Excel Art of the Famous Tavern 'Maruchiba' @ Minami-Senju/Sanya: A Journey Through Gritty Taverns

This time, I'll be talking about a famous restaurant in Minami-Senju, or rather Sanya, called "Maruchiba" that I drew in Excel.
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Since the original was posted in 2022, the prices and menu items remain as they were at that time.
Please be aware of this in advance.
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The famous Minami-Senju/Sanya restaurant "Maruchiba"

I have previously featured this restaurant in the "Gritty Taverns" edition.

The restaurant isn't "gritty," it is definitely a "famous restaurant." However, it is located

a good 15 minutes from Minami-Senju, the nearest station. It's a "
railway island" that takes 30 minutes to walk to from Asakusa or Minowa. It's a gritty spot that is hard to find an opportunity to visit, adjacent to the so-called 'Doya-gai' (flophouse district) of Sanya.
After visiting several times, I realized that the food, atmosphere, and service were all truly wonderful, so I decided to draw it properly in Excel. First, let's start with the food report.

Exterior of Minami-Senju's "Maruchiba"

The first time I went was around March 2020, when the coronavirus started spreading in Japan and things had calmed down for a moment.
Since then, I've visited about three times, taking advantage of the gaps between the "State of Emergency" and "Priority Measures" periods.

This place has a wide repertoire, not just Japanese food like fish, meat, and vegetables, but also fried foods and hamburger steaks.
Since the noren curtain only says "Dining Place," it's often mistaken for a cafeteria.

You can't see inside, and it doesn't have the feel of a lively tavern that's open from the daytime at all.
It wouldn't be strange to walk right past it.

The exquisite cuisine of "Maruchiba"

I had only ever gone during the hot season, but since it was autumn and hot pot dishes had started, I went for the first time in a while.

You can rarely get in without a reservation at the 2:00 PM opening time, so I made one.
The inside of the restaurant looks like this.

It's large enough to hold over 20 people.
I really want to sit at the counter, but I rarely get the chance.
I can't eat that much alone, and in the end, when I go with friends, we end up at a table.

First, we start with beer, and here it's "Akaboshi."

They also had Super Dry and Kirin Lager, but as expected, it's a long-established style that doesn't stock Suntory.

There were five of us this time, so we could order a variety of things.
We started with sashimi. This is the 3,000 yen assorted platter.

Wonderful. We also added some fried food,
shrimp and ham cutlets, served together.

If it's on the menu, they will arrange anything you want into a platter.

And for drinks, a "Kinmiya one-sho bottle" with green tea.

In the end, since there were 5 of us, wedrank a full liter.
And then, hot pot.
Today, we're havingyose-nabe (assorted hot pot).

I believe one serving was less than 2,000 yen.
If you ask, they'll add oysters or anything else you like.
They'll also add more if you run out of meat.
It's just right even for five people.

And for the finish, we had thecurry udonrecommended bythe owner, 'Yacchan'.

After all that, the bill was about 17,000 yen.
Since there were 5 of us, it wasin the 3,000 yen range per person.
Can you believe it!

Usually, when I drink, I don't eat much, but here, I end up eating a hearty meal.
It's wonderful.
It has won the 'Tabelog Izakaya EAST 100 Famous Stores' award many times.I tried drawing such a '

Maruchiba' in Excel.By the way, here is the full view.

For some reason, there are an awful lot of bicycles.
I suppose they are a valuable means of transportation in this area, which is far from the station.

Excel Art Specs

Created in July 2022.

The highest number of parts ever.

This is because of the brick tiles on the wall.
Since I copied and pasted them from something I drew before, it wasn't much trouble, but when you make them into dots, it becomes something unrecognizable.

Rough Process of Creating the Excel Art

I will roughly introduce the progress until completion this time as well.

First day

First, starting from the entrance.
The first floor is somewhat finished, but the roof tiles above the windows are waiting.
Above the second floor are the brick-like tiles, which are another difficult enemy.
At this point, the number of parts is 173.

Second day

The first floor, the star of the shop, is almost finished with the roof tiles and noren curtains attached.
The residential part on the second floor and above, which plays a supporting role, is packed with brick tiles.
I had parts I could copy and paste, so I imported them.
For now, I'm just stacking them on the right side.
It looks like a chimney.

I felt likea stonemason at Cologne Cathedral, silently stacking stones without even seeing the finished form.
Number of parts: 2,641.
The counter might be a bit off.

Third day

The building is almost finished.
The area of the residential part, which is a supporting role, has become larger than the shop on the first floor.
The stonemason work ends here.
From tomorrow onwards, I'll work on the front of the shop and the background.
Number of parts: 5,156.

Day 4

The main subject and the garnish in front of the shop are almost finished.
All that's left is the background and adding the shop name.
5,531 parts.
There shouldn't be that many parts, though.

Excel Art Virtual Framed Version

Finally, the background and the nameplate.
The shop name on the noren curtain was hand-drawn with a mouse.
It's small and hard to draw.
The sign was done with text input.

And here is the finished virtual framed version of the Excel art.

[Afterword] Excel Art Delivery & Installation

Then, in November 2022, I decided to have a year-end party at Maruchiba, gathering around a hot pot.
Since I had also replaced my clunky, malfunctioning printer, I decided to print the Excel art, frame it for real, and bring it along.
(The frame was a cheap 200-yen one from Daiso)

It would have been tacky to hand it over as soon as I entered, so I presented it just as we were leaving after paying the bill.
Here is how that went.

The owner, Yacchan, even agreed to a commemorative photo and seemed happy to receive it.

The walls inside the shop are covered in menu strips, so I'd be happy if they just hung it in the restroom.

And then, later on.
My wish came true, and they placed it in the private room.

A pretty good position.
I'll visit again.
It really is a great shop.

[Shop Information]

I plan to continue uploading my future tavern visit reports along with Excel art of the shops, so please look forward to them.

Eateries and taverns I want to visit again.
I wonder when I'll be able to go next.

Drunkenness.

Finally

If you liked this article, I would appreciate your support, as it will be used to fund my next tavern report.
Thank you for your continued support.

One more thing, I also publish an Excel art magazine on note drawn with a mouse
"Dokarefu's Excel Gallery"
. Please take a look at that as well if you'd like.

Thank you for your company.

[Aside] What is Excel art?

When people hear "Excel art", many imagine "voxel art" or "dot art" where you color in the cells of an Excel sheet, but I use the "drawing tools" built into Excel, using basic shapes like curves, circles, and squares, as well as freehand, to draw lines on the sheet, apply color to them, and layer them to create the image.

It's been over 10 years since I started drawing Excel art in earnest, but I've always used a mouse because I find pen tablets difficult to handle.

It's quite an eccentric drawing method, but please bear with me.