Sometimes people ask how I find all these places. Much like Eddy Merckx describing his approach in training to be the world’s best cyclist as ‘Ride lots,’ I spend an inordinate amount of time looking. Seek and ye shall find. I actually find the looking almost as enjoyable as the finding and eating, because it’s […]
Month: July 2010
Uoju, Kodemmacho (魚十)
Tokyo has a garment district, did you know that? Loads of cheap-looking clothing stores, and of course fabric and whatever bits ‘n’ bobs you need to, y’know, make clothes. (If you want to check it out, it’s in Bakuroyokoyama; you could walk from Kodemmacho on the Hibiya line or else there’s a direct stop on […]
Fujiya, Nihonbashi (フジヤ)
Around my place, we adhere to the ‘dirty is good’ philosophy. This may get you in trouble in, say, India or Vietnam (where I prefer to say ‘dirty is deadly’), but in Japan health standards are such that you’re never going to get sick from restaurant food. Fujiya exhibits layers of steamed-on grease from long simmering […]
- Kanda
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Miharado, Kanda (三原堂)
After the disappointing cold noodles at the Big Dragon (and don’t get excited by the name, just avoid it), I needed something else to eat. Preacher and I happened by this place and I remember liking the look of it before. It’s a normal sweets shop, so you can get the usual assortment of baked […]
Dairyu, Kanda (大龍)
The heat, my friends, makes one do stupid things. I keep having this problem where I get headaches from exercise, mainly from cycling – after 80 or 90 minutes, I start getting a headache that lasts all day. It feels like dehydration, but I drank gallons of water last time and it still didn’t work. […]
Kyushu Otokomichi, Ebisu (九州男道)
Chain izakayas. Do you think I hate them? I don’t. They fill a niche, and are fun, and the food is never bad even if it’s never surprising or exciting or different. Not liking chain izakayas is, I think, unnecessary snobbery. Despite the funny name (Kyushu Men’s Street?), you can sorta tell from the slickness […]
- bar
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Shu Salon, Shinagawa （酒茶論）
I’ve always thought Shinagawa is an odd place – the station is big, and a little confusing, and it’s really just anchored by hotels. If you’re not there for a wedding, why are you there? In this case we were planning to go to the aquarium, but being a cheap bastard in many ways I […]
- izakaya
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Gingin, Omori (吟吟)
Boy, Woody and I have been talking about going to this place for months. Boy were we not impressed. That’s probably enough as a capsule review, and the lighting was bad so the pictures didn’t even come out so well. But I’ll soldier on. This picture’s pretty cool though, eh? Despite being quite a small […]
Sweets Forest, Jiyugaoka
There’s an expression that says Sugamo is “Grandma’s Harajuku” because it’s packed with stores that sell granny pants and snacks and lifestyle goods for the old woman set. I like to think Jiyugaoka is “Housewife Harajuku” for related reasons – think about the concentration of middle-aged clothing, accessories, homewares and snacks, and you’ll know what […]
Cul de Sac, Kanda
I set out for Kanda with the express intention of going to Cul de Sac. I didn’t know that was the name at the time, but since it opened a few months ago I’ve been meaning to go. Paris would be better, but maybe not this time of year, and it’s far away. As the […]