Tam's Bar

Tams Bar outside.JPG
Suginami
Asagayaminami 1 Chome 15-1 Suginami-ku Tōkyō-to JP

Tam’s Bar is a tiny basement bar that seats no more than ten people at a time. As the sign brightly states, it opened in 1984 and features Jazz and Soul. I was a bit surprised to walk in and not see the usual one-thousand or so albums packed into a shelf behind the bar, instead there were just a couple dozen CDs and an MP3 player. The charming and chatty owner Oikawa-san informed me that she used to have a big vinyl collection but due to space issues, she converted to CDs several years back. This was not so encouraging but when the next random tune came up and I heard the first notes of ‘In A Silent Way’ by Miles Davis, my faith was restored.

Tam’s seems like a very ‘regular’s only/mostly’ joint but Oikawa-san was so friendly and welcoming that I won’t hesitate to drop by again when in the neighborhood. ¥1000 sit-down charge plus the usual beer and whiskey prices. Oikawa-san didn’t have any business cards left when I visited and said she ‘gave up halfway’ making a homepage. I’ll get the phone number and complete address during my next visit!

Size
1-10
Directions

Station: JR Koenji

Exit: South

Distance from station: 4 minutes

Take JR Koenji South Exit and turn right. Walk along the tracks for just a couple of minutes, passing the Irish Bar and karaoke place on the left side. Tam’s is down the elft side alleayway after there, you’ll see the green sign on the ground.

Date published
01/08/2013
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