A lot of food has already passed the above-mentioned lips and gums. Some high points as follows:- I like it how you can buy a croissant in the touristy heart of Montmarte from a sidewalk place that dispenses coffee from an automatic machine into plastic cups, and said croissant will still be impossibly flaky, light […]
Month: August 2009
- Otemachi
- ...
Sozaiya, Otemachi
This will be a boring post – for some of us. If I’m not careful, I’ll finish going to all the restaurants in the basement of the neighboring Shin Otemachi building. They’re somewhat lackluster, but that’s Otemachi for you. I hope you’ve gotten that theme as it recurred over the past 8 months and over […]
- Other treats
- ...
Nishimura, Tokyo
Truly, my friends, you can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd. But you can eat okonomiyaki for lunch any time if you try. Nishimura proves it. This is a rarity, wouldn’t you agree? What’s even cooler about Nishimura is the food ethic they espouse – it manages to incorporate some elegance in both the space […]
- Otemachi
- ...
Kakoiya, Otemachi (かこいや)
It’s great to see things through other people’s eyes – today’s lunch featured some overseas guests, and the most normal things on the plate were suddenly strange and bizarre. And fishy. I got the sense that their overriding sense was a sense of fishiness. They were right, all those things did have fish in them. […]
Okada, Monzennakacho
Today’s interesting point is this: Japanese culture is different. Thank you for reading. No, I kid, I kid. But I’ve read a bunch of things recently talking about ‘recession food’ and how restaurants are opening or at least restyling in simpler, humbler ways. Japan has had a bit of this too, but with a unique […]
- Otemachi
- ...
Zen, Otemachi (然)
Mmmmmmm, natural and healthy. I don’t mean that sarcastically, actually. Despite being focused on healthy food (and serving brown rice), this place was quite tasty. That’s probably why this visit marked an unheard-of third visit for Shaft (though of course a first for me). It’s in the basement of the new JA building, which I […]
- Other treats
- ...
Takegami Ittetsu Soba, Tokyo (たけがみ 一徹)
Tokyo Station Kitchen Street is actually starting to look a little slim in terms of unexplored places. This was one of them, and I liked it. The name means something like ‘stubborn’, which I expect is meant to be a comment on their unwavering commitment to quality. Tokyo Station has a campaign on for the […]
- bar
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XEX, Daikanyama
Nothing but drinks passed my lips, but I have to say that sitting outside, near the pool, in the 3rd-floor tropical-resort environment above one of Daikanyama’s main streets, is a hell of a good way to spend an hour. Don’t be fooled by the relative darkness of the big sliding door that greets you as […]
- Kanda
- ...
Yamada Mongol, Kanda
Years ago I read a book by Haruki Murakami that was called ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’ in English. Aside from the funny bit about the girl’s ears, and the overall spaciness and magical quality that it had (first Murakami book I read, so it was especially memorable), I remember being struck by the statement that […]
- Kanda
- ...
Edoshigusa, Kanda (江戸しぐさ)
In its luxurious form, the Japanese lunch box is a collection of various forms of protein. And this was a pretty luxurious form. I think I counted 5 types of protein, but let me reflect. I’ve developed a theory on Healthy Japanese Food over the years, mainly triggered by the fact that it’s often difficult […]