Voco
King Kong points the way to this Sangenjaya pizza and beer haven

Photos courtesy of Voco

King Kong knows what's up. After being abducted from paradise, sold into slavery and shot at atop New York City, he’s clearly had enough. The big ape has now taken up residence in a cozy backstreet of Sangenjaya, and he couldn’t have picked a better place to chill out—and get his hairy gorilla belly’s fill of pizza and beer.

Curious? Let us explain. On a recent November night, our beer tanks were running low and it was difficult to ignore the inviting maze of cozy watering holes along Chazawa Dori. On the recommendation of a friend, we looked for an enormous plastic King Kong hanging off a building—a stunning relic of Bubble-era extravagance. Located just before the awesome ape is Bar Voco.

With a minimal, dimly lit interior tinged with dark wood and a brick pizza oven, Voco dovetails with its chill neighborhood. Lanterns adorn the walls, candles sit in the corners and low-slung tech-house plays over the speakers. Seating and standing room around the U-shaped bar is intentionally narrow, allowing for seamless beer-and-food-to-mouth action. Decorating the space on our visit were pockets of Sangenjaya’s twenty-somethings, some conversing with the friendly barman who had punctually delivered a round of ice-cold draft Asahi Premium (¥500). Settling in and giving the menu a further look, it was clear our evening would entail more than just snacks and a couple of sociables.

Bar Voco’s Italian-based menu is pure simplicity, with the vast majority of main dishes (including oven-fresh pizza) a marvelous ¥500, and side dishes ¥300. Drink prices, too, are standardized, with most just ¥500 per glass. There are also 23 wines from around the world on offer at ¥2,800 per bottle. Bar Voco also regularly hosts parties, with local DJs governing the wheels of steel and a bargain-basement bottomless food and drink deal. Who wouldn’t smile at prices this low?

We did, and chose rapid rotations of drinks, working our way through an extensive range of generously portioned wine sampler sets (three varieties for ¥1,000) for the next three hours.

From the food menu, we started with chorizo bites (¥300) that arrived promptly, spicy and sizzling on a hot plate. A flavorsome and well-presented plate of fresh tomato, mozzarella and balsamic vinegar (¥300) didn’t linger either. Our taste buds were dormant no longer, and a well-topped, crunchy based and refreshing bruschetta (¥300) was a natural progression towards the pizza list, of which a highlight was the anchovy and olive (¥500). An order of mash-potato pizza (¥500) raised a friend’s left eyebrow, but, being British, we ordered it as a matter of instinct, and all were delighted when it came as hot as the sun and super cheesy.

Our flabbers officially gastered, we thanked our simian friend and promised we’d call again soon.

3-14-4 Taishido, Setagaya-ku. Tel: 03-5779-6023. Open Mon-Sat 6pm-3am, Sun & hols 1pm-3am. Nearest stn: Sangenjaya. www.voco.co.jp

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