Don't let the ramshackle appearance dissuade you. Toyo's izakaya is worth the hype. Showing up at 30 minutes before it's advertised open time of 1530, the stand up 'tachinomi' tables were already filled with patrons on this Wednesday afternoon.
It was notable that nearly all...of them were Japanese because sudden fame, the new reality in the social media era, has turned many Japanese iconic locations into western destinations which eventually push locals away. Tokyo's Robot Restaurant comes to mind, as does Genki Sushi in Shibuya, where Japanese are the small minority these days. Even Shibuya's Halloween phenomena is losing its Japanese uniqueness as tourists last year seemed to make up a much larger portion of the crowd than it has in previous years.
But Toyo still delivers despite his Netflix fame. He's an entertaining and jovial man, eager to please with a pose for photographers, but, essentially, by serving good portions of great food for a fair price. There was no evidence that he was taking advantage of his customers with his new found fame. My friend and I had a couple of beers, shared a large portion of his famous flamed tuna cheek, and generously portioned tuna sushi and a dish of fresh, lightly pickled, scallops and spent less than $25USD.More
