Bonus Track: Rare shops and food in Shimokitazawa


2020.10.04

NAVITIME TRAVEL EDITOR

Bonus Track: Rare shops and food in Shimokitazawa

Bonus Track is a new commercial facility with cafes and small boutiques within walking distance from Shimokitazawa. Newly opened in October 2020 as a new form of “regional publicity” for private businesses and artists, the facility will be a great location to visit to find things that are rarely sold at chain stores.

  • 01

    Sake & Rice Porridges: Andon

    Originally started out as a omusubi rice ball restaurant in Nihonbashi in 2017, Andon opened a new restaurant at Bonus Track offering customers the chance to discover Akita ingredients and dishes like “bodakko” (salted Akita salmon), “iburi-gakko” (fermented, pickled daikon radish), and sake.

    ANDON and Mr. Masahiro Takeda (representative)

    ANDON and Mr. Masahiro Takeda (representative)

    Simple, white-based interior is decorated with a pop images of "Namahage", a beneficent visiting deities called raihō-shin from Akita prefecture who are said to drive away evil and bring good fortune as they warn against vices. And their droll performances also serve as a form of entertainment. Usually they look like an ogre.

    ANDON and its special "Namahage" beer

    ANDON and its special "Namahage" beer

  • 02

    Hakko (fermented) Department

    There are wide range of unique fermented foods, ingredients, and alcoholic beverages from standard soy sauce and miso to unique local pickles and sake gathered from all around Japan. The shop not only sells fermented foods , but also they have a café type restaurant serving dishes made with fermented foods and a gallery area for learning about fermentation and holding tastings or lectures.

  • 03

    Cold Pressed Juice: Why?

    The new branch store at Bonus Track is a new business model from fresh juice stand "Why Juice?" from Daikanyama. Using exclusively selected seasonal fruits and vegetables, the store offers cold-pressed juices, smoothies, and light meals. Its iconic "Why?" logo on its wall could be a new photo spot.

  • 04

    Coffee & Beer : tsukihi

    The era of social technologies provides seemingly endless opportunity, both for individuals and organizations. Going against that era, writing diary on an actual paper is still popular. "tsukihi" is a small library like shop specializing in diaries gathered from all over the places and would be a perfect shop to drop by if you are looking to see and find new unique diaries. There is a coffee and beer stand to enrich the minds to boost creativity to advance in writing in the shop too.

  • 05

    Curry & Sake

    The curry offered at Adda is a special mix of curry from Osaka's very popular Indian curry restaurant Bota and Sri Lankan curry restaurant Deccao. In the evening, the store turns into a bar with the owner's eclectic selection of sakes and finger foods centered around bottles of gin.

  • 06

    pinola records

    Shimokitazawa is famous for having many live music venues and there used to be many record shops. However, due to the shift towards live streaming, its is getting difficult to find such decent stores. In such phenomena, pinola records stocks avant-garde and experimental music in vinyl, CD and cassette tapes as well as everyday type popular music which will surely be a new hot spot for music fans. If you look carefully, you might find something rare. They also run its own music label, "Conatala".

  • 07

    Croquette Café

    Japanese potato croquettes, or “Korokke” as they are called in Japanese, is a delicious fried food made from panko-crumbed mashed potato with carrot, onion, and mince. Each croquette at this café is bite sized and comes with three different variations; sweet potato, potato and with pork. Without adding any dipping sauces like Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce which is a typical sauce for croquettes in Japan, the one sold at this café is already tasty enough from using exclusively selected vegetables and meat, it can be enjoyed as is.

  • 08

    Taiwanese Restaurant: Big Romantic Store

    Big Romantic Store offers traditional Taiwanese homestyle cooked dish lǔ roù fàn, a porkbelly or minced pork over a hot bowl of rice. It has a perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors. Aside from the delicious gourmet, the restaurant sell T-shirts and items designed with unique characters and writings.

  • 09

    Access

    Bonus Track

    Closest Station:
    Setagaya-daita staion on Odakyu line (5min walk)
    Shimokitazawa station on Odakyu line (East exit) or on Keio line (West exit)

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    BONUS TRACK
    place
    Tokyo Setagaya-ku Daita 2-36-15
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