You can't call Fujimaru a restaurant. It's not really a wine bar either. Think of it as a large, well-hidden wine cellar with a chic little dining room attached — one where you can wander in, pick out a bottle and then while away the afternoon or evening in an area that is turning into one of the most interesting corners of the city.

Tucked out of sight on the second floor of a well-scuffed building that was recently given a new coat of paint and some hip new tenants, it is not a place you would happen upon by chance. But if you did spot its discreet red sign glowing well-above eye level, and if you ventured in to the stark concrete stairwell leading up to it, and if you were then able to find a seat free at one of the few tables or the short counter along the semi-open kitchen, then you would be excused for patting yourself on the back and ordering a drink or two.

You might even feel like opening a bottle of something nice. If so, you'd be spoiled for choice. Almost half of the floor space is given over to a walk-in wine cellar stocked with around 1,000 different wines. Most are French, but there are plenty of Italian, New World and domestic Japanese bottles as well, which you buy at retail price, then pay for corkage (¥1,000; ¥1,500 for bottles under ¥3,000) to drink them in the restaurant.