As a second choice to take The Peacocks, this was a bit more gritty than Koto (most things would be, in truth). I’ve seen Tori Ton for years without going in – maybe it was the 3-foot high doorway that put me off? Turns out they can open a full-size door to let you out […]
Month: February 2010
Koto, Monzennakacho ( 古都 魚河岸料理)
Back when I was young and first started coming to Japan, it was always for winter vacations. Because of that, Japan felt like the country of freedom, the place where I didn’t have responsibilities (an odd twist, wouldn’t you say?), and that made me love it here. To this day, certain things give me the […]
- bar
- ...
Brown Jug, Ebisu
Should you be walking back to the station in Ebisu, you may well stumble across all manner of interesting places. And should it be raining, you may well want to stop in one of them. Be careful not to miss the last train, OK? It’s not fun. The Brown Jug is basically a whiskey bar […]
- Italian
- ...
Della Collina, Ebisu
Della Collina comes to us via a recommendation from Ponkan, who went there for a work dinner (nice job pulling that one off!). It’s a nice modern Italian place, with ambience and service that will appeal to people with certain quality expectations, and nice food at decent prices. One mildly unfortunate point is that you […]
- Kanda
- ...
Ajigen ramen, Kanda (味源)
Once a week (sometimes twice!) I continue to have lunch with You (not in any kind of Royal sense) for language practice. It’s difficult to say if I’m learning much (other than last week when he was very proud to teach me a colloquial expression for ‘cleavage’), but it’s always good to practice talking. He […]
- Italian
- ...
La Maremma, Otemachi
Even the most obvious things still hold some promise…La Maremma is a recommendation that I received early on in my Otemachi career, and only today did I make use of it. The company was better than the food, as Ricky has changed jobs and found what sounds like a dream situation. Let’s hope it lasts […]
- izakaya
- ...
Sake no Ana, Ginza (酒の穴)
[December 2010: I see a lot of people getting to this page as a result of searches on the Google. I wanted to say: there are better places out there, even in the neighborhood. You should check out the Izakayas page. My new favorite is Moromiya, which is practically right up the road. Now back […]
- Ginza
- ...
Hageten Tempura, Ginza (ハゲ天)
A bit of offbeat inspiration to work on some artsy projects made me run down to Ginza and the stationery-art megastore Itoya during lunch. While I would have been slightly under an hour getting back, I figured I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to eat in a different neighborhood and just went back a little […]
Kirei, Ueda (亀齢)
It’s come to my attention that many readers have not visited a sake brewery. I tried to visit one in Ueda (Wadaryu), but failed since they were closed on Sundays. Thus I went to this one, which turned out pretty well – met the brewer, tried some daiginjo fresh from the tank, generally pleasant experience. […]
- Other treats
- ...
Shuzo Collection, Togura (酒造コレクション)
It was nice walking back from Kamiyamada to Togura – just across the river, but it’s a big river and was a decent walk on a brilliantly clear day (if you’ve followed this whole series, I’d also like to mention that the hill at the end of the stretch of water in this picture is […]