Hey, what kind of place is this? Oh, right. Marinara has been on my ‘occasional visit’ list since I moved to Monnaka, and recently was about the 4th time (which would mean yearly visits!). It’s a long time between visits for two reasons – there are an awful lot of Italian places in Monnaka, and […]
Month: July 2008
- beer
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Antwerp Six, Yurakucho
Once, several years ago, I tried to go to this Spain Bar called Pero in far-west Ginza, really more Yurakucho. This was before Spain bars got all mysteriously popular (which to me remains a mysterious phenomenon). I was puzzled to see when I got there that it was full, and while putting my name on […]
Chartreuse, Roppongi
This is the restaurant that crystallized my views on ‘old’ food. Interestingly, it was in a book of’great lunch places’ that I picked up, intending to use for weekend dinners. When I realized howclose it was to the office (i.e., “that place with the French flag that I keep seeing on the side street”)I went […]
La Cometa, Azabu Juban
La Cometa, 2nd-floor Italian gustatory haven of no little repute…wait,that’s a different place. This one is slightly hidden on the secondfloor of a building near Azabu-juban crossing, up a curving staircase.Next to the door there’s a huge and confronting poster of an Italianpig, which should be a very good sign. But…Having now been 2 times […]
Body and Soul, Minami Aoyama
Not strictly food. In fact, not very food at all. In fact, the food looks kinda crappy. But they have food, and plenty of drinks, and this is a nice thing in a tiny basement jazz club in out-of-the way Aoyama. Out-of-the-way means out-of-the-way. They have a big neon sign, but due to the vagaries […]
Sumiyakiya, Roppongi
Frankly, a Korean restaurant in Japan staffed by Sri Lankans sounds too good to resist, doesn’t it? It’s only some of the staff, and I’m not really sure if they’re Sri Lankan, but it does feel good to say. I love diversity. For me, the two draws at this concrete-floor, bare-wood table-kind place are 1) […]
Spice Garden, Roppongi
There’s an Indian place in my neighborhood that promises ‘One Coin Curry’. It’s pretty good, especially the fresh ‘n’ hot naan. Spice Garden is a little more expensive, the naan is just as big ‘n’ hot ‘n’ fresh, the curry is a little sweeter and less spicy (“more Japanese”, some would say), and less than […]
- Other treats
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Azabu-ue, Roppongi
Looks like this could be snazzy for dinner, but in keeping with my policy (“I’m done working, can I please leave Roppongi as soon as possible?”) I’m unlikely to go. For lunch, there are surprisingly tidy and tasty teishoku (either normal sakana stuff done pretty well or else rotating specials – when I went, hambagu; […]
- Other treats
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Tontokoton, Roppongi
Oooh, you can’t beat a place that has sides of meat hanging in a cooler in the entryway. Too bad they’re pork and not beef, but you know the meat’s gotta be fresh and they’re serious enough about it to buy ‘in bulk’ as it were. For lunch you’ll find a small set of yakibuta […]
Ogawa, Monzennakacho
In some periods my favorite place to go in Monnaka. The menu is always a single, hand-written page. That’s a little tough for me (in some places, I end up ordering what I can read!), but the writing is basically OK. Some standard and signature dishes show up every time, and these are worth getting. […]