Newly added “Angel Hour” service gets you a discount on drinks such as L.C.L. and the Ayanam Rei Soda cocktail.
Endings never seem to be permanent in Evangelion. The anime franchise’s original TV series had a 26-episode run with a very unorthodox conclusion in 1996, only to get an alternate ending, or perhaps the same ending with an alternate perspective, with the End of Evangelion theatrical feature in 1997…until the whole story started over again with the beginning of the Rebuild of Evangelion film series in 2007.
So you’ve really got to admire the loyalty to the source material that’s being shown by the Evangelion Bar in Tokyo. After opening last November, the eatery (called the “Evangelion Sakaba” in Japanese) completed its initial run in January of this year. But just like how the anime only became more popular after its television finale, the Evangelion Bar is coming back later this month, and this time for an even longer duration.
Once again, the Evangelion Bar will be found at 46 Shokudo, a revolving themed restaurant in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro neighborhood. Since the Evangelion Bar is being run primarily as an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) there’s a large variety of small-plate snacks and drinks on offer, such as the Test Type Pickles, shaped like the head of Evangelion Unit-01, and the Third Angel Sachiel shumai dumplings.
There’s also Lilith’s Soy-Simmered Quail Eggs, pierced with the Spear of Longinus and the Katsudon Barrier Bowl, a pork cutlet over rice surrounded by an edible A.T. Field.
The beverage selection, due to its liquid nature, obviously gives the Evangelion Bar’s culinary artists a less adaptive medium to work with. However, the drink lineup pays homage to Evangelion’s iconic color design, with sky blues and deep purples, and vivid reds.
▼ The (Rei) Ayanami Soda Sour is a shochu-based cocktail with a popsicle dissolving into it, while the (Asuka) Shikinami Tomato Sour is sort of like a Japanese-style Red Eye.
▼ The Second Impact Wine is garnished with lemon slices that look like a time-lapse photo of the meteorite strike that serves as the in-anime cover story for the mad science experiment gone wrong, while the Mark.06 Wine shares its deep azure hue with its mecha namesake.
The Evangelion Bar also accommodates those with no interest in alcohol, with non-alcoholic cocktails such as drinkable L.C.L., Test Type Drink, and Kaworu Mint (virgin) Mojito.
There re even lunchtime single-person meals, available between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., with your choice of Rei Ayanami Pasta, the “Askatore” pescatore, and Angel Squid Ink Pasta, which looks as unsettlingly sinister as any of the anime’s invading aliens.
But perhaps the best time to come is at 2:10 in the afternoon, when a complicated set of linguistic criteria lines up to create Angel Hour, which actually lasts until 4 p.m., during which all drinks are 41 yen off (in Japanese, Evangelion’s Angels are called shito, which is a homonym for “4-10,” and so there’s a 41.0-yen discount from 14:10, or 2:10 p.m. represented on a 24-hour clock).
▼ Oh, and don’t forget to save room for a Congratulations Cake for dessert, which is really the only way to end an Eva meal.
The Evangelion Bar opens on April 20, and will be inoperation until September 1.
Restaurant information
Evangleion Bar / エヴァンゲリオン酒場
Venue: 46 Shokudo / 46食堂
Address: Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku, Higashi Ikebukuro 1-29-4, Narita Building 4th floor
東京都豊島区東池袋1-29-4成田ビル 4F
Open 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
November 16, 2018-January 6, 2019
Website
Source, images: Press release
[ Read in Japanese ]