And when the noodles are finally gone, the bowl empty of everything but a few oleaginous blobs, each diner sets his bowl back upon the counter, mumbles “Gochiso-sama deshita” — roughly “Thank you for the meal” — pays the 700-yen fee (about $7.85 at 89 yen to the dollar) and wanders back out into the daylight world where Ganko suddenly seems like a hallucination, a Wonderland dream of noodly bliss. -One Noodle at a Time in Tokyo.

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” Late Winter Noodle Lunch List ”

01. Magnolia Electric Co. - Little Sad Eyes
Josephine (Secretly Canadian, 2009)
02. Surfer Blood - Anchorage
Astrocoast (Kanine Records, 2010)
03. Beach House - Lover Of Mine
Teen Dream (Sub Pop Records, 2010)
04. Generationals - When They Fight, They Fight
Con Law (Park the Van, 2009)
05. Local Natives - Sun Hands
Gorilla Manor (Frenchkiss Records, 2010)
06. AM - Self Preservation
Future Sons & Daughters (Filter US Recordings, 2010)
07. Cass McCombs - Dreams Come True Girl (featuring Karen Black)
Catacombs (Domino Recording, 2009)

note: Something soft for lunch. Slight late winter melancholy, but with warm noodle side. It’s mellow head bopping surf rock. Enjoy. (ok. I need to dig back into old directory to find my half ass best of decade list, cause Moka wants them. oboy. this is going to be ugly.)

image: nekotank