Ceviche Bar Near Me in Okubo: HUANCHACO's Chan Chan Basement Sakaba

HUANCHACO charges ¥2,800 for either of its two classic ceviches, the ceviche mixto and the ceviche de pescado, and it asks every diner to order one main dish and one drink. The bar sits in the basement of Shinjuku Town Plaza at 1-24-8 Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073, a short walk from the South Exit of JR Okubo Station. If your ceviche bar near me search started in Shin-Okubo's Koreatown, this is the Peruvian option on the same streets, open Tuesday to Sunday evenings.

The owner-chef goes by Julio. Hot Pepper describes him as a Peruvian-born chef, and Metropolis, in a February 2026 guide to Peruvian restaurants in Tokyo, says he comes from Trujillo. That explains the name: Huanchaco is the fishing beach outside Trujillo, and the restaurant's entrance is modelled on Chan Chan, the adobe city near Trujillo with walls carved in fish and bird patterns. The site describes the décor as South American, with Latin music playing through the evening.

There are 30 seats, including a five-seat counter, and no private rooms. Groups of 20 or more can hire the whole basement on a party plan. One practical warning for visitors: the official site says there is no English menu. Before you go, it helps to know a few Spanish dish names, ceviche, choritos, jalea and parihuela, and to point at them on the Hot Pepper menu photos if the paper menu is only in Japanese.

Hot Pepper's food page, updated in May 2026, lists the ceviche mixto and the ceviche de pescado at ¥2,800 each, and versions topped with avocado, con palta, at ¥3,000 each. The mixto is the one to choose on a first visit, since a single plate of mixed seafood shows off the leche de tigre better than fish alone. Add the palta only if you want something richer to balance a sharp marinade; the plain version is the cleaner taste of the coast.

Choritos a la chalaca, mussels on the half shell under a salsa of tomato, onion, corn and lime, cost ¥1,600 and are the best cold starter to share before the ceviche. Jalea mixta, a heap of fried seafood, costs ¥2,800, and parihuela de mariscos, a Peruvian seafood soup, is also ¥2,800. Arroz con pollo, green coriander rice with chicken, costs ¥2,300 and is the dish that counts as the main for anyone who has only ordered raw fish.

The official site spells out the house rules. Diners who are eating have a two-hour seat limit, except for private hire and events. Each person orders one main dish and one drink. Groups of five or more can book course meals only. Guests who come in only to drink pay a ¥500 per person seat charge. Read together, these rules mean HUANCHACO works best for two to four people who arrive hungry and plan a full dinner.

An honest suggestion for a pair: because the rule is one main each, plan two mains from the start. The arroz con pollo and the jalea mixta make a good pair of mains, with a ceviche mixto and a plate of choritos to begin. That order comes to ¥9,500 before drinks. Skip the parihuela when you already have the jalea, since a big seafood soup after a heap of fried seafood is too much for two, and save it for a winter visit.

Larger groups should plan around the course-only rule. A table of five or more cannot order à la carte, so pick a course when booking, and for 20 or more ask about hiring the whole basement on a party plan. The five-seat counter is the place for one or two people who want to drink a pisco sour and watch the room, with a second round of chicha sours in reach of the bartender.

The drinks page, last updated in July 2025, lists the Pisco Sour, the Chilcano and the Chicha Sour at ¥1,000 each, and a straight shot of pisco at ¥750. A Hot Pepper reviewer in July 2026 singled out the pisco sour. The Chicha Sour, made with the spiced purple-corn base of chicha morada, is the one drink here that is hard to find outside a Peruvian bar, so it is a good second round.

Book through Hot Pepper, whose calendar showed open dates through December 2026 with Mondays marked closed, or phone 03-3368-2780. Changes and cancellations are free until 22:00 the day before. After that, course bookings are charged in full and seat-only bookings cost ¥3,000 per person. The bar is non-smoking. Cards are accepted, including Visa, Mastercard, Diners, JCB and Discover, but electronic money is not, so tap-to-pay transit cards will not work at the till.

Opening hours are 17:30 to 23:00 from Tuesday to Sunday, with last orders for food and drink at 22:00. Some older listings mention a lunch service, but the current pages show dinner only, so do not plan a midday visit. Monday is the closing day; on a Monday, Miraflores by Shibuya Station is the nearest Peruvian kitchen that is open every day, a short ride from neighbouring Shin-Okubo Station on the Yamanote Line.

The official directions are precise. Leave JR Okubo Station by the South Exit on the FamilyMart side and turn left. Keep right where the road forks in a V, and Shinjuku Town Plaza is opposite the Mitsui Repark car park; HUANCHACO is on basement floor one. Before dinner, walk the Okubo-dori side of Shin-Okubo, Tokyo's Koreatown, for cosmetics shops and street snacks, then head down the stairs once the evening service opens.

Address: Shinjuku Town Plaza B1F, 1-24-8 Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073. Phone: 03-3368-2780. Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 17:30 to 23:00, last orders 22:00, closed Monday. Prices: ceviche mixto ¥2,800, choritos a la chalaca ¥1,600, Pisco Sour ¥1,000. Rules: one main and one drink per person, two-hour limit, drinkers-only seat charge ¥500. Payment: cards, no electronic money.