Bar 365

Great bang for the buck; everything’s 365 yen.

Bar 365 is named as such not because it’s open 365 days a year (on the contrary, it operates only on weekends) but because everything on its menu, both drinks and food, are 365 yen. You could get a whole pizza for 365 yen here.

However, it’s not Bar 365’s great bang for the buck that caught our attention but its entrance: with the name ‘Bar 365’ engraved and glowing red in a black, charred, stone archway, it looks like the entrance to a dungeon or cave. The stone decor follows you from the entrance, up along the stairs and straight into the bar itself. The walls are stone, as is the floor. Be careful not to trip over the edges and dips in the stone steps (I almost did.).

Take a seat at the counter, or if you’re in a larger group, take the cosy sofa and coffee table by the window. Even during the colder seasons, sitting by the window won’t be unpleasant because Bar 365 is not a dungeon or a cave as I had initially thought; it’s an oven. It’s delightfully toasty warm and there’s this smell of pizza in the air so subtle you might miss it if you weren’t looking for it.

Bar 365 continued to please me when I realised our drinks were being served alongside poker chips. These poker chips serve the same function as plates in a sushi conveyor belt restaurant; it’s to keep tabs on how much you’ve ordered. They’re also kinda fun to play with if your hands are twitchy and restless.

All in all, Bar 365 is a great place to have a date, or to have a nice, chill evening with a small group of friends. Plus, it’s only a three-minutes’ walk from the closest station (Koenji station). There are also many other bars in the area, so if Bar 365 isn’t to your liking, feel free to bounce around and check out other places.