At the 1066 Restaurant food stall, you can enjoy being served British staples such as fish and chips and meat pies (and genuine British beer) in English; the language of the land from which this fare hails. Started as an actual restaurant in Tokyo’s Naka-Meguro district in 1988 by Sussex native Jane Best, 1066 Restaurant became involved with Fuji Rock circa 1997. Although the restaurant itself folded in 2000, the Fuji Rock food stall lives on in its memory every year. Ms. Best says she keeps it going because the fun outweighs the work. When asked why she chose to bring this style of cuisine to a Japanese festival, Jane stated that the original inspiration for this festival came from Glastonbury, and thus it only stood to reason that there should be a stall onsite at Fuji Rock serving British food.

In addition to offering fish and chips, meat pies and sausage rolls – all at very reasonable prices, I might add – 1066 Restaurant also serves London Pride beer, Red Fox beer and Kingstone Press Cider. Your humble author sampled an order of fish and chips with a Red Fox beer, and – as someone who has been to England myself – found them to be entirely authentic, as well as delicious. Just as they say the proof is in the pudding, the true seal of this stall’s authenticity lies in the fact that many British artists have stepped out from behind the security and comfort of their backstage accommodations in order to tuck into a taste of home at 1066. Pressed to choose her favorite celebrity customer, Jane finds it hard to decide, but she clearly remembers her niece diving over the counter to get autographs from members of Snow Patrol one year, long ago.

In conclusion, Ms. Best states that she believes the popularity of her booth is due to the fact that fish and chips is the original fast food. She says,”We always get queues of people, and it’s not just because Japanese people like to queue; it’s because fish and chips is a famous dish”.