Naka-Meguro is one express stop southwest of Shibuya on the Tokyu Toyoko Line. And, like its one-stop counterparts on other commuter lines, the shopping streets closest to the station tend to attract a high concentration of eateries and bars all vying for your post-work cash. But like anywhere in Tokyo, you will often find the best bars tucked away in unexpected places -- uncharted corners that require a local guide.

In this case, veteran Nakameguro drinker and night navigator Bob asked me if I'd be interested in plotting a bar-hop through his 'hood. And that's always a yes, especially if it's coming from a local like Bob.

Aside from two hangovers, the result is a short list of four user-friendly hangouts, two new ones (Slow Jam and East) and two already known to me (Yatai and Boys Town Cafe). And, as if that symmetry wasn't enough, the two new ones are located to the west (toward Yutenji) and the other two to the north (off Yamate-dori, toward Ikejiri/Mishiku).

If you add two places I reviewed before to the south -- Saka Bar and Gosse -- you should have plenty of places for your next Nakameguro crawl. Just remember to pace yourself.

Slow Jam

To get to Slow Jam from Nakameguro station, take a left out of the wicket, make a U-turn along the street going parallel to the Toyoko Line tracks and keep walking. At the station end, the street is thick with sign boards and activity. Yakitori shops, izakaya, stand-up bars and ordinary bars jockey for audio and visual attention. But by the time you reach the turn for Slow Jam, the underbelly of the tracks is mostly warehouses, and the side facing it residential. The silence is almost eerie.

From the street, Slow Jam doesn't look to be anything special: standard plate-glass windows; simple white walls; low tables; potted plants. But the atmosphere inside is convivial and inclusive. Images of the Turin Winter Olympics flashed on one white wall and, by 10:30 p.m. or so on a Thursday night, it was standing room only. Mind you, it's not a big place -- the counter seats eight and the couches (combined) about the same.

Various chalkboards announce daily specials of food and wine. And yet another declares that everyone through the door is eligible for a free tequila or vodka shot -- just one per person per visit and there are rules, like you must down it in one go.

Music is completely incidental, because conversation is crucial here. The owner, Ryosuke Yoshida, runs a diving school from the floor above and is an avid snowboarder and wakeboarder. Many of his customers are similarly inclined, including Japan's No. 1 wakeboarder. It feels like a clubhouse more than a bar. Yoshida hosts the proceedings (with bartender Chocco-chin) during the week, but Takayuki Bekki mans the bar on the weekends while Yoshida heads for the mountains or the ocean, depending on the season.

Cafe And Bar Slow Jam: 4-10-1 Kami-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo; tel. (03) 3714-3110; www.s-jam.com; Open Monday to Saturday, 7 p.m.-3 a.m. Seating charge 300 yen (includes nibbles). Beer and mixed drinks from 500 yen. Wine as per daily menu. One free tequila or vodka shot per person per visit.

East

East is almost directly across the street from Slow Jam and yet the two bars are worlds apart. They both occupy the ground floors of two-story buildings. At Slow Jam, the 2nd floor is a dive shop; at East, Masayoshi Kasamatsu, the owner, lives upstairs. The building is, in fact, an ordinary house -- that's Kasamatsu's car parked out front. The only hint of the bar is a simple signboard propped up on chair when he is open for business.

Inside, the living room has been neatly converted. But the mock-pine covering the walls and floor retains the look and feel of a family room or den in a Western home. Lighting is muted, with a black-light set high above the bar and a few ethnic-looking lamps covered in intricately hand-painted shades mounted on the wall or sitting atop side tables.

Though the room itself feels quite spacious, the counter only seats four and the couches a total of about eight (maybe 10 at a squash). The atmosphere is very cozy and very relaxed. The focus here is more on music. Kasamatsu's taste runs toward jazz fusion, but I also heard Bob Dylan, Happy End (Japanese 1970s rock legends), and Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros (which the master kindly played for a customer who had brought it in).

If I lived in Nakameguro, this would definitely become my local.

East: 2-49-11 Kami-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo; tel. (03) 3714-5751; Open nightly 8 p.m.-3 a.m. No seating charge. Soft drinks 500 yen, beer and shochu 600 yen, mixed drinks 700 yen.

Yatai

Yatai and Boys Town Cafe, over on the north side, are about a 10-minute walk away from Slow Jam and East -- if you find the magic back street that connects them. As soon as I walked into Yatai, which means "street stall" in Japanese, I realized I had been there before -- late, disheveled and unaware of its name. But the place and the mama, Mieko Kawato, are both unforgettable.

It is insanely small and hence the name. The corridor, which leads you in from the street, is so narrow and, after seven years of business, so cluttered, that you almost need to crab-walk to get to the bar at the other end. But, then, walking sideways has the added benefit of allowing you to peruse the Polaroids of party moments that cover its length.

Once you have safely negotiated your way to the back, you may or may not be rewarded with a stool at the bar -- there are only 10. And when they are full, the bar is full. When you are hopefully installed at the bar, you will be part of the audience with mama in center-stage. Which isn't to say Kawato demands attention. She is very down to earth, but also equally in control. In fact, I can't imagine her doing anything other than running a bar. She's a natural.

And she serves drinks to an equally uncontrived (if raggle-taggle) crew of party animals every night. Foreigners are few, but not unheard of. Drinks and food are on mama's side of the counter, but the music is on your side. Customers can choose from her collection (an eclectic gumbo of rock and soul) or make a request to the person sitting closest to it. Either way, conversation and music are given play all night -- and, on the weekend, right through until the sun raises its sleepy head over the suburbs.

Yatai: Nakaoka Building, 1F, 3-16-4 Kami-Meguro, Meguro-ku; tel. (03) 3793-7822. Open Thursday-Tuesday, 10:30 p.m.-3 a.m. (till 5 a.m. or later on Friday and Saturday). Closed Wednesday. No seating charge. Beer 400 yen, mixed drinks and shochu from 500 yen.

Boys Town Cafe

Boys Town Cafe was my second bar for this paper, back in 2001. And as both Bob and I know and love it well, it was the perfect place to conclude the tour. But if, like me, you haven't been back for a while you might be surprised -- and pleasantly so. Kikio Hiroshima, the elfin-faced master, has completely refurbished the interior. All the knick-knacks are gone and it's gone very "Twin Peak"-ish. The long bar is now a seamless stretch of red. Walls are now covered in vivid-red shag-pile carpet, and the floor is a chic sea of black-and-white checkered tiles. And, overhead, chandeliers now set the mood. The grot is gone, but the rock remains the same . . .

Boys Town Cafe, Sun Royal Higashiyama 1F, 1-8-6 Higashiyama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, tel. (03) 3711-4521. Open Monday-Saturday 9 p.m. till late. Closed Sunday. Cover charge 300 yen, drinks from 700 yen.