Minato Mirai

One of the best parts of being in a place like Yokohama is that you can watch and participate in average Yokohama social life. We went to Minato Mirai which has been redeveloped as future city. I forget the japanese name for it. Chano-ma is a really nicely setup bar in an old warehouse building which was derelict up until a few years ago. At some point the city decided to redevelop the space and a spectacular job it was indeed. Back to Chano-ma. Exposed brick, metal beams and heavy metal doors on above the door roller hinges. The place has a loft chic that is best experienced rather than described. And the service, like most other places in our limited experience in Japan, impeccable. The food was great, the drinks stiff and delicious; the guava shonju is a must try along with beef rolls of some kind. There was the option to sit up on a bed like raised platform which was about 25 m long and shared by many people. We chose to sit in the more familiar table and chair setting because we were accompanied by Hiroko, Chris and their little boy Matthew. It would allow Matthew to run around and be safer for him too.