Where Ambiance and Good Food Meets - "Ren" in Shinagawa

I like Italian food, and if you look hard enough, Japan is full of wonderful Italian restaurants.  However, I have been walking this route through Shinagawa for a very long time and it was not until my last trip a few weeks ago that I realized this place was even there.  On my way back to my hotel from a dinner at the Ichiryu Yatai Mura I saw this building on the corner.  What caught my eye were the decorative lights near the front entrance.  Upon closer examination I could see people in the upstairs window.  Could this beautiful old building possibly be a restaurant?  I must investigate!

What first struck me about this place was the building.  It was a wonderful old structure.  I went in and sat at the counter and spoke to the chef and waiter.  Their English was just enough for me to understand.  The chef said this restaurant has been there for nine years, and the building has been there for ninety to one hundred years.  That means it has likely survived the Great Tokyo Earthquake among other things.  This picture above I took off their web-site, and it is a great example of this incredible place.  Here is a picture of the chef, again taken off their web-site.  He said the specialties at the time were a seasonal fish called "samma" along with a spaghetti carbonara type dish that he makes without the use of egg or ham.  He substitutes a Japanese salty fish (the name of which I could not get).  He also makes an eggplant pasta in a tomato based sauce.

 

Here is a view (again from their web-site) of the upstairs dining area.  We had a dinner there on a Friday night and sat in the far corner of this picture.

We tried all of their specialties and we all felt that the food and ambiance was of very good value.  I would recommend to my friends or anyone else to try this place out.

Good food, good friends, good ambiance.  That is Ren in Shinagawa on that Friday night.
www.ren-shinagawa.com

Nov. 2010 Japan Trip - Post #14: Farewell Party!

Ok, this Blog is not dead.  On life support maybe, but not dead.  Having just returned from another wonderful trip to this fantastic country, I have been re-invigorated to come back and write again.  First on my list is to complete the final entry of the trip there with my wife in 2010.  After that, we will see where it goes.  I do have so many more interesting (at least I think so!) stories to tell, so there should be no trouble with generating more posts.  Alas, back to November 2010 in Tokyo.

After our return from the Tohoku region we had a final night in Tokyo.  Nothing too fancy, just a dinner out with old friends.  My colleagues from the office agreed to gather to eat at a local place, which was an English themed sports pub for our final meal.  I guess they were being very considerate for my wife's culinary tastes.  This consideration should be no surprise. We are talking about Japan after all.  I remember out in front of this establishment they actually had a small turf soccer field which was lighted.  Quite good marketing I would say for this place.  A heavy soccer influenced place.  Probably a madhouse during the recently concluded World Cup (if this place is still in business as I have not been back since 2010).

Good friends.  Good beer.  Comfortable food.  We had such a wonderful time on this trip.  It was a large number of years in the making.  I had the help of many of my colleagues, in addition to other friends.  For me it was very special.

Sad to say though after these past 3 1/2 years many things have changed in the company.  Many of my old friends have moved on or retired.  The good thing is though I still keep in touch with many of them, which is the most important thing anyway, right?

Life goes on.  Many things change.  Nothing stays the same.  Except friendships.  They can last forever.  If you try hard enough, and the feelings are mutual.

I think back on this trip now and am thankful for many reasons.  First and foremost though is that while I had wanted to do it for many, many years, when it finally did happen, it was only four short months later that the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami occurred.  We were very fortunate with this scheduling.  I am glad we did not procrastinate any longer.  The old Furusato and Cha-Cha's in Tagajo are gone forever.  They have been replaced with newer versions thankfully, so they do live on.  I live on too.  And hopefully, so does this Blog.  Thank you for reading it.