After the trip to Nakano, Big Bird and I planned to get together again. Due to his irregular schedule and extravagant expat lifestyle, it ended up being lunch today. Due to my silly work schedule, it ended up being postponed by an hour. Due to my frustration, and his flexibility, it ended up being held […]
Author: Jon
Monzennakacho, Washington Post
Reader Kwong writes from 6,000 miles away with a link to the Washington Post’s video feature on Monzen Nakacho. It’s really eerie to see this on the interweb, because most of the things profiled are within 3 minutes of my apartment (except the bridge and the dog cafe, which are not at all in Monnaka […]
- Otemachi
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Intermezzo, Otemachi
That’s a fancy name for a sandwich cafe. And while I’m at it, sandwich cafe? How many times have I bemoaned the lack of decent sandwiches in Japan? This didn’t fix it, but it’s cheap, pleasant, and open long hours (at least at 3:30 when I went). I had a ‘Simple Egg Sandwich’, which lived […]
- curry
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Ippuku, Tokyo (一ぷく)
Linji is a kind and accommodating soul, and besides I could tell from her demeanor that she was practically bursting with good news and I wouldn’t be able to get many words in…so I just picked this place proactively. I think it’s the last place under the tracks, so today could have marked a historic […]
- izakaya
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Akaoni, Sangenchaya (赤鬼)
The Red Devil is a famous place – certainly it was packed almost from the opening on the Sunday that we went (Woody, Poshand, me, taking advantage of their special 5 PM early-opener on Sundays). You’ll want to reserve if you go, and in return you’ll get access to a pretty magnificent list of sakes. […]
Kameido Gyoza, Kameido (亀戸餃子)
The Chinese fascination with young boys, particularly those of the de-testiculated sub-genus, has been well-documented by scholars for centuries. Throughout history, eunuchs have been a source of fear as well as a subversive power structure hidden in the shadows of the Dragon Throne. As one would expect for such a mysterious force, they have long inspired […]
- izakaya
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Shinkomachi, Kiba (新小町)
Ahhhh, I kinda forgot to take a picture of the exterior here. It’s funny, where the place I went just before was empty, this was packed. I squeezed into the counter, which required several people to move their coats (and later required me to move mine when the last 2 seats filled up. Come to […]
- izakaya
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Tanyao, Kiba (たんやお)
Bait and switch, my friends. It’s an old trick. If you look closely at Tanyao’s sign, you’ll see that it clearly says ‘jizake’. I saw this a week or two ago when I went to the nearby bathhouse. When it got to be a Friday night and I had nothing else to do, I thought […]
- Kanda
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Hanamiya, Kanda (葉菜海家)
This place was identified by a guy in Legal, who told my colleague from Retail, who took me there today, and we ate a lot. It’s a little dark and grubby, but they say it has a line out the door most of the time (coincidentally, it’s right across the street from Bistro Ishikawatei, which […]
Yamahei, Monzennakacho (酒蔵 や満平)
Documented fact – Don Henley’s Building the Perfect Beast is a great album. In addition to being a veritable catalog of 80’s effects (the constant use of FM synthesizers, one would imagine DX-7’s?; the gating on the snares (or at least the quick release times on the envelopes of the snare samples!); the washy reverb), […]