A cozy izakaya located directly in front of Yoyogi-Uehara station, Marche offers a nice selection of seasonal craft sake at very reasonable prices. Sake-friendly dishes like miso-marinated avocado and pickled burdock root are ready to complement your drinks, or if you're up for a full dinner there's more hearty fare like charcoal-grilled Iberico pork, stewed beef tendon and spicy Berkshire-pork sausages.

The Iberico pork is generously marbled, and it's served on a portable grill so that it continues to sizzle at your table (or your counter space) as you eat it. There's a daily menu of small Kyoto-style obanzai-ryori dishes, and some recent highlights have included an excellent tofu-based "blue cheese," buttery-smooth pork rillettes, and Marche's always-popular house potato salad. All obanzai items are priced at three yen per gram, so a typical small dish will cost around Y350 or so.

The U-shaped wrap-around counter is relatively spacious, and table seating is comfortable, although the lively acoustics mean that it can get noisy at times. Smoking is permitted at one end of the dining room, with an effective ventilation system to keep it localized. Service is friendly and sake advice is helpful. Budget around Y3000-4000 for food and drink.