Tokyo’s “Dirty Dish” Shop

Inside the "Dirty Dish" Shop

Today I went back to the “Dirty Dish” Shop with a large group of friends.  It is always a treat to go because the only way to get there is by car.  There is not a station nearby and I have never seen a taxi in the area. It is in a residential neighborhood.  They are getting ready for a sale and gave all of us the 40% off discount.  I didn’t buy much, just a few items to use as gifts.  We were the only shoppers this morning and there was a lot of buying going on.  One thing you should know is that the real name of this shop is not “Dirty Dish” that is just the name foreigners have given it because they can’t read the the kanji.  I am including the driving directions from Hiro-o and the store flier because I get a lot of comments from my previous post about this shop requesting directions.

Dishes Everywhere

Store Sign

Driving Directions to the “Dirty Dish” Store

Drive on Nakahara-kaido (Route 2) toward Yokohama.  Nakahara-kaido is the street you take to the Sensoku-Ike.  You go about 6.5 to 7 kilometers (from turning off of Gaien-nishi Dori) on Nakahara-kaido and then cross over the river on the bridge.

After you cross the river, a sign above shows a fork in the road.  You go to the left which is the continuation of Route 2 (although, I think the name of the street changes to Tsunashima-kaido at that point.)  You go 2.5 kilometers more until you reach Route 14.  You will turn right onto Route 14 (there is a Rough Road shop on the right at the intersection where you turn).

You go about 1.7 kilometers on Route 14 until you see a KFC on your right.  You don’t turn at that light, but you will turn right at the next light.  There is a “Panasonic” building on the corner where you turn.  It is a small one way street, there isn’t a turn lane and it looks as though you shouldn’t be turning “right” there.  I waited with my blinker on until I could turn and others behind me were doing the same.  The road was wide enough that people behind me could go around on the left while I waited.

After turning, the road is small and one-way, but it starts to widen, crosses a small canal, and then becomes a decent sized two-way street.  You keep going until you see a sign on the right with a drawing of a dog (it is for a dental clinic?).  After you see the sign, you pass a driveway to a house on the right and then you turn at the next right. There is a beige brick apartment building on the corner where you turn and you can see the circular stairs on the side.  The dirty dish shop is next to the apartment building.  It is a large warehouse type building.  It doesn’t look like it is open.  The day I went there were large trucks in the front and on the side.  You walk to the side and there is an open door.  The sign out front had the phone number on it which is 044-788-4888.  There wasn’t any parking for me in the front of the building.  When they are not getting ready for a sale there is usually some parking in front.  Just before you turn on to the street the store is on there is a large parking lot on the left you can park here if there isn’t parking in front.  If you cannot find parking run inside and ask.  A simple “Parkingu doko desu ka? should work and they will run out and show you where the lot is.