Eighties Haiti party at Apres, Kanazawa

Saturday night I went to a Haiti Earthquake fundraiser party organised by the Ishikawa Jets, a great idea for raising much needed funds for Haiti.
The party was being held at the NEW Apres club in Kanazawa 2 floors below the Apres bar which has been opened a few months now. We were well excited. I can categorically tell you that there is NO cheesy clubs in Kanazawa to dance to some Justin or shake ya booty to Beyonce....There's 8 Hall and Manier if you like hard dance music but for a rapidly aging 31 yr old it's not sooo appealing anymore.

You spin me right round, baby right round, like a record....lalala

Wow gaijins altogether in Kanazawa!

Anyway that's all set to change with the opening of the Apres club and boy did we shake our booties! The place was absolutely heaving and I've never seen so many foreigners in one place since I moved to Kanazawa.

OK it was a JET organised night so I guess usually its not so packed. DJ's including Dipika, Gav from Fuji Rocks' mate and a few other gaijins cranked out some fantastic 80's cheese, there's just nothing like a bit of Belinda Carlisle to get everyone going, hahaha.

I had originally gone all out with my 80's outfit managing somehow to look like a care bear (a really scary wrinkly one, see piccie at top) but when I turned up at Karis for pre-club drinks the girls had dressed up so sophisticated that I felt compelled to change my outfit. Maybe my dressing up days are over?!

Anyway, we danced our socks off until 4am at which point I realised the dance floor had been deserted and we were the only ones on it. Hmmm....time to go......to eat ramen! See my other post...

The Theatre: Hidden gem of a restaurant in Kanazawa

Me and Kari doing our best trying to look sophisticated....

Met the girls tonight for a girly dinner and catch up. Standing about trying to decide where to go, Ayako told us about this restaurant that her and her hubby Dustin went to a few weeks ago.

We trekked off to the restaurant, called "The Theatre". Never has the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" been more pertinent to describe this place!

There's a scrappy looking sign outside the building with an arrow pointing up, ahh its on the 4th floor. There's no lift so you have to trek up 4 floors of a really manky outdoor stairwell.

BUT people I promise, you will be rewarded for the restaurant is such a hidden gem and a wonderful surprise when you get inside. To be honest half way up the stairs myself and Kari were ready to turn back but it was only for Ayako's insistence...

Inside the restaurant has a french shabby boutique cafe feel (rare in Kanazawa I've realised) Wooden floorboards, soft lighting, little Parisian style patio chairs, plants and a very chilled out ambiance.

The owner was the only one there. He was not only serving drinks but prepping the food, cooking it and serving it. God I love a guy who can multi-task...

The menu (in Japanese I'm afraid peeps) advertised homemade pizzas, pastas, rice dishes, salads and a selection of yummy appetizers. We had the homemade "clog your arteries with every mouthful" 4 cheeses pizza which I can highly recommend as well as a few random appetizers.

3 bottles of Chilean's finest red wine later, we stumbled down the 6 flights of stairs narrowly avoiding injury. By the time we left the place had filled up with locals just having drinks so I guess it's a bar to hang out in too. I felt like a right "insider", this isn't a place you'd stumble across thats for sure but well worth the leap of faith and manky stairwell.

The Theatre is in the above building on a little street just behind Kanazawa City Hall. To being extra helpful I've even put it on a google map. Have fun there!

View The Theatre Restaurant, Kanazawa in a larger map

New Apres Bar in Kanazawa has opened

Being a newbie in Kanazawa, I can’t really rave on about the great nights I had at the last Apres but boy have I heard about them! Apres this, après that...

So I was intrigued to check it out this gaijin friendly bar/restaurant when I heard it re-opened last week. So before the Noh performance we popped in for some nosh and a chu-hi.

The bar itself is pretty uninspiring, sticky floors, a few long tables/chairs, definately a Sat night gig and not a daytime hangout. I chose a curry from the all Thai menu. I was hoping for some proper spice since it doesn’t seem to exist in Japanese food. It didn’t disappoint. Our mouths were on fire. A litre of water later we took a little explore around the new Apres. So it’s firstly pretty small, so not much of an explore, but there is this cool little private room with a huge glass window which Kari decided to dance provocatively against, oh jeez, a sign of times to come?

To find Apres, go to the scramble in Katamatchi, as you're standing outside Mr Donuts, cross the road to directly the other side and walk down that street for about 2 mins, on the right, on the corner you'll see the Apres sign. Apres is on the 8th floor. Google map here

Yes and "club blow" is what you think it is.....I think its a few floors down from Apres.

Nyumba Bar's 4th Anniversary: Hip little bar, Kanazawa

Last night I ended up meeting Dustin, Ayako and friends at their local hangout, Nyumba for an "all you can drink for 200 yen" night. Poor sods, they don't know I'm British.. Tucked away on a small street behind the Rifare building, Nyumba is a great little spot and a place you wouldn't stumble upon easily (which makes it all the more exciting to find!)

The interior decor is uber cool and brings instant relief to those struggling with the towering, souless buildings surrounding the area. I honestly didn't think there were any hip bars in the area. What makes it even more unique is the resident dog, its the size of my fist, the smallest dog I've ever seen thats for sure. Maybe a chihuahua?

Back to the bar. I've just to savour the delights of their food menu, only bar snacks, but from what I've seen it looks fantastic (if you can get your head around the katakana menu, no pictures sorry folks) The fried lotus chips are great as well as the beers naturally...

Tubo Cafe: Perfect Saturday lunch spot in Kanazawa

Met the girls for lunch today. Tammy is a veggie so they decided on a place they'd been to before & knew did great food. It didn't disappoint. The Tubo Cafe is another trendy hangout this time in the pedstrianised shopping area in Katamachi (main shopping district of Kanazawa). Go past the 100 yen shop on the left walking away from Mcdonalds and its there on the right.


Tubo does a lunchtime set menu costing 780 yen which includes miso soup (naturally), main dish and a drink. Bargain! The choices aren't massive, its tomato curry and rice (which looks and tastes a lot better than it sounds), mexican tortillas and rice (which I had. It comes with the token raw egg on top, not very Mexican but still lovely) and a ham sandwich and chips. Yes quite random choices but still good food.

Tubo is a deceptively spacious bar with a huge upstairs area (see picture) offering comfy sofas and free newspapers & mags if you fancy. I loved their style; wooden floor boards, exposed brick and soft lighting this is a great place for a lunch, a coffee, a few drinks with friends or just to oggle at the lovely barman!

Very cool, although everything I see in Kanazawa seems to be so nothing new there!

Heartbreak Bar- Strictly No Boys (apart from owners best mates)

Ladies night? Sick of the sight of Sake and gagging for a good cocktail? Look no further. I absolutely love the Heartbreak bar in Kanazawa. Kari and UGee introduced me to it a few weeks ago and I seriously have dreams about the cocktail owner (whose name I've forgotten) makes up.

OK firstly, the "rule" is no boys (tee hee) We're not sure of the origins, he's not gay and it's certainly not a host bar but boys just aren't allowed. Except for the owner's closest male friends of course which consists of 10 blokes, almost enough to fill the entire bar!

Secondly back to the cocktails. Seriously some of the best I've tasted (although I'm not the cocktail expert) My fave is a vodka based cocktail with a Yuzu (Japanese citrus fruit) jam at the bottom so you end up sucking the yuzu through your straw. Delicious refresher after a big meal I say!

If you're walking past Kohrinbo 109 on the right towards the turquoise Katamatchi bridge, hook an immediate right straight after Kohrinbo. Heartbreak Bar is located just on the corner. Exact location is here

You'll see these posters outside (that owner designed himself- hes a former graphic artist....) and you'll need to go up one flight of stairs.

Kanazawa Karaoke!

I've been for 3 weeks now so it was about time I experienced the karaoke phenomenom! Last night I went out with Sarah (works at GEOS, met her through Kari) and some of her Japanese students in Katamatchi, the pub/restaurant district of Kanazawa. We kicked off the night at an izikaya, was really gorgeous food so clocked where it was and will definately go back. After eating 3000 yens worth of food (about £25) we went up to meet her mate Paul and another guy whose name I've forgotten now, oops, I'm so crap.

The bar was run by a beautiful filipino lady who was fun with a capital F. We sang karaoke with her and another guy Tony (the guy in above pic) who was working behind the bar until 4am. OK so to me thats bloody late & my bedtime radar was sounding but they then took me kind of dragged kicking & screaming....tempting me with a free drink...to Sturgis, another bar in Katamatchi. Wow, what can I say about this place. Firstly, its tiny like all the bars seem to be in Kanazawa but it's just sooo damned cool! Dark, retro and crammed with bric a brac, guitars on the walls, posters, postcards, a video camera with screen and just random stuff everywhere. Run by a local guy who looks like a proper Japanese hells angel but is a sweetie.

Anyway people, video from Sturgis bar below (owner is playing the guitar) beware crazy music and crazy people!