Uchida (Tateishi)
宇ち多゛ · Uchida (Tateishi)
- Ward
- Katsushika
- Price
- ¥1,000~2,500
- Hours
- weekdays 14:00~ / Sat early af
- Closed
- Sun and holidays; occasional extra closures
- Getting there
- 1 min walk from Keisei Tateishi Stn
- Founded
- 1946
- The wall menu says only 'motsuyaki'
- Arrive having already had a drink elsewhere and you will be turned away
- Grilled skewers always come two of the same cut per plate
We do not republish copyrighted photographs. Use the links below to see the actual venue.
Obvious to locals, invisible to visitors
There is a simple reason guidebooks leave this out: to the people who live here it is too obvious to be worth explaining.
The wall menu says only 'motsuyaki'. In practice you must combine a cut (shiro, leba, kashira, gatsu, abura, nankotsu, hatsu) with a seasoning (salt, tare, plain-grilled, miso) and a doneness (light, normal, well done) — 'shiro tare yoku-yaki'. Say nothing and you get normal. There are over a hundred combinations, and studying up beforehand is treated as house etiquette.
Arrive having already had a drink elsewhere and you will be turned away — so on a Tateishi pub crawl this place is always stop number one. Groups of three or more are difficult, bags are held in front of you, photos are of food only, and conversation stays quiet.
Grilled skewers always come two of the same cut per plate. The boiled items, confusingly called 'nama', can be mixed one of each — so saying 'leba to hatsu, ippon-zutsu' automatically gets you the boiled version. It is how a solo drinker samples several cuts. Add 'osu' and vinegar goes on with the soy.
The rare cuts appear only right at opening on weekdays, and kashira sells out early too. But opening time is packed with veterans and daunting for a first-timer. If shiro, abura, gatsu and the stew are enough for you, late afternoon on a weekday is far calmer. When the cuts run out, the day simply ends.
Say 'okanjo onegaishimasu' and you settle at your seat. You will be asked how many shochu you had — keep count and answer honestly. There is a per-person cap on the ume-wari, and for a final one you can ask for 'hanbun', a half at half price. Hold your bag in front on the way out too.
What it is
Katsushika is a ward where Shibamata and old-fashioned warmth remain. The menu is a few handwritten sheets on the wall. Few choices means only the confident ones survived. Sides are often refillable, but it is polite to ask first. A rainy weekday is the sweet spot — the crowd thins dramatically. Carry a little cash for peace of mind — cards are still not universally accepted. Rather than anchoring your itinerary, it slots naturally into the gaps between other stops.
What to order
Why locals keep coming
Turnover is fast — food arrives quickly and twenty minutes is enough from sitting to standing. Most customers live within walking distance. Disappoint them once and they never return — which keeps the floor high.