As a public service, I meant to post a comment that plenty of tables were available at all the major hotels for New Year’s Eve dinners. Seriously – I decided at the last minute (30th) that I wanted to go somewhere glamorous and started calling. Park Hyatt, Penninsula, Shangri-La and others all had tables for […]
Month: December 2009
- bar
- ...
Albente Champagne Cafe, Ebisu
Several champagne cafes have opened around Ebisu in recent years (I say this like I know). Now that I have a little more experience of them, I’d say that they’re oriented toward luxury consumers – hardly surprising for champagne. Check out this place – they distinguish themselves by being your champagne-drinking home-away-from-home, and also by being […]
Coca Restaurant, Yurakucho
After all that speechifying last week about the last work day of the year and the relative freedom to go anywhere for lunch, the first day of vacation naturally brought with it a trip to a new restaurant. This Coca is a branch of a bigger one right by Bic Camera that specializes in Thai […]
- bar
- ...
Sunny Spot, Ikebukuro
Emboldened by success at Rocky Top, I decided to branch out and explore some of Tokyo’s other live country music venues. Sunny Spot is on the west side of Ikebukuro, and turns out to be a smallish, friendly one-room bar in an odd basement that contains at least 3 live-music venues. And a decent sake […]
- izakaya
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Miharukoma, Ikebukuro (三春駒)
I made some early New Year’s resolutions for 2010, and they were as follows: 1. Drink more sake, especially in izakayas that specialize in it 2. Drink more champagne, especially RM or ‘grower’ champagne (grape to bottle by one firm, as opposed to the NM model adhered to by all the famous names) 3. Drink […]
Momijigawa, Nihonbashi (紅葉川)
For a solid year of workdays, I’ve visited a different restaurant every day (except two times when I had bentos, and a third time when I didn’t eat). And on those nights when I went out after work, I generally managed to get to new places also. Minus vacations and holidays, that means better than […]
Misozen, Marunouchi （みそ膳）
My ramen knowledge has expanded a bit recently due to concerted efforts to indulge (ugh), but I’m still pretty ignorant about what makes each regional ramen unique. I DO associate Hokkaido ramen with miso (and as my boss says, Northern people like saltier food. At least he does.), and Misozen, as the name implies, offers […]
- Other treats
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Ouca Japanese Ice, Roppongi (Midtown B1)
This was cool. I think you should check it out when you’re next at Midtown. It’s an ice cream stand (and this appears to be the only branch of the original east-Ebisu shop), but they specialize in Japanese flavors. And it’s good! That means that instead of bits of cookie dough crumbled into the ice […]
One’s Drive, Marunouchi (新丸B1)
It’s marvelously open-ended, isn’t it? One’s drive to…succeed? the mall? master English? the green? That plus the incredibly cryptic and referential pop-culture columns I’ve been reading today leads me to say ‘On da gween!!!’ in hopes that someone will get it (but hopes are low). And with burgers, hope still persists. Hope dies last, they […]
- Kanda
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Daizan Ramen, Kanda (大山)
Appearances are deceiving. I went into this place expecting normal ramen in a normal environment. It turns out to be shrimp ramen in a decidedly old-school space. I enjoyed the old posters, and especially liked the full-length one from Tora-san’s 1976 year-end feature Tora’s Pure Love. Koala and I both had ordering fails, but mine […]