Tired from a long day at work? No money in your wallet? You’re headed straight for Yoshinoya for a beer the beef bowl and salmon set, aren’t you? That’s about 1,000 yen out of your pocket right there.

Fear not, we’ve found a better way for you to stretch that thinnest of Japanese bills. Yakitori Marukin in Shimbashi offers an all-you-can-drink special you can’t afford to pass up – 30 minutes for 299 yen! Marukin rolls out Kirin Ichiban Shibori as well as “Kuro Kirishima” imo shochu, “Kumeshima no Kumesen” awamori and a host of other popular shochu drinks. It’s possible to get pretty plastered in just one half-hour session.

The yakitori itself comes in small portions, but the price is reasonable at 60 yen per skewer. Since it’s so cheap, you can bounce between negi, liver, tomato-maki, quail eggs and all the others – it’s easier to snack on a wider variety of skewers than at your run-of-the-mill yakitori joint. On the flip side, it’s best not to come in with high expectations, as the taste is very average.

But what cost performance! Drink for an hour, lick five skewers clean and you’re out the door for 898 yen. How about that? And you don’t have to worry about sluggish servers letting the clock run out on your nomihodai – the bar is self-serve! There’s even a nifty automatic beer server that is fun in and of itself.

Why shovel down another bland beef bowl? Come pound shochu and beers over yakitori with the old dudes in Shimbashi.

Location: Yakitori Marukin at Shimbashi