Whether you’re looking for a quick lunch or a refuge from Tokyo’s infamous summer heat after a long day of shopping, Shinjuku’s Brooklyn Parlor is the perfect place to relax.
Free Wi-Fi, a mile-long drink menu and a trendy jazz backdrop make this a great hangout for hipsters and anyone else looking for a place to relax and enjoy a good meal.
While Brooklyn Parlor offers all the standard amenities of a modern Tokyo cafe, this spacious basement eatery is anything but average. Small touches such as the kitchen stamping the restaurant’s logo on the dessert pancakes shows the staff’s commitment to detail and to making sure their guests enjoy their visit.
The walls of the restaurant are lined with wooden shelves filled to the brim with books and magazines in multiple languages. The dining area is sprinkled with modish seating and small, intimate tables throughout. While larger than the average Tokyo cafe, or Brooklyn cafe, for that matter, the mass of humbly sized tables is arranged efficiently enough to ensure that everyone has enough space to sit comfortably.
The lunch and dinner menus, which change weekly, offer everything from herb-crusted grilled pork and penne Bolognese during the day to broadbill swordfish burgers and duck confit at night. Considering the quality and size of the meals, everything is reasonably priced, with the most expensive items topping out at about 1,800 yen.
The wine menu offers a decent number of casual choices, available by the glass or bottle, and the voluminous cocktail menu shows off an impressive list of mixed concoctions for those in search of a well-made drink. The Brooklyn Lager, the cafe’s tap beer, is a woody amber lager that even the toughest of beer snobs can appreciate.
The food, drinks and atmosphere of trendy urban Americana found at Brooklyn Parlor make this place a must for anyone in Shinjuku with an appetite and some time to spare.
guzman.eric@stripes.com
BROOKLYN PARLORAddress: B1F Marui Annex, 3-1-16 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m., Monday through Sunday.
Attire: Casual.
Information: Phone: 03 6457 7763; website: www.brooklynparlor.co.jp/shinjuku; Twitter: @BrooklynParlor.
