Word of mouth is still the best way to find cool new bars. The downside, though, is that such tips are usually accompanied by verbal directions. A customer at Gosse (reviewed last week) told me about a hip-hop bar called Tina near Meguro Station. It sounded easy enough to find, but after scanning every signboard on every building in the vicinity, I could find no Tina.

I did find a place called T's Diner, which, if said quickly enough, sounds like Tina. But with its three floors lit up with strings of garish neon and loud MOR rock issuing from its street-side speakers, it neither looked cool nor sounded like a hip-hop bar.

But two short blocks farther down the hill toward a cab and home, I suddenly found what I was looking for. Whereas T's had been loud, the decibels issuing from Bar Tina were deafening. I was hit by thumping bass and tweaked-up tweeters as soon as I opened the door. The funky handmade signboard at the top of the stairs wasn't necessary to confirm that I was at the right place.