant featuring colorful sushi rolls took its name from one of the most important parts of Sushi cooking, implying something new through the logo spelled in alphabet as "Shari" not in Japanese characters. 

The space on the 8th floor of a modern building in Ginza, just a block away from both Printemps Ginza department store and Ginza 1-chome subway station. It might not be looked as sushi restaurant from the chic interior with dark brown wooden tables, open-kitchen counter and yellow-green back chairs on gray carpet floor. Waiters of sophisticated appearance may be better matched with a posh French or Italian restaurant.

Yes, the sushi served at Shari The Tokyo Sushi Bar is also never what we expect for an ordinary sushi restaurant. It is modern and polished Sushi. Their rolled sushi plates delight diners more by the colorful looks and variety of ingredients unusual for traditional sushi; avocado, mango fruit, squid ink, fried shrimp etc. 

The lunch rolled-sushi set includes several different kinds (and colors) of sushi rolls as well as a choice of "side dish" such as fried chicken (tatsutaage 竜田揚げ), tempura, fried tuna (kajiki maguro fry, カジキ鮪フライ) or grilled fish (yaki-zakana 焼き魚). The price, a bit over Yen 1000, has very good value. 

 

Restaurant name: Shari The Tokyo Sushi Bar

Address: Albore Ginza, 2-4-18 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Website:  http://www.shari-ginza.com

Information in English: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a727903/lang/en/

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