In Kyoto, get off the subway at Shijo Station (四条駅). Exit on the Bukkoji (仏光寺） side towards Kyoto Station. Once you reach the street, turn around and head west on Karasuma Dori (鳥丸通） toward Bukkoji Dori (仏光寺通）. Dotting the streets are fancy-looking shops. Just before you reach Muromachi Dori (室町通) you will bump into a Japanese bar (called an izakaya in Japanese) with a sign that says Pin in hiragana (ぴん)..
I was lucky to find myself the first customer just as the doors opened at 5pm.
The concept of this bar is that you have the option of standing and drinking, although seating is also available. You should be able to satisfy yourself with a budget of about ¥2,000. With ¥4,000 you could buy more than you could consume! The first thing I ordered was the "Pin Set."
The draft beer and small bowl spilling over with edamame and cabbage came first. As I started drinking, two fried meat sticks (kushi katsu) and a stick with chicken and leeks on it (yakitori) were set on the table before me. In the picture I have posted, I had already eaten most of the edamame, cabbage, and one of the kushi katsu.
Once I had finished my beer, I ordered shochu (Japanese liquor similar to vodka) mixed with water for ¥500. It came in a small glass. My total for what I ordered came out to be ¥1,620, which is surprisingly cheap.
Pin can seat 20 people at the counter at tables, plus an additional 6 on tatami seating in the back. The second floor can seat about 20 people. Since Pin has a lot of loyal customers, I checked to see what their recommendations were, which are posted on the wall.
Unfortunately, that day's recommendation of "hine pon" was sold out, but it was chicken with Japanese vinegar for ¥500. Other recommendations included boiled tofu with beef for ¥300. In addition to standard things on the menu, they also offered seasonal foods such as oden (various boiled items such as egg, dumplings, and radish), shrimp potatoes, and red konyaku (which is a specialty of Shiga prefecture).
Inside of Pin, there are endless displays of Fukuoka's baseball team, the Softbank Hawks. Since the owners are die hard fans of the old Softbank Hawks formerly known as the Nankai Hawks, most of the displays support their team. Of course, all fans are welcome regardless of the team they root for.
Softbank Hawks' Matsuda, who was born and raised in the neighboring prefecture of Shiga, has also visited this Japanese bar.
One interesting fact to note is that some of the chairs in Pin used to belong to the Nankai Stadium! There is also an action figure of Sugiura, who is one of the leading pitchers utilizing the pitching throw known as "submarine," that is currently under Pin's safekeeping.
For those who are fans of Softbank's Hawks, their games are always shown on the three cable TV's in the bar. The day before I visited, the bar was packed with Softbank Hawks fans, most of whom utilized the standing tables
For people who find themselves in the area, I highly recommend visiting Pin for its great atmosphere!
