Chabuzen (Soup Curry), Shimokitazawa

I have recently started this weird thing of shooting manhole cover and feature them in a photoblog. It's nothing new; there are plenty of incredible blogs about those covers, if not even art books about them. I am not sure why I started this, but I just love the designs (obviously) and there is in finding new designs a ludic aspect to it that is quite exciting for the geek in me. The past few years I have spent looking around and up for unusual or pretty things to immortalize with my camera, now I am constantly looking down.

Anyway, looking for new round iron treasures, I was walking on the north side of Shimokitazawa when I came across a Soup Curry restaurant in the middle of almost nowhere. It was noon, hot and I was hungry so I entered the tiny place to discover an almost funnily small counter with three seats, and two little Chabudai (traditional short-legged table) in the back. The owner wearing a traditional brown outfit looked almost surprised when I got in, making me a hint worried that I was the only customer in days. It's also worth noting that I was the only customer during the whole lunch so it's still fair to say that it's not the most happening joint in Shimokitazawa... But my worries were vain as the food he offered me was good.

I ordered the Tappuri Yasai No Soup Kare (soup curry with "bunch" of vegies) and since I had to order how hot I wanted my dish (like Magic Spice but without the tripy names), I went for the house-recommended hotness "ChabuKara".

While waiting for my curry, I had time to chat with the owner, from which I recall 1) he opened the shop a couple of years ago 2) he chose that place because it's far from the station, enabling him to keep menu prices low as the rent is cheaper 3) he loves soup curries and has even spent some time in Sapporo, the "soup curry world capital", to study and improve his own recipe 4) he's originally from Hiroshima and on and on and on...

Just like Magic Spice, this eatery's specialty is definitely more like a hot Pot-Au-Feu (chicken bouillon with vegetables) than a regular curry. The SUPER low-on-salt clear soup looked like it'd been given a lot of care and attention. Little or almost no fat was floating on the transparent liquid and though the place is supposed to be a Yakuzen Soup Curry joint, the bouillon didn't taste (at least to me) like the pungent Kampo spices I usually assimilate to be Yakuzen-style. Yakuzen is a cuisine based on traditional Chinese medecine and this article might help you clarify things a little bit if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

One thing the soup did taste like (and increasingly as I was getting towards the end) is the south-east asian fish sauce Nam Pla. When I asked him whether there was fish sauce in it, the reply was positive.

The house-recommended hotness, which I think was third from the smoothest, was within reasonable for me, but probably too hot for anyone with chili issues.

The restaurant's webpage says the curry contains an impressive 14 vegetables, which I'd love to descrive to you, but most of them were so stewed and had lost so much of their original look, that it makes the listing almost impossible. I'm not a total debutant in food but I'm afraid I could name you only few ingredients so I'll leave it all up to you to try it and find out for yourself! One thing for sure is that numerous different textures were present, from slightly crunchy to melting, so it did not feel like a whole messy puree. One of the non-vegetable very interesting item was the Okara No Gnocchi, literally gnocchis made out of Okara, a substance left when soybeans have been pressed to make soy milk (which in turn is used to make Tofu and Tonyu). I have talked about this uber-healthy product in this doughnut shop post as well. It had the look of mochi (glutinous rice cake) but was mealier inside. A weird texture to be honest, and definitely not a bomb of flavor either but it was a new discovery for sure.

The rice plate I was served was full of flavorful Hatsuga Genmai (germinated brown rice) which is even richer in nutrient factor than the already pretty healthy regular brown rice, due to the work of the enzymes present during germination. I felt the slightly bigger grains went very well with the very liquid soup.

It's out of the way at a good 15mn walk from the station, but the owner/cook is quite funky, the tiny shop is kind of cute and the meal is at a very affordable ¥600, so if you're feeling slightly adventurous and want to try something off the tourist trail, do walk the extra few hundred meters to visit this place.

Chabuzen is closed on Mondays and open the rest of the week (including national holidays) from noon to 15:30pm and 17:30pm to 23:00pm (L.O. at 22:30pm)
Setagaya-ku, Daita 6-16-20
080-6603-8587 (that's a cell phone number so the phone bill will be slightly more expensive than a fixed line call...)
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Pannya (Curry), Shimokitazawa

I am not sure whether it's the horrendous humidity that makes me crave for spices, but I have found myself going to curry joints a lot lately. Our latest currying spree brought us to Pannya, a specialized curry restaurant which opened a year and a half ago, ten minutes or so from the station. The owner is well-known actor Takashi Matsuo, a notorious curry fan.

The shop is a clean, small twelve-seater with movies and theater posters on the white walls.

We got there around nine in the evening and the place was full, so it does seem to be quite popular.

Though the menu said that one should try their specialty Chicken Curry, I opted for the "Tokubetsu Na KatsuKare" (the "very special" curry with topped deep-fried pork cutlet) which I ordered from the charming smily little lady in the kitchen. For your reference, I have featured another Katsu-Kare in this post about the old-school Yoshoku eatery "Kitchen Nankai".

It took her ten minutes or so to cook three other curries on wait and ours so that's really not bad of a performance.

As you can see from the picture, the plate is quite large and the light-colored curry relatively soupy. This is one of the characteristic of this place: the recipe doesn't include any flour which is usually rather common in Japanese curries and gives it its thickness. The curry in itself is rather low in salt (so does the cutlet), not too spicy (would prefer it with more spices) and full of stewed onion. There is a strong emphasis on cardamom flavor so if you don't like that specific spice, you will probably not like this dish.

The very tender rice is a blend of regular white rice and whole grain one and its very boiled texture combines very well with the soup, the grains almost sucking the juice.

The pork comes from Nakasei, a specialized aged-meat shop located in the very chic and residential area Denen-Chofu, which might explain why this curry costs a whopping ¥1,500 when the Chicken one is charged ¥800. The "expensive"meat is almost pink, so if you're the worrying kind when it comes to how your pork is cooked, you might get a little concerned here. However, given the tight hygiene standard put by the Japanese government, I wouldn't be too paranoid about this; I guess you can always ask to have your meat well-done (Telling the cook "Katsuretsu O Yoku Yaite Kudasai" will probably do) if you want to.

Though slightly too low on salt, I found the thin-breaded meat tender and delicious, greatly pairing with the curry sauce.

Once again, I found the whole dish to lack spices and therefore characteristics (or maybe that is the characteristic) , but it was definitely tasting good so I'll go back. Next time I guess I will try their Keema and Chicken half and half curry: our neighbor was eating it and it did look quite good.

Pannya is closed on Mondays and open the rest of the week from 11:30am to 16:00pm and 17:00pm to 22:00pm (L.O.)

03-3485-4548

Setagaya-Ku, Kitazawa 3-23-23

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Magic Spice (Soup Curry), Shimokitazawa

I am featuring today probably one of the most famous soup curry restaurant in Tokyo, "Magic Spice". For those of you not familiar with this tasty and spicy dish, let me copy and paste that little paragraph I wrote before in this other soup curry joint "Kokoro" feature post:

The Soup Curry was born in Sapporo, in the Northern Island of Hokkaido, where it's become as popular as the Ramen, with more than 200 restaurants all competing for the best of its genre. The trend has gone southward and you can find Soup Curry restaurant all over Japan now.
This Japanese remix of the Indian curry is exactly like its name describes it, that is a soupy one. Each restaurant takes pride in cooking the perfect bouillon in which they'll add the spices and the ingredients that they will slowly stew, for the perfect soupy curry.

Bollywood on steroids interior

Magic Spice actually happens to be slightly misunderstood as they're serving more of an Indonesian chicken soup "Soto Ayan" with strong curry flavor rather than a standard soup curry. The mistake by customers is easily understandable though, as the decor inside and outside is of a completely pseudo-Indian psychedelic taste, and even the waitresses dress like they could be working for Air India. The top page of the "English" website is probably the only place with a little bit of Indonesian graphics.

The extravagant look aside, the menu ordering system works a little bit like the "Kokoro" one, meaning you first need to choose the soup dish you want (chicken, pork, beef, seafood, vegi and so forth) and then you ask for how spicy you want it to be. All you need to know is that even the smoothest one is relatively hot, so you shouldn't challenge yourself unless you really can stand it, and the spicier it is the more expensive it is, so it is generally a wise choice to keep it edible at a smooth level.

There are 7 levels of hotness, all named after pseudo-buddhism references, which are (in smoothest +¥60 to hottest order +¥250) :

覚醒 (Kakusei or awakening) > 瞑想 (Meisou or Meditation) > 悶絶 (Monzetsu or Faint in agony) > 涅槃（Nehan or Nirvana) > 極楽（Gokuraku or Heaven) > 天空（Tenkuu or Vault of heaven) >虚空（Kokuu or Void)

There is also an astronomical level of hotness which is not on the menu but which you can ask for, called アクエリアス (Aquarius). You have to sign a waver (I'm serious...) when eating this so do it at your own risks!

Talking about pseudo-buddhism references, you will see that this place is full of weird buddhist and hindi graphics, very strange texts all over the place (from your table to the walls) about how eating curry and enjoying strong spices will make you trip etc...

I ordered the "World's best, tender and juicy" Chicken leg soup curry, and cautiously went for Meditation (Level 2) to start with.

After 10 minutes came a plate of safran rice (with a slice of pineapple) and a pretty big soup with a big chicken leg in it. The other ingredients were some cut carrots, Daikon radish, cauliflowers, onions and chinese cabbage.

Chicken curry and a ray of light

As I told you before, the soup curry here tastes more like a soup with curry flavor. To be more precise, it tastes like a good Pot-Au-Feu, that is a stewed bouillon of chicken and vegetables, with some added "indian" spices like garam masala and some more pepper. The first spoon is surprising as although you know you ordered Level 2 hotness, the spice kick is rather impressive. That's where the safran rice comes in timely and handy as it helps you escape from the peppery feeling.

The mouth-saving safran rice

In case you'd like to smooth or spice-up your soup, there are some red-hot chili powder, some galam masara like yellow curry powder and a transparent liquid made of lemon, lime juice diluted in water. I tried the citrus water which does wonder in smoothing the broth.

Chili powder, curry powder and the magic water

The chicken is well stewed and you really don't need to work hard on it to detach the tasty flesh from the bone. I also prefer the skin roasted than boiled, but it is cooked here long enough to feel unobnoxious. The size of the specimen is quite big so if you're a chicken eater, that one leg should be enough to please you.

As you can see, it looks more like a Pot-au-feu than a curry...

Once again, this is not what I would call a soup curry, but Magic Spice is very very popular in its own right (you will probably have to wait before getting to a table), so should you be curious about the decor, the various mystical levels of hotness and the reason why its cuisine is so famous, please give it a try yourself!

Magic Spice is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, open from 11:30am to 15:00pm and 17:30pm to 23:00pm the rest of the weekdays, and from 11:30am to 23:00pm on weekends and national holidays

03-5454-8801

Setagaya-ku, Kitazawa 1-40-15

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Nasu Oyaji (Curry), Shimokitazawa

sign

I was walking the other day on the south side of Shimokitazawa when a tiny sign at the entrance of a little street caught my eyes, advertizing a restaurant located "63 steps" from there. Pushed by curiosity and hunger, I started walking towards the mysterious joint carefully counting my steps until I got there after 59 steps (have you ever wondered why your steps seem to become suddenly smaller when you count them?).

The cute shop I got to is "Nasu Oyaji" (probably best translated as "Uncle Eggplant"), a curry shop that's been exactly 20 years in business, with a very limited menu of about four different curries. The interior is wood based, rather charming and looks like one of those numerous cafes in Shimokitazawa, simple and arranged with good and humble taste. You can see on the righthand side of the picture a rack with a hundred or so vinyl records which the Eggplant Man plays as a nice background music. Some old american pop was playing when I was there and it does seem like music is one of the boss' passion. It looks like the place is patronized by a lot of musicians as well as music industry people, and there were two guys sitting at a table that clearly were from the biz.

interior

As I said earlier, the food choice being limited, it wasn't too hard to make a decision between the Chicken, Beef, Vegetable or All-mix curries: loving vegies for their taste and for the inner peace they give me when confronted to the gargantuan amount of food I usually ingest, I quickly opted for the Yasai Kare (vegetable curry).

After my order, I started reading a couple of news items on my phone and stepped outside the building to check-in on Foursquare when the waitress got out to tell me the dish was ready. That's how fast I was served.

Vegetable Curry

The regular serving of curry and rice is larger than an average portion somewhere else and should be enough provided you're not starving. The ingredients topped were cuts of boiled eggplants, carrots, broccolis, mushrooms and a quarter of fresh tomato. The boiled egg you see in the middle is a topping I added for ¥50.

I have recently been eating a lot of eggplants that were quickly fried before being additionally cooked so the simply boiled eggplant felt a little "British" and watery but that's basically my only complain.

The curry was hotter than I thought, and probably too spicy for anyone disliking hot stuff. It tastes like a crossbreed of old-school Japanese Kare and authentic Indian curry, with the former one being dominant. The not-too-pasty sauce has this undeniable sweet aroma characteristic of the curries your Japanese mum cooks but with a hot accent of pepper.

The boiled egg was a good idea as the yolk smoothens the curry to a really nice degree when and where mixed. Recommended.

I am attaching for your information a paragraph about addiction from the Wiki article on Curry which I found interesting as I had no clue there were talks of dependance on it.

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Curry addiction

A number of studies have claimed that the reaction of pain receptors to the hotter ingredients in curries, even korma, leads to the body's release of endorphins and, with the complex sensory reaction to the variety of spices and flavours, a natural high is achieved that causes subsequent cravings, often followed by a desire to move on to hotter curries. Some refer to this as addiction, but other researchers contest the use of the word "addiction" in this instance.^[28]

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Nasu Oyaji offers rather basic curries but I somehow understand that some people get addicted to the place and its dishes. A simple menu with good food that's not too expensive in a nice cafe-like atmosphere, that's probably the secret to two decades of successful business in an ever changing and competitive environment that is Shimokitazawa.

They're also serving curries all afternoon, so if you feel a little hungry around 4pm, it is definitely an option!

Nasu Oyaji is closed on Thursdays and serving curries the rest of the week from noon to 22:00pm (L.O. 21:30). They do close when out of sauce, so good luck!
03-3411-7035
Setagaya-ku, Daizawa 5-36-8
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Kitchen Nankai (Yoshoku), Shimokitazawa

"Kitchen Nankai" green nameboard in the middle of the picture...

In my recent quest for Yoshokuya (Japanese-style Western food restaurant. For a very quick recap, read this or the wiki article), I realised today that I had totally forgotten about this hall-in-the-wall (far from beating Frisco in terms of search difficulty) in the main street of Shimokitazawa, the old-school "Kitchen Nankai". This 7 seater (at most), serving Yoshoku fares for the past 32 years is patronized by a predominantly male clientele largely in its 50s and 60s, looking for cheap and filling food. The decor is particularly humble and the walls pretty much worn down. It is worth noting that the die-hard Giants fan chef works in a restaurant with the same name (Nankai) as the team from Osaka which used to be Giants' arch-enemy in the 60s. A little bit like if this "Chelsea" loving guy was working for an eatery called "Manchester U". Not that the master chose to name this place like that: "Kitchen Nankai" is a chain of Yoshoku restaurant that started in downtown Jimbocho and now serves food in several locations within the larger Tokyo area.

a rather "roots" atmosphere...

This eatery is mostly famous for its Omu-Raisu (ketchup-sauteed-rice-filled omelete) and Katsu-Kare (rice topped with curry and deep-fried pork cutlet), and though I thought the Omu-Raise would provide a nice and vivid picture for this post, I went for the quite filling Katsu-Kare instead.

The ¥600 Katsu-Kare

As soon as I ordered it, the lady in the back provided the master with a slice of pork fillet. He dipped it in the egg-flour-water batter before covering the whole thing in fresh breadcrumbs, and finally dropped the meat in the frying oil. That's a good thing: a lot of cheap places have their items already fried and quickly warmed in the oil right before serving.
As soon as the cutlet was ready, he cut it in thin pieces, topped it on the rice, and covered the whole thing with the curry sauce simmering in a large silver pot.

Their curry is the traditional, sweet and not too spicy neither hot, Kare you will taste at Japanese homes or in any old school eatery in Japan. It tastes miles away from what an Indian curry offers in terms of flavor and spices, but it's good nonetheless. I was raised eating this thing so I'm used to it: don't be surprised if you've never tasted it before as it doesn't taste like a Butter Chicken...
The curry in this joint is probably darker in color and stronger and saltier in flavor than the average Japanese one. As you can see from the picture, it is slightly soupy, probably in order to let the breadcrumbs soak up the sauce more easily.
The meat was tender, with very little fat, and the batter well done, if not a little greasy...It definitely combined well with the curry.

I am not going to complain though at ¥600. There's enough rice (which is well cooked) to satisfy anyone and it tasted good overall. It is probably not ranking among the best B-Kyu Gurume (B-list gourmet) fares in Tokyo, but if you're looking for an authentic Yoshoku restaurant, cheap with some good old atmosphere, this place will definitely do.
None of their fares on the menu exceed ¥800 (even for combination plates) so it's a good place to remember if you're on a tight budget. They also have all sorts of deep-fried items, the Yoshoku-must Hanbaagu (hamburger steak) and a Shoga-Yaki (pork sauteed with ginger) that looks pretty good.

As you can see, the place is tiny. Not even 2m wide...

Kitchen Nankai is open everyday except Thursdays and the 3rd Wednesday of the month.
Setagaya-ku, Kitazawa 2-13-5
03-3413-5928
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Spice Kitchen Moona (Indian), Shimokitazawa

We visited five or six years ago this Indian restaurant that ended up not leaving any memorable impressions on us, if not that it was managed by what seemed to be people from the sub-continent. Without knowing that the restaurant's name and owners had changed in the meantime, I since kept on passing by the sign "Spice Kitchen Moona" thinking how bizarre such an average restaurant could stay alive in the fierce competition that face all the businesses in Shimokitazawa.

Looking on the internet for a place to have lunch the other day, how surprised was I to find out that not only the south-Indian cuisine restaurant "Spice Kitchen Moona" was getting rather glowing reviews, but that it was now managed by a Japanese family.

Loving Indian food, we quickly headed for the joint that is located on the top fifth floor of a multi-tenant building, the fourth floor being occupied by the famous musician Keiichi Sokabe's cafe-restaurant-record store "City Country City". The elevator stopping at the fourth floor, we got out and climbed the few remaining stairs to reach the colorful entrance.


Once in, we were first quite amazed at the view from the windows. It is no world heritage landscape for sure, but you don't often get to see the center of Shimokitazawa from such heights. The surrounding is crammed and rather ugly to be honest but it's got that metropolis "Enter The Void" feel to it that I like about busy Tokyo neighborhoods.
The second surprise came from that funny "Ghostbusters" rip-off notice on the table (with a Nan replacing the ghost) which says they don't serve "Nan" (Indian bread) but would rather have you eat their curries with Kaori-Mai (Jasmine rice or Thai fragrant rice). Typical of south-India cuisine where rice is staple food. They serve flat Indian bread "Roti" from 16:00 though.

There is only two lunch menus at noon, a one-curry set (¥980 if I remember well) and a three-curries set (¥1,100). We opted for the little expensive latter to sample a little bit of everything. Each set comes with a large plate of rice topped with what I think was Daikon (Japanese radish) and eggplant pickles and a little bit of non-sweetened home-made yoghurt (not in the picture)

I started by attacking the fish curry first. The fish seems to change time to time and the one we got on that day was one of my favorite "Sawara" (with the amusing English name "Japanese Spanish Mackerel"). Wow, it was cooked to perfection! Sawara can be the most tender fish if nicely prepared and boy they knew how to stew it! The curry was sweet tasting though quite chili hot, with an obvious coconut flavor, almost like a Thai curry. South Indian cuisine uses a lot of coconuts in its recipe, and "Spice Kitchen Moon" does the same. It definitely does wonders with that "Sawara" curry as it prevents the sauce from being too fishy. Good good stuff.

Fish Curry

I then plunged my spoon in the pale-colored vegetable chowder "Sambar", a traditional and typical south Indian dish. I know it is usually based on Toor Dal (pigeon pea), but I have NO idea whatsoever if they used it in their recipe, so feel free to ask if you visit this place.

Sambar

I have to say I was not blown away by that dish. Not that it was bad, but just that it was rather dull. This may be due to the fact that I ate the hot fish curry first, so I would strongly recommend that you start with the Sambar first to really be able to taste it fully.
As crumbled as the vegetables were, I still managed to recognize some onions, green beans and probably potatoes in the broth. The fresh coriander leaves you see on the picture are a leitmotiv in this restaurant, so tell them beforehand if you don't like these, as you'll probably spot them on every single curries.

The curry I kept for last was the good "Chicken Curry" which tasted pretty much like the fish curry. Coconut flavored, spicy, hot and more soupy than pasty (Please remember to check out the Sag Mutton Curry at "Spicia" if you're into pasty curries). Just like the fish which was very nicely stewed, the chicken detached itself from the bone with no particular teeth effort, but still managed to offer some resistance and flavor when chewed to.


I can not end this post without a little comment on the delicately flavored long grain rice. I am unfortunately not gourmet enough to tell you whether there is a chance it might actually be an Indian Basmati rice (though they would probably mention it somewhere if it was), but the presumed to be Jasmine rice was just dry enough to go along very well with the overall quite soupy curries. And the Nan freak that I am did not long for the bread so I guess it says it all.

I am definitely going back to this place. The family running it seemed very friendly, the little expensive lunch was still way worth it and they have few inexpensive items in the menu that definitely got me VERY curious: "Chinese pepper seasoned tomato salad", "Mushroom and fig salad", "Rice-Duck pate with Roti", "Deep fried mutton Keema pie and cheese, stewed in tomato sauce", "Cold shrimp marinated in seven spices"...

Spice Kitchen Moona is closed on Mondays
11:45am to 15:00pm and 17:00pm to 23:00pm (L.O. 22:30pm) from Tuesday to Friday
Noon to 23:00pm (L.O. 22:30pm) on weekends and National Holidays

03-3411-0607
Setagaya-ku, Kitazawa 2-12-13 5F
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Kokoro (Soup Curry), Shimokitazawa

"Kokoro" is one of the few Soup Curry restaurants in Shimokitazawa that I know of, the other one being the uber-famous "Magic Spice".
The Soup Curry was born in Sapporo, in the Northern Island of Hokkaido, where it's become as popular as the Ramen, with more than 200 restaurants all competing for the best of its genre. The trend has gone southward and you can find Soup Curry restaurant all over Japan now.
This Japanese remix of the Indian curry is exactly like its name describes it, that is a soupy one. Each restaurant takes pride in cooking the perfect bouillon in which they'll add the spices and the ingredients that they will slowly stew, for the perfect soup.

At Kokoro, I always order the "14 vegetables soup curry" (okura, tomato, carrot, potato, eggplant, mushroom, baby corn, green pepper, green beans, cabbage and please e-mail me the remaining ones...) which I find to be a killer. When ordering you have to tell them how hot you want the curry to be (which is measured in numbers, the mildest being 1) and whether you want white rice or brown rice. Anything from 1 to 5 is easy. From 6 to 10, you have to like hot stuff. I have never tried anything over 9 but I would assume that it's a little bit too much if you want to enjoy the excellent taste of the soup. Their soup consists of chicken, pork, beef bouillon, bouquet garni, tomato, onion, coriander, cumin, cardamom, clove and cinnamon.
I've seen this guy order level 15 and he kept talking about how "hot" it was and how that's the only thing he tasted... Now you're informed, so don't ruin the delicate mix of all these ingredients with something too spicy!

14 Vegetables Soup Curry

Enjoy!

"Kokoro" is on the North Side of the station (5mn walk).
Open everyday until 22:00 (L.O. 21:30)
Setagaya-ku, Kitazawa 2-34-8
03-5452-3561

click here for a MAP

Spicia (Indian), Shimokitazawa

If you're looking for a relatively cheap, really good Indian place, "Spicia" (Kitazawa 2-23-12, 03-3414-5055) is THE place to go. The chef used to work for the Taj Hotels in India, so we're talking about some serious culinary experience here. Not to mention the staff who are extremely polite and more than willing to help you with your menu choices, so feel free to ask them.

The sag curries are powerful in terms of spinach aroma and very pasty. Try the great Sag Mutton (above) with their garlic chip nan (below). Spicia has a great choice of Nans (plain, cheese, garlic, sesame, basilic) as well as a nice Masala Culcha (sort of vegi stuffed Nan). My favorite is the sesame nan. For amateur of mexican Quesadillas, the cheese Nan is a great alternative.

Tried yesterday for the first time the Keema Mattar curry (Minced lamb curry with peas) which was wonderful. Ask to make it slightly hotter. It was matching the sesame nan (below )perfectly.


No pictures here, but definitely order their soup.

They are open 7 days a week so enjoy!

It's a 30sec walk from the West Exit (on the Inokashira-line platform). Exit left, climb the stairs, take left and turn left immediately on the street parallel to the train. It'll be on your right after 50 metres
Setagayaku, Kitazawa 2-23-12
click here for a MAP