Business Hours: Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun, and Public Holidays (11:30-13:30; 17:30-20:30)

Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays
Shop's SNS: (link)

Shop's requests/reminders:

Self Laundry Sengoku [セルフランドリー千石]. A coin laundry with a kids' space, charging counters, and even gachapon machines
Address: Tokyo, Bunkyo City, Sengoku, 4 Chome−1−9-102
Street View: (link)




EPISODE 4:

Featured Shop: Taverna La Messe [タベルナ ラ・メッセ]
Address: 3 Chome-3-17 Asahicho, Atsugi, Kanagawa
Street View: (link)
Access: 4-minute walk from Hon-Atsugi Station on the Odakyu Line

Featured Station: Keisei Takasago Station [京成高砂駅] South Exit.
Address: 5-chōme-28 Takasago, Katsushika City, Tokyo
Street View: (link)

Snack Ajisai [スナック紫陽花]. Snack bar where Goro met with a client.
Address: 2 Chome-17-2 Takasago, Katsushika City, Tokyo
Shop's SNS: (link)
Street View: (link)



FINALLY, MY OVERALL NOTES FOR SEASON 11:

As a lot of viewers have noticed, including Qusumi, that Season 11 had a "back to basics" feel that was more bringing back the laid-back atmosphere of Season 1.

There was less use of the fast-paced BGM music especially "Kuraimax [喰らいマックス]" that is usually played when Goro hurries up in finishing his food. "Kuraimax" has different versions btw, but it is usually upbeat and fast paced. I personally did not notice so I reviewed the episodes. There were many episodes at first that had a soft jazzy background music as Goro finishes the meal. Starting Ep 6, a mild upbeat music was used but it was not as upbeat as "Kuraimax". Many viewers again think it was more as a return to the atmosphere of Season 1, and shift the focus more on the feeling of quietly savoring and finishing the meal in a relaxed manner.

The Last Episode. Season 11 was full of trips, but it ended with a pub/eatry in downtown Tokyo, another way of returning to the roots of Season 1 until the very end.
Also the line "Tomorrow I'm going to Asakusa. I wonder what I shall eat there." It's been 4 years since the last time Goro said this recurring line. I was happy to hear it finally.

Is it a curse or a win if your shop is featured on KNG? Many of the restaurants featured are managed and owned by the elderly so it is expected that it will be difficult to keep up with the influx of more customers after their episode airs. More customers means more profit but the downside is it will be incredibly crowded, long queues might disrupt the neighborhood, their regular customers/friends will find it sad and annoying that they can't come to the shop as often as they used to, etc. 
It seems the staff of KNG have given advice to owners on how to cope with this situation, like posting their rules and terms. I also noticed that 2-3 of these shops in Season 11, announced that they are closed for a month after the season's airing, maybe because they were advised to take a long break and rest for awhile and recharge before taking in the expected throngs of customers. I hope KNG and TV Tokyo will also continue to check on them (especially the elderly owners) from time to time, assess, and come up with ways to help or continue to advise (preferably using services of business/financial experts). Or even come up with a study of the good/bad effects of being featured on KNG.

Another change if you noticed. That there were more lines spoken by 3 or even more characters all at once. It seldom happened in the past when I do the subs. There were many instances this season that I had to resort to come up with muliple subbed lines all over the place haha. But it was fun.

"Nasu, Nice!" Goro mentioned this same pun 3 times throughout Season11 haha! I had to find ways to make the English equivalent work (eggplant/eggceptional/eggcellent, aubergine/aubergenius). When a KNG season falls on a summer airing or around those months, eggplant which is a seasonal vegetable in Japan is usually featured in the dishes that he chooses. That is why Season 11 had lots of them.

We love Matsushige's Goro, don't we? I hope Matsushige lives long and be healthy enough to play Goro for a long, long time. I do think the show should not continue if he retires from playing the role. Goro's original manga character is more of a Showa/Early Heisei man when smartphones were not yet the norm. And as time progresses, more convenient tech is used to look for restos, and clearly Goro is not using those, to preserve the TV trope. If a younger actor would take over, how can they preserve the running gag of "let's look for a resto"? They could probably make New Goro use a smartphone in choosing a shop, but also come up with scenes that he stumbles onto some.

Reading viewers' opinions on who could be the New Goro. They think it should be someone like Matsushige, a talented, versatile byplayer actor: Hamada Gaku, Kitamura Kazuki, etc. One thing they forget is that Goro's manga character is fairly tall. That is why Qusumi originally wanted Nagashima Kazushige (height 5'9'') to play Goro because "he resembled Goro in the manga" (he declined btw). Matsuhige is 6'2''. I guess it is not just the height and great acting, or eats deliciously, the next Goro should be capable of becoming like the leader/star actor of a theater troupe, has charm in real life, great PR skills, is professional, clean with no hint of scandal, enthusiastic/likeable, rallies and takes good care of his TV crew staff, and is kind and respectful to the actual shopowners in each episode. Matsushige is all of these, so taking over the reins he held for more than a decade is going to be really tough.

BUT! if you ask me (lol), my choice would be Matsuyama Kenichi: height around 5'10", talented actor who can play dramatic and comedy roles, mature enough to look like a Heisei guy, but young enough to continue the role for a decade or two more, can pull off an eccentric role (like his character in "Toki Sudeni Osushi!?" who didn't use a smartphone) and most of all, I think he has a great resemblance to Goro in the manga!

The Hints. I have mentioned before in my tweets (here) that I've been noticing that someone influential from KNG might be reading my posts or checking my subbing projects and including these as very subtle hints in KNG script, that are mostly noticeable only to me. It's been happening for a long time, but I tend to just dismiss them as mere coincidences or maybe I'm just being too delulu. But sometimes, these were just too much to ignore. And this Season 11, it might have happened again!