No prizes for guessing what's on the menu at Tandoor Bar Kamalpur. The familiar, beguiling aromas that greet your nostrils as you arrive are much the same as you'd expect at any other Indian eatery in Tokyo — or anywhere else in the world, for that matter.
Look over toward the compact open kitchen, and you will be reassured to see that the chefs all hail from the Indian subcontinent, and so does the tandoor oven promised in the restaurant's name. But there is much about this modest restaurant in unfashionable Kiba that sets it apart from other run-of-the-mill Indian joints around the city.
For a start, it doesn't look or sound like one. It's not decked out with gaudy baubles or tourist posters. There are no statuettes of Hindu deities, no keening Bollywood soundtrack music, no videos playing on endless loop. With its well-worn wooden counter looking into the cooking area and small tables shoehorned along the walls, Kamalpur feels as comfortable as a local izakaya tavern.