Mangrove is like a funny corner of Bali stuck around the back of Garden Place (near Wansu, if that helps; it’s a cool little corner, and I think there are a bunch of other explorable places). On the day it was cold and rainy, so it was nice to get in and sit by the […]
Month: March 2010
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Omasa Komasa, Higashi Nakano (大政小政)
He means well. I want to preface all that follows with my emphatic belief that he does mean well. The waitress at Ranman (who was really lovely, in such a sweet and motherly way) told us it would take about 15 minutes to walk to Higashi Nakano, but warned that “It’s really dark.” While a […]
- izakaya
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Ranman, Nakano (らんまん)
No joke, after Okajouki we needed something more satisfying. (Nuts, did I really just write something that stupid? Well, you know the rules – no edits.) Ranman was it. In our party (which enlarged at this point) there was general agreement that this is one of the best pure izakayas ever. EVER! In the history […]
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Okajouki, Nakano (陸蒸気)
Well, I had promised to meet The Woodsman at 5 PM, after my bath. Due to excessive bathing and the sluggishness of mind that immediately follows it, it took me some time to get back up to the station and then start north along Nakano’s enormous, insane, pack-em-in covered shotengai. I didn’t even have a […]
Katou Spa, Nakano (香藤湯)
Well, after enjoying my dip at one of Fukagawa’s local furoyasan, I was a bit hooked. And I’ve never gotten out of my head the pictures that I saw years ago in a documentary about one of the last bathhouse painters – the guys who used to paint the traditional murals on the walls of […]
- izakaya
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Wajin, Meguro (和神)
Now, when I was heading out to Meguro this evening, one of my colleagues thought that was a very exciting place to go. She said there are lots of old-fashioned places to eat. Before I started looking around, I had been excited too, but I found it pretty difficult to find anything that looked especially […]
Tengou, Otemachi (天鴻)
Sky goose? Something like that. A grand name for a little chain (12) of gyoza shops. This one is 1 floor down in the Otemachi Building (the long, narrow one), and this visit actually marks the very first time I’ve been to that floor. Usually we visit the B2 floor, which has over 20 restaurants, […]
Dai-ichi Benten Yu, Toyocho (第一弁天湯)
Really, I don’t look for more crap to write about. And I don’t miss 2009 on those lugubrious days when I revisit a place for lunch and don’t have to write about it. But I felt like I should post this off-topic bit since it’s a nice slice of downtown Tokyo, which I hope you’ve […]
Jidoritei, Kanda (ぢどり亭)
The march of the yakitori chains across the landscape of Japan continues unabated. On the other hand, I feel very satisfied with my lunch today – a freshly-fried chicken cutlet topped with grated radish, some soup, pickles, salad, and a big bowl of rice. What does $7 get you at McDonalds these days? Fry, my […]