Address - (1) Shinjuku-ku, Takadanobaba 1-25-29 and (2) Shinjuku-ku, Waseda 3-15-5 K2 Bldg Opening hours - 11:30 am to 11:30pm Map - See directions Telephone - 3209-4903 (Takadanobaba) and 3208-4453 (Waseda) Menu - In Japanese and English CC - OK

Malabar in Takadanobaba belongs to the same group as the two Kao Tais, but strangely enough it's not nearly as interesting. I don't have the heart to put it in my Shit List, because the guys there really do not deserve it, but their food is singularly undistinguished. Over the years cooks (because I have known Malabar for a very, very long time) have come and gone, but the food is still the same, well prepared, attractive and bland. The sets are convenient, though, and for 500 yen you can have an "Indian burger", that is a shish kebab wrapped in half a naan. That's also bland.

To go there, walk from Takadanobaba station towards Waseda for about 300 meters. Malabar is on the right side of the street right after a school.

Since 1999 there's another branch in Waseda on the right side of Waseda Dori. Smaller and cheap-looking, but inviting and friendly, it "feels" right. I will tell you what it's like after I will have eaten there.

March 20, 2000