Food and drinks on a Thursday night

XX
Last night I had dinner with S, a high school friend I'd not seen in almost 2 years. We had dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant in Jiyugaoka. Jiyugaoka is one of many areas of Tokyo with lots of little shops, cafes, and restaurants. Shame that I've only been there twice (including last night)...I do like to explore but tend to stay in my hood - Juban and Roppongi. I completely forgot the name of the restaurant, and wouldn't know how to go about searching online as there are hundreds of little Italian places in that area, but did manage to take a photo of the dessert. Their Apple Pie ala mode was one of the best I have ever had.
XX

XX
Then on my way back home from dinner I ran into my friend Mika (really bizarre - what are the chances of running into anyone on a Tokyo subway!) and joined her and her former colleagues visiting from overseas for some drinks. We went to Ebisu Yokocho, a retro-looking, festive alleyway lined with yatai (food stalls) reminiscent of downtown Tokyo in the 60's. It opened not too long ago, and is a great place to go with a group of friends for fun eating and drinking.
XX

XX

Having just eaten, I stuck to umeshu (plum wine) in the beginning. We went from one stall to the next, and ended up at this wine bar where they served steamed vegetables. Why they serve steamed vegetables at a wine bar is beyond me, but the radishes I had were detectable.
XX

XX