Much to my shame and embarassment, today I inflicted the quest on others (using first person to take responsibility for my actions). Yaruki Chaya is one of the ‘under the tracks’ places needed to complete our recent quest, and it basically lived up to expectations. Actually that’s not fair to expectations, because I expect more […]
Month: May 2009
Chocolatier Erica / Aeschbach, Shirokanedai
Erica has to win the prize for loveliest chocolateier in Shirogane. The white-and-aqua color scheme prevails inside and out, and the atmosphere is bright, clean and somehow cheerful. From the outside, surrounded by trees and stylish streets leading steeply up from Platinum Dori, it’s the kind of place that you just want to go into…especially […]
West Park Cafe, Marunouchi
Mmmmmm, Roti. Oh wait, we don’t work in Roppongi any more. West Park Cafe is probably the closest one can get to the Roti Roppongi experience around here (the old Roti, before they went all black and mirrored). They even describe themselves as an Authentic American-Style restaurant. We all had burger sets, how about I […]
Zen Cafe, Shiroganedai (禅カフェ)
Tokyo is lacking a few things – two of them are quiet, leafy suburbs and pleasant outdoor cafes. There just aren’t enough of these, and in fact could there ever be? Shiroganedai is one of the places coming closest to the description of ‘quiet, leafy’, and this cafe stands out like a sore thumb about […]
Barbacoa, Marunouchi
The Wondertable group contains far, far more restaurants than is probably good for anyone’s health. I had no idea about this until I saw the spread of business cards under the counter at Barbacoa – the empire stretches from izakaya chain Roku Roku (Roppongi Hillz 5th floor, Shibuya near Parco, etc), shabu-ya Momo Paradise, Tokyo […]
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Andalucia, Yaesu
Yeeeessss, one place wasn’t enough for all the conversation we had to get through, so Preacher and I strolled around debating what to do, finding no particular place where we wanted to settle in after eating so much at Hanaya. A few blocks passed before we found ourselves in front of Kavach and the ill-starred […]
- izakaya
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Hanaya, Tokyo (華屋,八重洲北口)
Not that long ago, Zone and I wandered deep into the wilds of Yaesu for lunch and found buried treasure (if shabby, cheap, retro standing izakaya count as treasure!). This has been on my mind for some time and has been engendering a deep desire to explore further in this ‘deep’ neighborhood (where we take […]
Uoriki, Otemachi (魚力)
Just a few work days to go until we change the name of the blog and explore some classic options from an altogether different, more traditional yet somehow still exciting cuisine…watch out for it. Until then, every day brings a new Otemachi budget lunch destination! What with the rain and all today, it seemed like […]
Jokouen, Monzennakacho (叙香苑)
What’s that you say? EOITwJ never goes to Chinese? You’re right, it’s an awfully rare occurrence. Why is that? Well…it’s a bit samey, and they never have beef with broccoli. We have to have our American-style Chinese food, don’t we? No, seriously, we just don’t enjoy Chinese food that much. We don’t know what it […]
Cafe Hai, Kiyosumi Shirakawa (Modern Art Museum, Kiba Park)
An odd little sanitized slice of Vietnamese street life, transported to the second floor of the Tokyo Modern Art Museum in Kiyosumi Shirakawa (or Kiba, depending on your view). It’s mainly bright and pleasant and errr, authentic, with the wooden patio furniture and astroturf carpet only adding to the ambience created by the cute paintings […]