Small Eatery "Shio to Kobu to Watashi" Opens: Tokyo Island Spirits at Night, Miso Ramen at Lunch

"Shio to Kobu to Watashi" has opened in Asakusa 4-chome, Taito-ku, and will mark its second month on November 4. Set in a renovated former warehouse, the shop was opened by an owner who was born in Taito-ku and loves mikoshi (portable shrines). The owner closed their previous shop in Asakusa 5-chome on August 31 and moved here.

Different Shops for Day and Night

At night, the owner runs the place as a small eatery. During the day, a man who served as manager at a Chinese restaurant until May this year runs it as a "ramen specialty shop." The name comes from "Shio" (tide), taken from a line of the festival song "Omatsuri Mambo" and the owner's love of the sea, and "Kobu" (to inspire), which plays on the "kobu" shouted when carrying a mikoshi and the meaning of "making visitors feel energized."

Night Menu

• Grilled salt-lemon chicken, ginger pork, hamburger steak (plain or jalapeño, 900 yen each)
• Clams pickled in laojiu (aged Shaoxing rice wine), squid pickled in sanshō-zuke (700 yen each), assorted oden (150 yen each)
• Taco rice, keema curry, gyudon beef bowl (1,100 yen each; mini size 600 yen), chilled salsa mazesoba (1,100 yen)

The salt-lemon paste, salsa, jalapeño sauce, and more are all homemade. Vegetables are bought directly from farmers, and noodles from the Asakusa noodle maker "Asakusa Kaikarou" are used both day and night. The drinks lineup features "Tokyo Island Spirits," shochu made on the Izu Islands.

Daytime Miso Ramen

There are five kinds, each 800 yen: "Miso Ramen," "Slightly Spicy Miso Ramen," "Spicy Miso Ramen," "Curry Miso Ramen," and "Mildly Spicy Sesame Miso Ramen." No alcohol is served during the day. A salt ramen using "Amano Mojio" sea salt from Hiroshima Prefecture is planned to be added.

The night service follows a one-drink, one-food system, with a table charge of 500 yen. Hours are 11:00–14:00 and 18:00–23:30. Closed on Wednesdays.