Maebashi, Gunma, Japan｜居酒屋 その弍

The Sononi restaurant next to the fabled Michaelsoft Binbows is an incredible experience as well as an incredible value. We brought along Michaelsoft Binbows-tan to experience Sononi in all of its full glory. Immediately as you walk in, you are greeted and asked to take off your shoes to enter. There are two types of seating: bar seating and table seating. The tables are low and you sit on pillows on the floor. The ambience is fun and relaxed. There were people in other booths talking and laughing, but nobody was overly loud. The music was always upbeat and lively, perfect for a late night wake-up. They even played Dragostea Din Tei (the Numa-Numa song) which was amazing. The restaurant decor and their menu is all illustrated by hand on paper. The adorable characters are so lively and pop right off the paper. This isn’t some mass-produced menu belonging to a chain. This is a labor of love by the owners and it is clear so much love and effort has been put into this place. This is as personalized and local as it gets. Even their check is hand-drawn in a calligraphy style. The colorful drawings on the wall are fun to look at and read if you know some Japanese. Their menu is only in Japanese, but if you’re familiar with izakaya/bar-style food, you can probably ask them for recommendations. Translation apps may have trouble decoding some of the hand-drawn stylistic writing on the menu, but they are still useful and you can get by using them here. As you can see from our photos, the food is large and plentiful. Even Binbows-tan got to have her own plate. The karaage in particular was flavorful and came with a special salt rich with umami flavor. We ordered their Mix Pizza, Harami Steak (Skirt Steak) that comes with French Fries, Karaage Fried Chicken, one specialty berry tea drink, and two sodas all for ¥5590. This is a great value! On top of that, they gave us a free appetizer soup of some kind we were not expecting that was really tasty and good. To top it all off, at the end of your meal, you get to put a coin into their gachapon machine to win a prize! We won ¥1000 yen off our next meal! We will definitely be making the pilgrimage back to Sononi and Michaelsoft Binbows every time we’re in Maebashi.

Lovely Izakaya, the food I had was very delicious. I can absolutely recommend the fried Tofu. The menus are illustrated with cartoon drawings. Sadly there is no English menu available. Even though the staff did not speak English, they were super nice and patient with me ordering in English. Also, you can get all you can drink for 2380¥. Of course, the best thing is that you feast in the presence of Michaelsoft Binbows. Would definitely recommend.

If you are looking for a place to have a fun and relaxing time, look no further than the izakaya restaurant at Michaelsoft Binbows.