Go beyond the wooden benches and beer crates out front of Nakano Darling’s ever-changing façade and you’d be forgiven for feeling you’d stepped smack through a Tokyo warphole – one where the Suntory whiskey, sake, sochu, umeshu and beer flow as freely as the nihongo and the kind of place in which anyone with a love of good booze and delicious food could lose themselves happily for entire nights… if not days.

Ebullient, eclectic and insanely entertaining (whether you hit up the karaoke room or not), Nakano Darling stands for everything that makes the izakaya – or humble ‘stay-drink-place’ – such a central and beloved part of Japanese food culture, and in this little book the team behind the Sydney star invite you to take the leap Japan-wards with them, sharing not only what makes the place tick but also, courtesy of the inimitable Ebony Bizys (aka Hello Sandwich), a stunning photographic guide to the izakayas of the suburb from which they take their name. Yup, all the food and drink favourites are present and correct (homemade gyoza, karaage chicken and whisky cocktails, anyone?) but really, that’s just a small part of the picture – it’s all about the JOURNEY here.

So, who’s up for taking this particular ride with us? Tokyo, here we come!

96 Page paperback
178mmx108mm