猫のまほう

Ahhhh, the cat cafe(ネコカフェ)! The place we went is called 猫のまほう (cat's magic) and it sits next door to Osaki-hirokoji station (大崎広小路駅) on the Ikegami line (池上線) 1 stop from Gotanda (五反田駅). The first thing that you'll notice about the place is that there are no cats to welcome you. All the cats are chilling up on the next floor. First thing to do is wash your hands! The restaurant floor is nice and airy with floor seats that are a little tough to get in and out of but nice enough. The food is pretty good but on the puny end of the spectrum for sure. While you wait for food don't waste a min of your 300円 per 15min fee and head upstairs to play with the magic cats! There were about 10 cats or so of all kinds of breeds and colors. Most of the cats that were there were plum tuckered out from their lunchtime performance but they were pretty cute. The few cats weren't sleeping it off were happy to indulge us in our less than cool fantasies of being a pet owner in Tokyo.I recommend hitting up the place for the lunch set or the middle of the night. If you go in before 3pm you get some treats to give to the cats. Be warned! Some cats love treats and could take your head off for them! Maybe not, but close. In the back of the menu there are profiles of all the cats with age, sex, and location... and sometimes with warnings that the cat is very genki (元気) and might jump at you for treats, so watch out!Beer was good, food was good, and cats were cool, check it out!

T: 7
P: 4
F$: 4
B$: 6
V: 3
A: 7
S: 8
X: 10

Total score: 49/70

Tearoom More Than Organic

Just so I don't have to write that again lets just call it TMTO from here on out. TMTO is a little cafe just down the street from my place that I only noticed recently. Can't say how long it's been there, but my guess is that it's pretty new. TMTO is a one woman operation and the proprietor is a very nice, if not at times befuddled, older lady who serves up coffee and tea and a few food items. By "a few food items" I mean 3. You can select toast, honey toast, and a cheese sandwich. I went with the cheese sandwich and it was tasty, but far from filling. Not much else to say about the place except that it's only open about 4 days a week. Don't know what she's up to the rest of the time, but it's not coming up with new menu items! TMTO serves its purpose if its purpose is to serve tea and coffee only. Worth a Sunday afternoon drop by to take advantage of the table outside under the sun, too bad it's closed on Sunday too...

T: 3
P: 8
F$: 4
B$: 0
V: 3
A: 4
S: 8
X: 6

Total score: 36/70

El Amigo

El Amigo is a little Tex-Mex place along Nakahara-kaido (中原街道) near Nagahara station (長原駅), 3 stops from Yukigaya-Otsuka on the Tokyu Ikegami line (東急池上線). The interior of the place is lifted straight from a Mexican place in America, just with less stuff on the walls. The house speciality is steak, and although it looked really good, I went with some tacos (タコース) and enchiladas (エンチラ). The homemade corn tortillas are the real-deal, but the seasoning of the (under-volumed) meat left something to be desired but satisfying enough when you put on the delicious taco sauce. Too bad the selection of Mexican favorites is on the few side, but the overall flavor was good for a country where I can count the number of Mexican restaurants I've seen on one hand.
The taco toppings are pretty underwhelming, but you can circumvent the problem by ordering a salad (I recommend the avocado salad (アボカドサラダ)) and tortillas (トルティアズ) separately. The prices are a touch expensive, expect 4-5000円 for 2 people, except when it comes to beer. There is a great (again, for Japan) selection of Mexican beer all for 550円, about 150円 cheaper than anywhere else. El Amigo isn't the best Mexican food in the world, but it's the best and closest around here, maybe the only as well.

T: 6
P: 4
F$: 6
B$: 9
V: 5
A: 8
S: 7
X: 9

Total score: 54/70

安安

editor's note: The mountain of cabbage (山盛りスライスキャッベツ) has been removed from the menu! I went tonight, and was very disappointed... take away 3 points from the total.

I have been singing the praises of An An (安安) since before the early days of no airplay (link) when I had 2 of them in my old stompin grounds of Omori (大森) and I would stop by after work before my weekend to reward myself for a hard-fought week of work with cheap yakiniku (焼き肉) and cheap beer. I was super happy when I found out the former yakiniku hot-spot in Yukigaya (牛角) was being replaced by an An An. An An is not necessarily for the refined carnivore, but for the carnivore with a little wallet. Most things on the menu can be had for 290円. For starters, i recommend the mountain of sliced cabbage with Cesar dressing (山盛りスライスキャベツ/シーザードレッシング), some roast cuts of beef (ロース), a big bowl of white rice (ライス大盛り), and a beer (ビール), which, all together will cost u about 1000円.




The interior of An An in Yukigaya feels rushed and unfinished, but you don't go there for pretty pictures on the walls, you go there to get drunk and full for cheap!








"安心, 安全, 安いだから安安" (peace of mind, safety, cheap, that's why it's An An!)
T: 8
P: 7
F$: 10
B$: 10
V: 6
A: 4
S: 5
X: 5

Total score: 55/70

Soul Food

So soul food is the most original restaurant in the greater Yukigaya area. It is a curry restaurant that feels like it was transported from the Alabama backwoods. The interior is adorned with R&B and soul records from greats such as Sly & the Family Stone, and Aretha Franklin. The first time I visited Soul Food I was somewhat disappointed because my expectations were for a more CoCo Ichi (CoCo壱番屋) style of curry which I love, but it wasn't that at all. In fact it's very different than any curry I've had anywhere else, and it's really, really good! Suspend all expectations and you won't be let down (Wow, that's deep) and order the steak curry rice (ステキカレーライス) for 1200円 or one of the many other curries available. I recommend the eggplant and pepper curry (ナスとピーマンカレー) or the standard pork curry (ポークカレー). Sides are small and few, but tasty! The asparagus butter is a winner, the cold tomato has an awesome dressing. Soul Food is not only a curry provider, but a burbon provider as well. I'm more of a tequilla conosuer myself, but when it comes to beer Soul Food has gone with a good choice in Ebisu (ヱビス). Ebisu is expensive everywhere, but it's a good match to the curry, and no more expensive than anywhere else.
The only possible negative is that the interior is as spacious as a baby shoe (don't know where i got that one...) so you are gonna max out with a group 4 people, and only if the big table is open. The owner is a bit gruff, but a pleasant enough fellow.GO TO SOUL FOOD!

T: 10
P: 10
F$: 7
B$: 7
V: 7
A: 9
S: 8
X: 8

Total score: 66/70