I’ll not soon forget this afternoon – for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to get here, one of the most popular restaurants in Yushima, the one where even I can read the comments saying “It’s full every day,” at exactly 12 PM. Oopsie. The waitress was nice about it, not […]
Author: Jon
Cafe Rosemary, (カフェ ローズマリー)
Oh hell, it’s the fourth of July. Well, happy fourth to everyone who’s in a place where they give a damn. Here, it’s a normal day at the office, albeit one on which I could spend almost 75 minutes at lunch. Then again, I did ride to Akiba, buy a disk drive, find this place, […]
Onodera, Kagurazaka (おの寺)
There are a few places in Tokyo that I believe in enough to go back to, and a very few that I feel compelled to post more than once about. Obviously Onodera is one of them. The cooking is, if anything, better than I remembered. Onodera himself is a great guy. I offered him a glass […]
Bunzou, Otemachi (鍛冶屋 文蔵)
Did I mention that we went to Honoka? I think we went to Honoka. Did we? Certainly we took the train after. Or something that looks like a train. With all our friends. They love us, just sitting there giggling, speaking broken Japanese, maybe taking the odd picture. Maybe, hell. It’s OK, we’re foreign. Well, […]
- izakaya
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Honoka, Musashi Koyama (穂のか)
There are a few places in Tokyo that I like believe in enough to go back to, and a very few that I feel compelled to post more than once about. Obviously Honoka is one of them. I don’t think they remember me despite the nice welcome card, because I was there quite some time […]
Ganko ramen, Akihabara (宗家一条流がんこラーメン八代目 秋葉)
As usual, I’ve been enjoying the hell out of Tokyo this month. Every morning I leave home a little early so that I’ll have time to cruise on the bike through Tsukiji, Ginza or other neighborhoods, maybe pick up a cold Roots Aroma Revolut (after 7 years, I remain a sucker for Engrish product names)… […]
- bar
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Ant & Bee, Roppongi (アントンビー)
Years of my life, I spent here, years. Seeing Mori Tower gives me a peculiar feeling; not like the dread I used to get when I would catch a glimpse of Chifley Tower across Sydney Harbor on a Sunday, but a little twinge. Fortunately it’s been years in arrears since I felt the certain intensity […]
- izakaya
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Mitakaya Sakaba, Morishita (みたかや酒場)
I almost feel bad writing about Mitakaya. Let me count the ways. Just two, actually. 1. It’s on my street, and I like to support local business, but it took me approximately 2,500 nights to go for the first time. 2. The Mitakas, and their customers, are the nicest people, and I would hate for anyone […]
Kajima Liquors, Ningyocho (加島酒店)
As foreigners, and especially as foreigners with an interest in ‘deep’ Japanese culture, we get cut a lotta slack. We get to go to some of the weirdest, localest little places you can imagine, and people are by and large nice. Or better. Now that I mention it, they’re usually welcoming, interested, and friendly. It’s […]
Shun-poo ramen, Akihabara (麺 旬風)
Another day, another ramen. I was braving the heat again to ride about on my bike, this time up by Akiba. On the east side of the highway, in that weird strip of tall buildings under and next to the tracks, I popped out of a random alley and faced this happy site. I try […]